upgraded.. kinna regret... the lock to prevent ipad to turn sides has become silent key.. Zzzzzzz... so damn annoying to prevent it to be titled when i wanted to

name of the store please

I just ordered mine from Amazon and awaiting shipping.

Yea, I also not use to it. Now have to use software to control the orientation. Personally I found the device slower in response after the upgrade, but I like the folder creation, now I can download more apps!

hmm then i stick to my OS3 first, wait more stable and faster respond OS

dude that is solid. mind asking the price though?

HKD800.00 (at about RM390)

as xpected..... not sure y people willing to spend this much on 'just' a case

This kind of comments is best to keep it to yourself as it is not constructive at all.

-= CASE REVIEW: Moshi Concerti for iPad=-


Before I begin this review, here's a big shout out to brother Xavier (xavinlyn) for going thru allt he hassle and trouble to get the case for me.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ive personally been an iPad user since only 3 months ago, but during that short period of time, I've desperately went in search of the Holy Grail of casing for the iPad. There are indeed many out there but somehow, none really match my needs. Fate then brought me into the path of Xavier and he introduced to me Moshi Concerti. Ive finally gotten the unit from today and so decided, as promised, to review the item for him here in LYN.


WHY FOLIO CASE?

Now, for starters, why Folio? Why get a case that turns the iPad into a slightly bulkier unit? Why not just snap on a back case and be happy about it? Well, it all boils down to practicality. Many of us carry the iPad around and many more use it for casual social gaming or reading. Small as the iPad maybe but it isnt exactly light! It is find to snap on a back casing on the unit and bring it around. Heck i personally think most snap on makes the iPad really sexy but have you ever tried carrying or lifting the iPad at a angle to play a game for hours? Uh huh, two words... HAND-CRAMP! With a Folio, the iPad is held into place, in angles without your manipulation or holding it. Many of the cases even having variable angles that you can put the iPad in. With this, in the long run, i think we can all agree that Folio wins hands down.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



MOSHI

The Moshi company originates from Taiwan. As Japanese as it may sound, the only thing Japanese about it are the Japanese writtings on the back of the box. =P But having said that, the company is beginning to make headlines by their constant designs that most often go against the norm. Apart from this casing, they have a full range or iPhone and iPad casing with an innovative "windows-style" screen protector system that is indeed creative. (If you want to check that out, do refer to Xavier's thread.)

Alright, enough on that, lets go down to the real deal...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



>> PACKAGING



Packaging wise, the Moshi Concerti is nothing to brag about. I was expecting something more funky and stylish as this is one of their top of the end cases but alas, it came simply in a white paper box with a transparent window displaying the unit.

The back of the Box wasn't any more exciting. Just some simple introduction of the item and its repeated in multiple languages. Boring indeed but someone once told me, "If the packaging is superb, the item inside, probably isn't" Well, let's see if that is true...


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



>> APPEARANCE




The Moshi Concerti is made out of 2 very distinctive materials.

The outer layer or cover may look suede-like and it even feels like suede (no, it doesn't smell like suede) but its actually a synthetic material called Terahedron microfiber. Its something like those microfiber clothes we have in those LCD cleaners. Its suppose to be more water proof than suede but it attracts dusts or dirt just the same way suede does. This outer layer comes in 3 colors, Light Brown, Tyrian Purple (aka Barney Purple) and Falcon Grey. The unit reviewed was Falcon Grey. The material is very comfortable to touch and it gives a "homely" feel to the iPad. Feels cosy, if you ask me. Only setback would be the constant action of dusting it off every hour or some as it can really be a major dust magnet so ideally, getting the dark colored units are better.

The inner part of the casing on the other hand is actually a giant-sized bumper from the iPad. This comes in Flat Black and is made from a thick silicone roughly around 1mm thick. Of note, this is really where the Moshi Concerti excels far pass other Folio casings. Many casings in the market do not cover the iPad entirely. Areas especially the 4 corners of the iPad are sexily if not sinfully exposed! Thus prone to dents, scratches and knicks. This problem was remedied in this casing. The inner case is of matte appearance but the layer is smooth and sturdy.

Moshi has also placed their logo on the cover made of metal with a chrome effect but to me, this may be one of the flaws in the casing that designers in Moshi may have overlooked. When you convert the casing to angle your iPad, the part with the logo actually ends up being the bottom section that makes contact with the table surface that you put the iPad on. As such, within seconds, your chrome shiny Moshi logo will get scratched.


>> Accessories

Designers at Moshi really do take details into consideration. As simple casing can be made so elegantly classy by the way they place the manual and accessories. They could have simply chuck them into a plastic wrapper and keep it in one corner but instead they carved out spaces in their Styrofoam packing to fit their manual and the lanyard. Oh yes, a lanyard does come with it.

A little on the lanyard, its made of the same material as the outer casing but the buckle is metal and again has the Moshi name printed on it. I feel this was well made and a good touch as it gave the lanyard similarities to designer bags.




------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




>> DETAILS DETAILS

IMHO, you can really gauge the amount of effort put into designing a product by the amount of minute details that the product contains. I must say, Moshi really outdone themselves with designing at detailing of the case. Here are a few examples.



At the back of the bumper, Moshi has added another layer of suede-like material. This is the area where the back of your iPad comes in contact and it is a very huge plus point. Many casings simply omit this but although the iPads are in the casings, dust or small rough dirt can still get in and what you get after many months of using is a very very very scratched up iPad. This layer of extra protector will ideally lessen than. Another point of detail would be the beautiful "concerti" word written on the layer.




