Apple IPad Shot With Gun...MUST WATCH

Some users are content with minimal levels of protection for their iPads; other users fall in the middle, content with moderate coverage and a slim design, while still others want to protect their delicate investments as much as possible. Two recent cases seek to address the latter segment of the iPad 2 and the iPad (3rd-Gen) market: Ballistic's Tough Jacket Series Case ($70) and OtterBox's new Defender Series Case ($90).f you've already read our review of the Defender Series Case for iPad 2, you'll find this updated model very familiar, but it has been improved. There are still four pieces—a two-piece plastic frame, a rubber cover, and a plastic shield—however, the company has made quite a few changes to the overall design. It feels like a mostly refined take on the original, save for one key element.The heart of the case is still the two-piece hard plastic snap-together frame, but putting the pieces together is now a bit easier than before. It also covers more of each iPad's body including the area around the Dock Connector port and almost all of the bezel, while managing to look and feel a little slimmer. OtterBox has a thing for leaving the Apple logo exposed whenever it can, and continues the tradition with Defender by leaving a clear plastic-covered circular opening that we still dislike. The biggest change here is the addition of a built-in screen protector, something we hoped for when reviewing the original version. It lays totally flat and is completely smooth, but it's unfortunately highly prismatic, dispersing pixels into tinier bits of rainbow-like colors. This problem is especially pronounced against the new iPad's Retina display.Ballistic's less expensive Tough Jacket Series Case is a step down from Defender in terms of protection, but has a similar concept. This one flips the basic concept, such that the soft rubber is on the inside with hard plastic surrounding it. The first layer to cover your iPad is shock-absorbent silicone that wraps around the body of the tablet, bulging pretty significantly at the corners in a shape that reminds us of Incipio's Hive Gaming Case. It covers both the Sleep/Wake button and volume rocker, but leaves all the ports open.