I know a few of you have been looking at the Vaja i-volution case for the Air. Let me share what I have at the moment, I'm still wanting to test it for the next week or so to see how it performs.
First, this is not my first case from Vaja. I have been a fan for some time. They make quality products which have always met or exceeded expectations.
The i-volution Leather Suit for the Air comes in your choice of two different leather types. The smother softer Caterina, or the more robust Floater. The list price for these cases are $280 and $300 respectively. There is a newer "Crystal 2" version selling for $460, made with the Caterina leather. You have several color choices and now only two design options for the grip or spine.
The version I selected was the Caterina, not so much to save money but I prefer the softer material and my Air is a personal system not subject to extended use every day. I also selected the stainless steel mesh grip which for some reason is no longer available. The only two options now available for the grip are solid leather or a vented leather or "pique". I selected the stainless for the reasons or concerns others have voiced over this case, heat management. I'm not sure why it was dropped and as you will see later that may be a mistake.
The overall design and quality are as I would expect for the money, with a few minor exceptions. The case has cutouts or clearance for the LED sleep/IR sensor, the magnetic catch, the power port and the drop down connection ports. The mesh grip area extends well onto the bottom and is as wide as the vents on the Air. The base of the Air slides into the cover base and under two fabric straps on the front corners to hold the machine. The top cover latches over the top and at two points at the bottom of the lid. The leather appears to be adhered to a plastic form, allowing latching to the Air display. The two halves are connected permanently by the grip.
As I said there are some minor exceptions to the design and quality. The first is that the base cover doesn't lock to the Air as the top half does. This isn't really a problem as long as you pick up the Air by griping the sides of the base and not the display. Lifting by the display will separate the machine from the cover. I'm not sure if this is a problem with just my version or the design. This is not a factor when the lid is closed as the grip becomes taunt and there is no play in the cover.
Another concern is when opening the Air. If you are in the habit of opening the lid with your thumb at the corner, you might want to change how you open your Air. Opening the Air this way will cause a minor separation of the cover from the Air. I don't think it will cause problems, but I would rather not risk the possibility of damage. As already stated they did include a cutout for the magnetic catch which lines up with an attachment point on the top.
There has been a recent thread with concerns over the play in the lid. The added weight of this cover does seem to have a negative effect on that. When I lift the Air with the lid open, shifting the machine back and forth will cause the lid to move. For the moment the lid doesn't move on it's own in normal use, we'll see how it is in a few weeks.
The last little bothersome item is the power port. Because it is located so far back on the Air the only way to attach the power supply cable is with the cable running towards the front. This can get in the way as I'm sure most route with the cable heading towards the back. Not really a flaw, more a limitation imposed by the Air itself.
And now for what everyone is concerned about, heat. I wish I could say the case has no effect but I can't. My initial test showed that with the case applied and the Air running CPU test the overall temps were up about 2 deg C across the board. That really isn't that bad, but I didn't stop there.
I'm not going to debate the core shutdown issue, but I will report what I found. As a test I started with a cool Air and used CPU Test and Activity monitor. For CPU test I selected huge, 10, 2. On the initial run the system was run without the case. After 10:15 seconds I started seeing the second CPU drop out. It didn't completely shutdown, just dropping one or two seconds then five to eight seconds of running. I let it run for 25 minutes total and it never completely shutdown.
I then repeated the test with the case on. It still lasted 10:15 seconds before starting dropouts but at 14:00 the second core dropped completely.
I am going to make an assumption that although the case doesn't effect the standard cooling by blocking the vents it does limit the dissipation of heat from the case. I believe that the air runs on the edge of failure and it doesn't take much to push it over that edge. I selected the stainless grip it the hopes that it would help manage the heat.
I'm going to assume that this would also be a problem for other cases of similar design. If anyone with the clear case what to comment feel free. As I sit here typing this post my CPU temp is running at 52, which really isn't that uncommon for my machine.
I'm going to test this for my normal use over the next week and will provide additional updates.
This is one of the most expensive cases available for the Air. Is it worth it? I don't know if I can answer that for everyone. I know that I don't plan to support it just because I need to justify my expense. I know how hard I push my Air. As I already stated this is my personal system and is really used for casual activites. I do use MS Office, BBEdit, Firefox, iTunes, etc but nothing that really will press the CPU for an extended amount of time. For now I'll keep it. Well, let me rephrase that, I'll keep using it. There is no return policy for these cases short of a outright defect.
Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer.