Another area of detail that was apparent to me was on the bumper case itself. When I was inspecting it, I was shocked to find a Moshi word embossed on it. OK, it may be insignificant but the fact that Moshi took time to get it done even though noone or most users won't even notice simply shows how much time they have put into the design of the Concerti.

Other than that, Moshi has also taken the effort to hide the metal hooks that the lanyard hooks on to by adding a cover over them. Took me a while to find them but there are two of these hooks on each end of the case.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




>> FITTING OF THE IPAD

Fitting the iPad into the bumper case of the Concerti took abit of an effort but once in, the unit is securely stuck in it. Trust me on this. I've tried swinging the iPad out of the bumper case but it just would not budge!

The bumper also have precut holes for the sync port, headphones, mic and speakers of the iPad. Other than than, the entire sides of the iPad is covered including the power buttons and volume controls. Workmanship was good here as the holes were very accurately aligned and the layers covering the buttons all were just ideal enough that all buttons were functioning well except maybe the power button which was a little too thicker of a covering thus turning the unit on took a little bit more force. The Home button is not covered and the border of the silicone bumper than overlaps the Home button is carved around it.




Another very good point to point out here also is that the silicone bumper has borders around the iPad's screen that do NOT cover the light sensor of the iPad. Many cases, do that and so, when the iPad is in those casings, the display will dim as the iPad thinks that the room is dark.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




>> CASE CAPABILITIES


- ANGLING FUNCTION

A folio case simply is useless if it doesn't have the function of angling the iPad allowing you to have a mini-computer feel. The Concerti was designed with a very elegant way of doing it and it allows 3 different angles for the iPad.





- TABLET FUNCTION

The Concerti can also be converted into a totally flat Tablet PC. In this layout, the back portion actually has a groove in which you can put you palm in to have a better more secure grip on the unit while using it.




------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




>> FLAWS OF THE CASE

In every case, there will be some sort of flaws, the Concerti is no exception. Minors flaws like the logo placement are insignificant but this may be something of a concern.

In order to keep the iPad angled in place, notches had to be placed on the inner side of the cover. This notches can clearly be seen on this picture. The notches are on the left (Those 4 rectangle thingies on the left)




Unfortunately, that area also happens to be the part that covers the iPad's screen. So when you close the case, those notches actually touches the screen.

In all fairness, they are made of hard sponge and i doubt they will do much too the screen but because of this design flaw, the case doesn't really close properly.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




>> CONCLUSION

In the end, I think the Concerti is an amazing casing to begin with. The design is good. Details are everywhere and the material is unique and away from the norm of leather-like cases or carbon-fibre wannabes. Alas, flaws are there and so, here are the list of Pros and Cons of the Concerti.

- PROS

Nice design
Beautiful and well-made
Classy Lanyard
Very detail
Covers the entire iPad... ie Full Protection


- CONS

Moshi logo will get scratch - 100%
Notches of the angling function touches the iPad's screen when the case is in the closed layout.
Cover can somewhat be a dust magnet


Having said that, Moshi Concerti is still the iPad's case of choice for me! No doubt about it! Not many comes even close to it in the terms of practicality and functionality. I can foresee myself using the Concerti for a long long time and here's hoping Moshi will release a Concerti II that remedies all the Cons in the this baby. If that happens, the search for the Holy Grail ends....


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




This post has been edited by davidgary73: Nov 25 2010, 02:22 PM

wow. way out of my budget range but that is one sexy case you have there.

i'm currently on the same ol apple official case.

My previous case was the official case too. But it get dirty easily and hard to clean.

I still have my capdase folio and though it does well in cover up whole iPad except the cut off slot,it is a bit heavy to carry along and chances of slipping off my hold is always lurking..

This post has been edited by NXaqua: Nov 25 2010, 07:46 PM

The material used makes it is hard to maintain, not to mention it's sold at a very high price here in M'sia.

Love my cyber-accoustic leather ipad cover It may only offer minimal protection (just the 4 corner), but I think thats sufficient. They could have made the flap on he back bigger or longer though

This post has been edited by reiki_longtime: Nov 25 2010, 08:35 PM

Reiki,

Where u get the cyber-acoustic and what's the damage like?

rgds

Yea,saw it on amazon and it really fanstatic...looking for bulk buy if anyone interested. Btw,can it hold the iPad together with switch nude plastic thingy ,for all 4 wall protection :-)

Got it out at Amazon, priced around 40usd that time
Get the red one if anyone feels adventurous


I've tried with switch easy nude, and it wold not fit. Figures...

But the ipad with switcheasy nude fits into the slipcase

===========================

On another news, STM Scout XS is on sale with 50% discount at ebags.com!!! Ochre color only though.

This post has been edited by reiki_longtime: Nov 25 2010, 10:48 PM

Thanks for the info

I have just got a Gosh! brand and it fit in nicely both my iPad and switch easy nude easily, but I still like the cyber acoustic folio..
As for the STM Scout XS, I m thinking of getting one too instead of using my laptop bag Btw,will the canvas provide some basic protection against water,drizzling rain ? And ochre colour means it easily get dirtier easily or just the colour is not popular,so it get 50% discount ?

This post has been edited by NXaqua: Nov 25 2010, 11:15 PM

Some youtube videos claim the canvas is waterproff, better ask those who owns it.

Theres only 2 colors; i guess the green one is more popular? Btw i think the sales is on for 1 day only

Thanks,reiki