While the practicality of Substrata’s Artisan Stripe Case for iPad 2 ($225) is questionable, the look and feel are very cool. The pre-production unit that we received for early evaluation is a wooden shell that completely encapsulates the iPad 2, with a hinged top and two sliding dowels at the bottom to hold it shut.
Once opened, there is a recessed area to hold the tablet, and a felt pad protects the metal back from the hard wood. Somewhat odd is the placement of two pass-through holes on the bottom, requiring you to choose whether the iPad 2’s headphone port or Dock Connector will be exposed for access — they can’t both be used at the same time while the iPad’s inside the case.
The top cover can be folded under to move the iPad 2 into a portrait viewing angle. There is also an dowel included that can be positioned in a machined hole in the case and used to stand the device up in landscape orientation.
