My search for the proper iPhone case continues. I thought my previous TPU case was such a great deal and I was loving it….until it started to pick up the blue from my jeans and the yellow from daily use. The case now looks kinda nasty and is clearly not as white as the iPhone case itself.

I saw the case below at a Radio Shack and thought I would give it a try. It was a little different in that it was a hybrid clear and TPU. That sounded a bit more promising. My previous clear case scratched and cracked not long after I got it. This was a translucent and the TPU on the edge seemed of higher quality.

Once again the fit was excellent and I thought I might have another chance at case nirvanna.

Well, a month went by and I am on another case already. Why? Well, the white surround is yellowing. The clear parts are intact, but the cutout for the logo still bothers me. Why leave that open to damage? Who would have thought it was so darn hard to find a decent case?

In fact, I am already on another case. This one from Speck. I have heard great things about them so I thought I would give them a try. I’ll report back after I have had some time with it.

In reality, my problems may be moot as I think I am going to move up (depending on what you think) to an iPhone 4 soon.  I’ll pass this phone down to someone and they’ll get a boatload of cases with it for fun.

Recently I got a TPU case for my iPad and was so impressed with the properties of this Thermo Plastic Urethane material that I decided to look for one for the iPhone. I wanted a clear case to showcase the aesthetics of my white iPhone. I quickly realized that getting just a plain clear one was difficult!

I could get all manner of decorated versions with patterns, flowers, butterflies, etc. but getting a plain clear one was hard! I eventually came across a white case that was only $4 on Amazon. OK, four bucks I could gamble with so I ordered it.

Here’s the case in all it’s glory. I really liked the TPU material once again. It forms perfectly to the phone and is not sticky like Silicon. Also note that it wraps to the front of the phone protecting the decorative chrome surround.

Alas, it seemed pretty good, but all was not ideal in my case word. It seems that the molding process left a bit of flash around the edges of the mold. At first it didn’t bug me so much, but as I was carrying the case during the week it really started to bug me. I could feel the flash every time I used the case. It started to feel sharp – ok, maybe it was just me. But I wasn’t having any more of it. It was time for some custom modification.

OK, now the case feels good. Along with the great fit and protection, it’s also now pretty pleasant to use. Here’s one more shot showing you how well the case was designed. The only thing I am not so sure about is that circular cutout to show off the Apple logo. It seems to me that this leaves a pretty vulnerable part of the phone open to the elements.

So at the end of the day, I think this is a really good case considering its throw away price. I’ve paid $30 and $10 for clear polycarbonate cases, $15 for a silicon case, $30 for a hard plastic with rubberized coating case, $50 for a leather case,$30 for a combo silicon and hard plastic case and $20 for a silicon case with accessory holder. After all those cases, this one is definitely the best value.

Oh, on a side note, a friend has indicated that she found a plain clear TPU case and will be sending me one. I’ll report on that case after I receive it and use it for a week or so. Perhaps there’s something better out there after all.

Like you (?) I have been looking for a way to protect my iPad that won’t defeat its beautiful design and form factor. After doing a bit of research and lots of purchasing, I have come across the best case EVER! It’s made of TPU (Thermo Plastic Urethane). OK, pictures will be all you need to see. I can’t explain it any better.

You can get this case for only $16 at http://stores.ebay.com/PawAvenue. If you have an iPad, you need this case.

So what else have I tried? Here’s a quick rundown and why they don’t work so great.

1) InCase Silicon skin – this silicon rubber case fits loosely and never felt too secure. It’s got extra girth on the edges to make it easier to grip, but it also makes the iPad fat. Fail.

2) Apple iPad case – this OEM case is made of a synthetic suede like material. It fits well and fold in half like a portfolio. Problems? It’s got this heat sealed edge around it that look cheap. Also, the synthetic material picks up all kinds of dust and ends up looking dirty. Fail.

3) Crazy Digital Leather case – this one came close. It’s got great protection, a nice price ($20 on Amazon) and it also acts as a stand. The one thing I didn’t like is that it once again messes with the sleek design on the iPad. It affords great protection and is a good way to carry your pad “incognito” though. Here’s a quick picture of it.

So there you have have it. My search for the perfect iPad case is over. Now I just have to figure out if I would ever carry only the iPad over my laptop. I have a very nice portable laptop at only 3.1lbs. I take it everywhere I go. Although not as “wow” inducing as an iPad, I can do a lot more on it.

The best thing about the iPad is the instant on, picture viewing and also the applications made for it. For those things it rocks. Everything else is different, but not hugely better than my laptop.

At least my case problems are over.

I have 7 PCs in my house a one Mac. I also have 3 printers in the house – a laser, a color laser, and a photo printer. In the past, I would hook all the printers up to one computer in the network and then share the printer so that the other computers could print to it. This seemed to work well, but I had to leave the computer with the printer attached to it ON all the time so that others could print.

Recently, this “main” computer had a harddrive fail. As I was tinkering with it and rebuilding the system, no one could print! Yes, I could have manually plugged the printer to the machine trying to print and then installed the drivers, etc. etc., but what a huge hassle. What I needed was a way for the printers to stand on their own. This is when I came across this little gem.

The Linksys PSUS4 has a print server for a USB printer, but it also has a 4 port switch. This is a very unusual combination. With the extra ports, I can plug in my networked printers and they hang a few cat 5′s off of it for a direct connection to laptops of visitors, etc. I installed this in about 10 minutes and with almost no setup i was ready to go.

It’s been about 3 weeks now and this unit has performed flawlessly. I have put the former “main” computer into a powersave mode now so that it shuts down if no one is using it after a few hours. In the past, that meant no one could print. No worries now!

You see, main computer is a pretty hairy setup. It’s got a large power suppy and a wicked GTX graphics card. It is under my desk and I can feel the heat coming up off of the computer. I am very happy now that I have this little print server. Highly recommended for a shared printer setup.

I’ve probably spent more cases for the iPhone than the iPhone itself. I am torn between ultimate protection and keeping the sleek look of the iPhone. After case after case, I keep going back to the same one. Which one? We’ll let’s take a look at a few.

Silicon Cases:
These seem like a good idea. Nice and thin, tight fit, good protection. But I hate them. You see, I put my iPhone in my pants pocket and the tackiness of these covers make it really cumbersome to take the phone in and out of my pocket.

Invisible case:
This clear polycarbonate case seemed like a great idea. You can barely tell it’s there. So what’s the problem? There’s so much wrong with this case. One, it’s fragile. The case cracks really easy. You can see that the edge of my case is already going to heck.

Also look at the edge protection. There is none. The case clips on and off. In order to make it easy the edges don’t wrap all the way. This leaves the chrome edges unprotected. Not only that, all kinds of dirt gets into the space between the case and the chrome edge. This scratches the heck out of the chrome. Nope, not a good choice, but it looks good.

iFrogz Rubberized Case:
OK, this is the ticket. It fits extremely well, protects the edges and it’s just tacky enough to be easy to grasp, but not make it impossible to get it into and out of your pocket. I find that I always gravitate back to this case. Highl recommended.

Luxury Case:
I recently saw a distressed leather case on eBay. Wow it looks so retro-cool. It’s got a front cover and a monogram with my initial on it! It’s a bit pricey at $48, but hey – it’s my case fetish. I am expecting this in the next week or two. I’ll give you a write up here after I get a chance to try it for a while.