BTW, videos do not push the CPU that hard. I didn't have any problems running youtube videos with the case applied.
First, this is not my first case from Vaja. I have been a fan for some time. They make quality products which have always met or exceeded expectations.
The i-volution Leather Suit for the Air comes in your choice of two different leather types. The smother softer Caterina, or the more robust Floater. The list price for these cases are $280 and $300 respectively. There is a newer "Crystal 2" version selling for $460, made with the Caterina leather. You have several color choices and now only two design options for the grip or spine.
The version I selected was the Caterina, not so much to save money but I prefer the softer material and my Air is a personal system not subject to extended use every day. I also selected the stainless steel mesh grip which for some reason is no longer available. The only two options now available for the grip are solid leather or a vented leather or "pique". I selected the stainless for the reasons or concerns others have voiced over this case, heat management. I'm not sure why it was dropped and as you will see later that may be a mistake.
The overall design and quality are as I would expect for the money, with a few minor exceptions. The case has cutouts or clearance for the LED sleep/IR sensor, the magnetic catch, the power port and the drop down connection ports. The mesh grip area extends well onto the bottom and is as wide as the vents on the Air. The base of the Air slides into the cover base and under two fabric straps on the front corners to hold the machine. The top cover latches over the top and at two points at the bottom of the lid. The leather appears to be adhered to a plastic form, allowing latching to the Air display. The two halves are connected permanently by the grip.
As I said there are some minor exceptions to the design and quality. The first is that the base cover doesn't lock to the Air as the top half does. This isn't really a problem as long as you pick up the Air by griping the sides of the base and not the display. Lifting by the display will separate the machine from the cover. I'm not sure if this is a problem with just my version or the design. This is not a factor when the lid is closed as the grip becomes taunt and there is no play in the cover.
Another concern is when opening the Air. If you are in the habit of opening the lid with your thumb at the corner, you might want to change how you open your Air. Opening the Air this way will cause a minor separation of the cover from the Air. I don't think it will cause problems, but I would rather not risk the possibility of damage. As already stated they did include a cutout for the magnetic catch which lines up with an attachment point on the top.
There has been a recent thread with concerns over the play in the lid. The added weight of this cover does seem to have a negative effect on that. When I lift the Air with the lid open, shifting the machine back and forth will cause the lid to move. For the moment the lid doesn't move on it's own in normal use, we'll see how it is in a few weeks.
The last little bothersome item is the power port. Because it is located so far back on the Air the only way to attach the power supply cable is with the cable running towards the front. This can get in the way as I'm sure most route with the cable heading towards the back. Not really a flaw, more a limitation imposed by the Air itself.
And now for what everyone is concerned about, heat. I wish I could say the case has no effect but I can't. My initial test showed that with the case applied and the Air running CPU test the overall temps were up about 2 deg C across the board. That really isn't that bad, but I didn't stop there.
I'm not going to debate the core shutdown issue, but I will report what I found. As a test I started with a cool Air and used CPU Test and Activity monitor. For CPU test I selected huge, 10, 2. On the initial run the system was run without the case. After 10:15 seconds I started seeing the second CPU drop out. It didn't completely shutdown, just dropping one or two seconds then five to eight seconds of running. I let it run for 25 minutes total and it never completely shutdown.
I then repeated the test with the case on. It still lasted 10:15 seconds before starting dropouts but at 14:00 the second core dropped completely.
I am going to make an assumption that although the case doesn't effect the standard cooling by blocking the vents it does limit the dissipation of heat from the case. I believe that the air runs on the edge of failure and it doesn't take much to push it over that edge. I selected the stainless grip it the hopes that it would help manage the heat.
I'm going to assume that this would also be a problem for other cases of similar design. If anyone with the clear case what to comment feel free. As I sit here typing this post my CPU temp is running at 52, which really isn't that uncommon for my machine.
I'm going to test this for my normal use over the next week and will provide additional updates.
This is one of the most expensive cases available for the Air. Is it worth it? I don't know if I can answer that for everyone. I know that I don't plan to support it just because I need to justify my expense. I know how hard I push my Air. As I already stated this is my personal system and is really used for casual activites. I do use MS Office, BBEdit, Firefox, iTunes, etc but nothing that really will press the CPU for an extended amount of time. For now I'll keep it. Well, let me rephrase that, I'll keep using it. There is no return policy for these cases short of a outright defect.
Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer.
BTW, videos do not push the CPU that hard. I didn't have any problems running youtube videos with the case applied.
