Review: SGP Carbon Skin for iPad

05/02/10 19:25

Our continuing quest for the perfect iPad case/folder/wrapper led us to the fine folks at HandheldItems.com, aggregators of skins & stuff for mobile devices of all kinds, including the Tablet That’s About To Change Everything, And Probably Already Has. In terms of sheer number of products offered, these guys are the kings of the iPad accessory hill at the moment.

Along with the expected silicone sleeves with round cutouts to show off the Apple logo -- the crotchless panties of the gadget world -- the site also offers a couple of products from SGP that include a handy-dandy bit of iPad flair called the SGP Premium Protective Cover Skin for iPad [Carbon]:

skin1

Try to imagine Ricardo Montalban’s velvety tones extolling the virtues of “reech eemitation carbon fiber” as you behold the faux awesomeness:

skin2a

The SGP PPCSFI (we’re not typing that whole name again) is a rubbery stick-on with a fake carbon fiber pattern embossing. “Premium” apparently refers to the $19.95 price. “Protective” is a bit of a stretch, since the skin offers virtually no protection from droppage or spillage, and exists purely to give that Toyota Scion vibe to the world of Apple tablet add-ons.

The cutout for the Apple logo is a tad more refined than the big round peek-a-boo hole in many cases. It follows the contours precisely, which makes it virtually impossible to allign the skin perfectly, even if you start slowly from the middle and work your way carefully to the outside edges. All in all, we think our test staff did a pretty frickin’ good job lining this sucker up:

skin4

The case comes with a clear plastic sticker to cover the shiny black Apple logo, which apparently was included as some kind of a sick joke. In other words, we completely boogered it up with fingerprints while trying to put it on, and finally said to hell with it.

The SGP effect is not really that bad, in a boy-racer kind of way:

skin7

SGP’s fake-cessory adds virtually no thickness to the iPad’s svelte lines: And while the skin’s grippiness is a tad disappointing, this is the first iPad case we’ve tested that actually allows the use of Apple’s pain-in-the-ass official iPad Dock:

skin5

How much would you pay for all this Sharper-Image-y goodness? Would you go for $19.95? Then head on over to Handhelditems.com and get ready to rumble!

Pros: Cool, in a woodgrain wallpaper kinda way. Works with the Apple Dock.
Cons: Not especially grippy. Not at all protective. Apple-shaped hole takes the touch of a heart surgeon to align properly. Most readers too young to appreciate Ricardo Montalban reference.

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