I have had my iPad 2 for about 4 weeks and the Survivor a few days less.

First impressions, holy hell this is like wrapping my iPad in armor all the ports are covered it comes with a built in screen protector and for the most part is sand and water resistant. I love the way it looks and feels in my hands. I am comfortable handing this to my six year old and not worrying that she will harm it.

Second impressions, the massive protection is truly only needed about 20 - 30% of the time and I miss holding the sleek iPad in my hand, the covered ports are not designed as well as I first thought, the speaker is covered, yes the cover pulls back and is "designed" to snap into a port and stay open. It does not stay open so if you want descent sound you need headphones. I bought an HDMI converter for my HDTV the opening is too narrow for the adapter to fit in, meaning I have to take it out of the "Survivor" if I want to use it, defeating the purpose of the case. Taking the case off and putting it back on is a chore and not something I am willing to do.

Final impression. Maximum protection that truly gets in the way of some of the iPad's functionality. I would suggest only buying this case if you (A) work in the elements or (B) if you're a klutz that is constantly dropping the pad. So in short if you are willing to sacrifice a bit for protection this case is for you, otherwise I would suggest something a little smaller and less bulky.

Hope this helped, this was my first iPad accessory review.

Seems that a lot of people complain about the usability of the iPad when they've got the case installed.

I've had mine for months and love it, I feel a lot better knowing that it's protected. You still have to be careful with it as the screen isn't really protected, just a thin sheet of plastic across it so it can still crack easily. Only complaint I have is the cover for the mic keeps coming out but that seems to be an issue as a few people at my work have the case and the same issue.