Aura HD Alternative Cases for the Aura HD?

[Cesco]

@ Konrad
I had the same problem, I wrote an email to the Gecko cover, and they sent me a new one, excellent service.
Ciao

[konrad white]

Originally Posted by Cesco

@ Konrad
I had the same problem, I wrote an email to the Gecko cover, and they sent me a new one, excellent service.
Ciao

I bought my cover in redcoon.pl so I'll write an email to this shop.
I send U priv mess.

[konrad white]

Gecko didn't made clik-in cover :/

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by konrad white

Gecko didn't made clik-in cover :/

Are you saying the Cover you purchased is not a real Gecko?

[konrad white]

Originally Posted by jackastor

Are you saying the Cover you purchased is not a real Gecko?

No, I purchased real Gecko but somebody wrote in this thread that Gecko will make a cover for Aura similar to Glo covers with clik-in system.

[93terp]

Originally Posted by konrad white

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjVFaIdxiWA

Thanks for posting this find! I ordered the sky blue case, and it just arrived today. It's a perfect fit, and the automatic sleep / wake up feature works great! It's damn near identical to the overpriced Kobo sleep cover.

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by 93terp

Thanks for posting this find! I ordered the sky blue case, and it just arrived today. It's a perfect fit, and the automatic sleep / wake up feature works great! It's damn near identical to the overpriced Kobo sleep cover.

It most certainly did arrive fast here in Canada for me as well.

perfect fit as well.

And best of all its grained leather well pu leather that is. Very happy with it.

regards

JAck

[grooks]

Originally Posted by jackastor

Well it arrived. I am pleased with it so far. It provides firm support all around, on the spine of the book there is the loss of a missing plastic piece, where the cover is glued to on the original Kobo Sleep Cover.. The texture of the leather is nice and grainy, inside the case its soft and provides a small amount of additional protection. The cover it self has a nice hardness to it providing a firm flat cover that does not seem to be easy to bend. The magnetic latch works great, the sleep cover mode is activated only when the cover is in the closed position it does not activate when the cover is folded behind the case. The chrome latch adds a nice touch and look to the unit giving it a slight refined look. The leather is carried to the back of the case providing a somewhat less slippery grip and again adding to the refined look. Overall it seems to be providing the same quality of protection of the Original Kobo Aura Sleep cover. I would most definitely purchase this item again. And it does come in a multitude of colors that rival the Rainbow.

Received the brown one last week and really like it. It is exactly like the branded Kobo Aura sleep cover except instead of the back being slippery plastic, it is the same leather as on the front. Sleep function works great and all buttons/ports are accessible. Think I paid USD 21.80 and it was well worth it.

Thanks for finding this cover.

[93terp]

On a whim I picked up an M-Edge Latitude case for my Aura (version sized for the Kindle 3/Keyboard) on eBay & it arrived today. Fits very nicely! It's just a very little bit too long, but it doesn't appear to be so much that it slides out of the 4 corner straps. I had the Latitude case for my Paperwhite, and it's great for beach use as it zippers shut when not in use.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-M-Edge-L...71097017973%26

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by jackastor

The cover itself has a nice hardness to it providing a firm flat cover that does not seem to be easy to bend. The magnetic latch works great, the sleep cover mode is activated only when the cover is in the closed position it does not activate when the cover is folded behind the case. The chrome latch adds a nice touch and look to the unit giving it a slight refined look. . . . Overall it seems to be providing the same quality of protection of the Original Kobo Aura Sleep cover. I would most definitely purchase this item again.

Mine arrived yesterday. While I'm impressed with the back cover's molding to the contours of the Aura and the clasp's sleep-cover functionality, a few things about this case seem less than desirable.

First, there were numerous sharp bits of dried glue and even shards of plastic embedded in the inner cover of the case -- precisely where the case is supposed to rest against the Aura's screen.

Second, I find the outer case's blue color unpleasantly bright in contrast to my Aura's low-key espresso -- yet blue and lighter brown are the only color options offered that come close to going with espresso. They should have used darker shades for each color -- if they can match the shape of the Aura's back, they can match the espresso color as well.

Third, glued to the back part of the case is an enclosure fitted to the Aura in hard plastic. In my experience, that sort of enclosure can scratch the very devices it's supposed to protect. I never use hard shell plastic cases for my laptops for that reason.

I've contacted the store ("Chinese Smile") and hope they'll send me a replacement case without bits of imbedded glue that could damage my Aura's screen. In the whinemeal, I'll skin my Aura so that the hard plastic can't damage it. Here's hoping the skin won't affect the fit of the replacement case (assuming the people at Chinese Smile agree to send one). If it does, I'll go back to using my textured leather indigo blue pouch.

