Griffin Standle for the original iPad

It’s a stand, it’s a shell case with a handle…it’s Griffin’s $50 Standle for the original iPad. This innovatively designed case features a flip-out handle for carrying—which doubles as a landscape stand and triples as a typing stand—and a separate flip-out portrait stand. Both stands are fairly sturdy, though the feel of the plastic is kind of cheap and made me nervous. In order to use the handle as a stand, you have to flip out two little plastic nubs that keep the handle from accidentally folding flat again; it’s good from a functionality standpoint, but those nubs can be a little tough if you have short fingernails, like me.

The Standle provides good protection for the back of your iPad, while leaving most of the device’s controls available: There are openings for the headphone jack, Sleep/Wake button, the side switch and volume buttons, the speaker, and the dock-connector port. However, The Standle offers nothing in the way of screen covering, although the raised edge of the front does provide some degree of protection if you were to lay the iPad face down. The biggest annoyance with the Standle is getting the iPad out of it; the case is made up of two parts, the back plate and the front bezel, which you snap together. But they fit so tightly that pulling them apart can be tough, and for me, often resulted in nicking the plastic around the seams.