Griffin GB02480 Survivor Extreme-duty Military case for the new iPad (4th Generation), iPad 3 and iPad 2, Black

Great and durable product!

I use my iPad 2 for work as much as play. Work involves a lot of handling, exposure to moisture and splashed water, wet hands, and sometimes environments which aren't exactly friendly to delicate electronic devices. I held off adopting an iPad for work for some time because I was afraid it wouldn't survive. So when I finally got one, I needed truly rugged protection for it. I looked at the Defender and found it surprisingly flimsy and very lacking in moisture protection. I considered Kraken also but their iPad 2 case seemed less impressive than their original iPad case and rather ugly to boot. After much searching, I found the Griffin Survivor here on Amazon and gave it a go.Over a month into use I can say I am very satisfied with it. Nothing I've seen offers comparable protection from moisture, abrasion, or impact. It offers an excellent gripping surface and you are unlikely to drop your pad even with wet or slippery hands. Splashing water on it or getting caught in the rain isn't a problem, all ports and surfaces are protected from all but immersion. I don't recommend dropping it in the lake but if u were quick it might buy you that all important second or two to fish it out. I haven't conducted any serious drop tests(yet), but it seems very capable in that department as well.Some have questioned the durability of the port plugs. I saw these as potential weak points initially and have tried to be careful with them. So far they have held up fine. You do have to take care to fit some of them in place properly for them to seal. I could see kids tearing them off or adults if you're rough with them. They are not perfect but they do the job well if you handle them right. The cover over the camera port could get tiresome if you use the camera a lot as you must physically hold the cover back out of the way to take pictures. But again it does the job it's meant to do, which is keep contaminants out.The stand support could be improved, but works fairly well. This case isn't really designed with the desktop environment in mind anyway.I have had no issues with screen sensitivity and the plastic shield has been easier to keep clean than the glass face of the pad. And I have NO fear of cracking the face. The corners and screen are well protected.Bottom line: If you need a truly 'ruggedized' case for your iPad, try the Griffin Survivor. I think it will meet your needs whether in the field or in the kid's room. It's not perfect but it's far ahead of the competition.NOTE FOR CAMERA USERS: Amazon sells an economical adapter for camera cards and USB that WILL plug into the docking port with the Survivor case. It's a tight fit but it works. I have an older digital camera which uses CF cards so I plug my CF adapter into the USB port of the 5 in1 adapter and it shows up as a mounted drive for easy transfer of pics. Check out: 5 in 1 card reader for iPad

My household has 2 iPads. I'm protecting one with this Griffin Survivor Case IPAD2 - Black and another with a substitute Gumdrop Cases Drop Tech Series Case for Apple iPad 2, White-Black, (DS-IPAD2-WHI-BLK)that an Amazon marketplace vendor shipped when they were out-of-stock of these Survivor cases. I'm therefore in a position to compare the two!Similarities: Survivor and Gumdrop cases both protect the full iPad -- front and back. Both provide transparent screen protection that they secure via integral hard plastic snap rings. Both wrap the body of the iPad in thick rubber. Both interconnect rubber body protection with a hard plastic ring that "grabs" the iPad body. In fact, whereas they differ in the degree to which they use their hard plastic (see difference, below), the manner in which the plastic grabs the iPad and simultaneously interlink with the rubber suggests that the same engineers designed both.Differences:Hard Plastic infrastructure:The Survivor uses two interlocking hard plastic pieces -- a ring for the front and a hard shell for the back, whereas the Gumdrop uses a single plastic ring that simply "hugs" the iPad at opposite corners (no hard plastic on the back of the iPad). The Survivor therefore appears to offer more physical drop/bump protection than the Gumdrop.Rubber Exterior:The Survivor's rough, black rubber feels thicker and heavier. The Gumdrop's ribbed rubber feels smoother (more like silicone?), thinner and lighter.Port, Button, Switch and Speaker Access:The Survivor covers everything except the front-facing camera in rubber. Detents in the rubber help locate buttons that you press right through the rubber. Tabs indicate areas where you can pull away rubber coverings to expose ports, switches, rear camera, mic and speaker. The Survivor provides integral hard plastic holes in the case that are apparently intended to hold these pull-aways in place when you'd like to keep them exposed (to listen to sound through the speaker or take a picture with the rear camera, for instance). The holes don't work for this purposes, however, so taking a picture requires the user to hold the rubber pull-away open with one hand while working camera controls with the other. Not fun, but probably worth the hassle if you need ultimate protection.The Gumdrop covers most iPad ports and switches, as well, yet it provides much more pronounced "knobs" to help you locate buttons you press through the rubber case as well as rubber pull-aways for port access. The Gumdrop offers a perforated grill in the rubber over the iPad speaker -- thus offering less apparent protection for the speaker, but eliminating the need to pull away anything to listen to iPad audio. The Gumdrop also full exposes the rear-facing camera, so again, there's less protection but much greater convenience.'Net:The Griffin Survivor covers everything on the iPad and therefore clearly offers better protection against bad weather and accidental spills. Its hard plastic + rubber body protection appears to offer greater drop & bump protection, as well. The trade-off is the inconveniece of having to pull away and hold rubber covers that block iPad elements you want to access (camera, mic and speaker).The Gumdrop leaves camera, mic and speaker somewhat exposed. It does not integrate hard plastic into rear body protection. It feels slightly thinner and lighter. The Gumdrop's much more convenient when it comes to using camera, mike and speaker.Guidance:Get the Survivor if you need ultimate protection in a case that still lets you use your iPad, directly (i.e.: doesn't require you to open a box or lid to access the screen). The Survivor's clearly the choice if your primary concern is weather when using outdoors. I plan to use mine for hard duty travel and camping.Get the Gumdrop if you want good protection (albeit with a few risks vs. the Survivor) and maximum convenience. My 10-year-old daughter uses the Gumdrop to take her iPad to/from school and she much prefers its convenient camera, mic and speaker access to the Survivor she used before I got the Gumdrop. She also likes the Gumdrop's color choices (hers is white).All-in-all, I think the Gumdrop's compromises are minor and make the Gumdrop Cases Drop Tech Series Case for Apple iPad 2, White-Black, (DS-IPAD2-WHI-BLK) the better choice for most who want a protective rubber case with integral transparent screen protection.