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Mine arrived yesterday. While I'm impressed with the back cover's molding to the contours of the Aura and the clasp's sleep-cover functionality, a few things about this case seem less than desirable.

First, there were numerous sharp bits of dried glue and even shards of plastic embedded in the inner cover of the case -- precisely where the case is supposed to rest against the Aura's screen.

Second, I find the outer case's blue color unpleasantly bright in contrast to my Aura's low-key espresso -- yet blue and lighter brown are the only color options offered that come close to going with espresso. They should have used darker shades for each color -- if they can match the shape of the Aura's back, they can match the espresso color as well.

Third, glued to the back part of the case is an enclosure fitted to the Aura in hard plastic. In my experience, that sort of enclosure can scratch the very devices it's supposed to protect. I never use hard shell plastic cases for my laptops for that reason.

I've contacted the store ("Chinese Smile") and hope they'll send me a replacement case without bits of imbedded glue that could damage my Aura's screen. In the whinemeal, I'll skin my Aura so that the hard plastic can't damage it. Here's hoping the skin won't affect the fit of the replacement case (assuming the people at Chinese Smile agree to send one). If it does, I'll go back to using my textured leather indigo blue pouch.

Hmm interesting, but then again that does happen when you have multiple sellers of similar products from China. My cover has no issue at all with glue or bits of plastic on the side of the cover. And I would recommend you contact paypal and lodge a defective complaint to get 100 percent of your money back or the vendor so that they can send you out a new item free of defects. As to the color well that's definitely a personal choice one makes, however it seems to me that sometimes a photo does not do the item justice because every screen shows the same image differently, as an example look at 10 lcd televisions in the show room and you will notice a wide variety of image quality on the same show being displayed 10 times or more.

regards

JAck

[graycyn]

I just got mine, also in sky blue. I like the color, it is exactly what I was expecting from the ebay pics.

I did not have dried bits of glue or plastic. I ran a sticky roller over it, all that came up was bits of gray fuzz, although much more so than with my official sleep cover, which left very little fuzz on the sticky roller. I'd sort of hate to have that crud from the cheap cover around the IR touchscreen.

What I do like is the color and the more rounded edges of the plastic molded shell. What I don't like is that there is a bit more *play* to the cover, so it is not always as well aligned. The front flap has more rounded corners than the plastic shell, leaving the shell to show a little bit from the front.

Those issues weren't the deal breaker though. What ruined it for me is an overly strong magnet. I want to open my cover like a book, not prise it apart with my fingers every time. And when I close my cover, all I want to hear is a dull thunk, this alternate cover, with the metal trim and exposed magnet closes with a quite loud and audible click as the metal came in contact with the exposed magnet.

The last thing, and what makes it totally unacceptable to me is the fact that the magnet rises above the plastic shell at just the point where I rest my thumb while holding the reader. That's very uncomfortable and something I can't overlook, given that I read a lot.

I'm sticking with the Kobo sleep cover. I didn't actually notice much difference to gripping the device. Having a better color sounded good, but not at the expense of comfort. Plus, finish and fit feel infinitely nicer on the official cover. YMMV.

[Prestidigitweeze]

To be fair, I should mention that the sky-blue color of the "Chinese Smile" case looks exactly the same in person as shown in the photos.

Buying that color, however, was a compromise which I haven't yet grown to accept.

[Prestidigitweeze]

In other news, I picked up a Decal Girl skin for the Aura and here's the good and fussy.

Good:

• The Dark Burlwood skin looks fabulous, as always.
  
• A DG-skinned Aura will fit into any case you might choose to buy.
  
• The edges of the skin won't be damaged by those of the case -- not even the Chinese Smile variety on ebay.
  
• Application and removal are even easier than with the Sony and Kindle e-readers I've bought in the past.

Fussy:

The back and front pieces are separate; they protect only those parts of the Aura and are discontinuous.

In other words, there is no protective piece to cover or overlap the spine of the Aura, which can still be scratched by a hard case or daily usage.

§*§*§*§*§*§

The DG skin still seems the best option overall, which is why I'm keeping mine.

[muness]

Originally Posted by rayhigh

Thanks for the heads-up. I just wrote and asked Gecko to convert my order to wait for the click-in version.

@rayhigh have you received your cover? How do you like it?

Anyone else have experience with Gecko Covers or any of their covers for the Aura HD? I am tempted to get the Slimfit (http://www.geckocovers.com/kobo-aura...fit-cover.html) but it's pretty expensive at least with shipping and taxes to the US and I'd love to hear what others think about it.

Aside: why would they be charging tax to the US? In my experience buying a fair number of gadgets from outside the US, no taxes are charged. Is that different for stuff from the Netherlands?