Old Tobacco Brown iPad Mini Case (Dave's Deal 25%) Week 1

I have been on the fence about pulling the trigger on a Dave's Deal.  I was worried that the defect would be too noticable and that I wouldn't like the item.  I finally worked up the courage to pull the trigger on an Old Tobacco Brown iPad mini case that was a 25% or 10 ft discount.  The case arrived about a week ago and let me tell you, I think Dave needs to have his head checked!  I spent about twenty minutes looking over this thing and found nothing wrong with it.  I got a sweet deal on this baby!  There are some scratched on the cover but those were put there by me, as I have been toating this thing around with me all week.

I have been wanting to buy the iPad mini case for some time because I do a lot of property inspections that require me to use the iPad to document violations and maintenance items.  The idea if the hand strap apealed to me.

The fit was not as tight as some of the reviewes on the Saddleback website.  I like the new Tobacco Brown better than the old Tobacco, but I saw that Dave said it is the same leather just with more oils and waxes in it, so I decided to treat this case three times in the first week with Chamberlin's Leather Milk and it has darkened the leather a bit, and has it looking more like the new Tobacco.  For comparison purposes i have the case against the new Tobacco Brown Medium Note Pad Holder.  Remember that the iPad Mini case has been treated three times and has darkened.

The hand strap has not been treated so you can see what the origional color looked like before my treatments.

As you can see above the old pigskin lining is colored where the new pigskin is natural.  I prefer the natural pigskin to the colored pigskin.

The spine where the leather folds is lighter than the front and back cover.  This is due to the constant opening and closing.  It stretches so the leather lightens up.

You can also see that where the strap closes on the back, it gets roughed up rather quickly.  You can even see the outline of the strap imprinted on the backing of the case.

The fit is pretty good.  At first the bottom of the iPad wanted to slide to the left making the button on the bottom off centered.  I have been conciously pushing in on the corner in order to break it in so that the iPad wants to stay centered.  I am not all the way there yet however in the week i have been doing this the iPad seems to be fitting much better.

Before:

After:

Unlike other iPad cases I have had this case is super durable.  I can toss this in any bag, my car door storage area, between the car seat and center console and I don't have to worry about it getting damaged.

The case is a little wavy at the bottom where the speaker and charger input is.  The below picture shows this as well as well as the small gap between the cover and the body of the case.

I think the more I use the case the flatter the fit will be.  It is not an issue, the iPad is adequatley protected.

The stand mode is great.  I wasn't sure how I would like it but it is really much better than i expected.  The lid folds over but doesn't bend all the way.  It sort of loops which makes it sturdy and impossible to knock over.  Other cases i have had, when in stand mode they sometimes fall or close on themselves.  I don't have to worry about that with this case.

I also like the fact that you can stand it up vertically if you want to. 

I can rest this on my chest while laying down on the couch and read my book of browse the internet and it sits there with no hands required.  I love the design of the stand mode.

I recommend this iPad mini case, it is highly functional and a great design.  So this is the "Life of My Leather" iPad mini case edition week 1.  I will be putting this through it's paces as I am off to Orlando for a conference next week.  Stay tuned.