The majority of my work day is spent standing at my desk working at my Mac. But we're here to talk about iPads.
My iPad is my second PC. It's the device I do most of my work-related reading on. It's the device I pick up when I need to get away from my desk for a while to think and work. And it's the computer I take with me when traveling.
Using my iPad mini at a coffee shop in downtown Denver. In the background: sunglasses, Field Notes, iPhone, and the Felt Case Mini.
Though the iPad doesn't fully replace my main Mac, it has been an excellent "other" computer since I first bought one in 2010.
There are a lot of things that make the iPad better than a Mac. It's incredible battery life; it's always connected to the Web through LTE; incredibly light weight and portable; and the "anti-distraction" software that is iOS's one-app-at-a-time approach.
I often like to take just my iPad with me, either to a meeting or to a coffee shop or just in the car when out on a day of errands. Sometimes I'll take the iPad in my bag, along with my bluetooth keyboard and a paper journal. But not always. And so, for the times I'm out and about without a bag, I need a way to protect the iPad.
The packaging of the Felt Case mini is pretty awesome. It comes in a fancy plastic bag with printing directly on the plastic.
The Felt Case mini
Aside from the Smart Cover, I never never found an iPad case that I liked. My search was for a case -- a sleeve, really -- that protects the iPad and perhaps just a little bit more. And that is almost exactly what the Felt Case Mini is.
The Felt Case mini is a simple, sleeve-style case for the iPad. It'll fit an iPad mini with or without a Smart cover, and it has a cool (removable) analog pouch that'll fit a Field Notes-sized notebook and a pen or pencil.
The Felt Case mini in hand. Light, comfortable, cool.
The Felt Case Mini is a simple, sleeve-style case. It has a pouch to hold the iPad (with or without a smart cover attached). A full-height flap folds over to "close" the sleeve, and an elastic band wraps around at the base to hold the flap in place.
There's an elastic band that wraps around the case to hold the main flap in place when closed.
The construction is of a hefty wool felt. It's well made and offers good protection without being heavy, cumbersome, or ugly.
It's constructed of heavy-duty felt.
While the Felt Case is minimally functional, it is not completely devoid of features. In addition to the basic protection it provides the iPad, it comes with a removable "analog" pouch. I call it an analog pouch because it's meant to hold analog tools: a pocket-size notebook the size of a Field Notes and a single pen or pencil. The analog pouch is held in place by a zipper and can easily be removed.
This sleeve is pretty much all you could want if your chief aim is a humble one: to have an iPad carrying sleeve that is as lightweight and slim as possible.
The "Analog Pouch" is removable. Handy if you want an even slimmer case for the iPad. But nice to have around if you want to take a pen and paper with you.
There are other iPad sleeves out there which I've seen, but none apealed to me like this one. Some iPad sleeves do nothing more than hold the iPad itself. But if you have much more to carry than you're in the realm of bags and packs and at that point you may no longer need an iPad sleeve.
Which is why I appreciate its ability to let me also tote a Field Notes-esque notebook and pen. But if you want to carry just the iPad, then simply remove the Analog Pouch and you're good to go. As much as I enjoy working just from my iPad, I also like to have pen and paper nearby. But since I don't keep a notebook in my pocket, it's nice to have a spot in the iPad sleeve to hold one.
The Felt Case differentiates itself from other sleeves in that its design sits in the middle ground of functionality -- it is able to do more than just hold your iPad, but it's not a full-on bag. It's an excellent companion for toting your iPad around.