I hope I am not violating any forum rules by posting this, but I just wanted to share my review of the Dermapad case.
As a Canadian Kobo buyer I was somewhat disappointed by the selection of Kobo cases/protectors available in-store. I bought the Kobo for my wife, and she wanted to be able to place it in her purse (as she would any other book) without fear of causing damage to the screen or other parts of the Kobo.
Unfortunately the cases available here fall into 2 categories:
1) Sleeves. The screen of the Kobo is protected, however it is also not visible and the device must be removed from the sleeve to be used. The sleeves available here do not have any cardboard or other hard material in them to protect the screen from impacts.
2) Skins. The screen of the Kobo is not protected, however the rest of the body is somewhat protected from impact. These are mainly for aesthetic purposes.
Unfortunately neither is what we were looking for. My wife wanted a case which had hard material inside to protect the screen from a direct impact, had the feel of a book and could flip open. Bonus points for being able to do this one handed.
The Dermapad case available through the Amazon Marketplace does exactly this. I have posted pictures at the bottom of this review.
The dermapad case contains a layer of cardboard both front and back to provide some stiffness to the case as well as to protect the screen. It also has 2 elastic straps and 2 fixed straps to hold the Kobo in place. Unfortunately the elastic straps slightly obstruct the SD card slot and completely cover the power button. This really isn't so bad though, because you can just pull the elastic to the side to get your SD card in and out, and once the card is in this is no longer a problem. I thought the elastic over the power button would be a much bigger issue, perhaps causing it to power on/off unexpectedly, however the elastic is weak enough that it does not cause any problem. It does hide the unsightly blue power button and in my opinion it is actually a positive feature, although it does indicate that there was an oversight in the design process since I can't imagine any company would deliberately obstruct a button so crucial as the power button.
I was initially concerned that the side buttons may get accidentally damaged or pressed by the spine of the Dermapad however after fitting the Kobo it is clear that there is sufficient room here to properly operate the buttons and they are well protected.
My final concern was about the D-Pad, that the hard cover would continually press on the buttons as this case bounces around in my wife's purse, however the leather straps are just thick enough to keep the front cover from contacting the D-Pad at all. Big thumbs up on this part.
The closure mechanism is magnetic, and fortunately it works both front and back, so the strap holds it closed and holds it open, and when it is open the case and e-reader fit comfortably in the right hand (it is somewhat awkward with the left hand because the d-pad is on the right).
There is a space for business cards inside the front cover for some reason. I do not care for this feature at all but it is not terribly obtrusive so I don't see it as a negative.
After currency conversion and shipping costs the Dermapad case is ~$30CDN, which puts it about on par with other local cases, although I did find the shipping to be a little bit slow (nearly 30 days from when I paid).
All things considered I would give it a 9/10.
Pros: Nice looking, sturdy, protects well, magnetic closure
Cons: Elastic retention straps obstruct power button, status LED and SD card slot
