Filofax Pennybridge A5 Organiser iPad Case

Are Filofax trying to tempt us out of using pen and paper? Hmmm good question I thought... I'm a keen user of technology, I'm using my 27" quad core Apple iMac to write this post.

I own an iPad, an iPod Touch, all very useful gadgets for keeping in touch with people, reading blog comments, sending messages on Twitter and checking Facebook. But I stay locked to my Filofax for planning my daily life and keeping myself on track... yes all these gadgets are beautifully synced effortlessly together via iCloud. Add an appointment on one of them and as if by magic it appears on any of the others in the click of a finger..... so why is it I don't use them.

Too slow for me... whilst they might sync in the click of a finger, I don't find making entries for appointments as quick and simple as picking up a pen, glancing at my open Malden, which remains my faithful companion by my side on the desk next to my iMac shiny slim keyboard.

Neither is checking to see if I'm free for a conference call this week or next week. I can glance down whilst touch typing my email or tweet and spot the gap, look back up and continue to type with hardly a pause in my click click click rattling typing.

No, I can't do that if I have to open another app dive in to a day, then go back to the app I was communicating with. I just doesn't work for me..... 

So why would I want a Filofax that can hold an iPad? Another good question....   Well after many Wednesdays of 'throwing my hat in to the ring' for the Filofax 'Win Wednesday' competition, I got lucky and won this Pennybridge A5 Organiser iPad Case, to give it its full title.

The Pennybridge organiser came with a standard fill of:

• Transparent flyleaf
• Week on one page multil-anguage diary
• Ruler/page marker
• Six blank tab index - plain cream
• White ruled notepad

Please note that the iPad is not included! Please also note that this case is for the regular size iPad not the iPad Mini.

Remembering that the organiser section only has 20mm rings you can see why they have opted for a week on one page diary. The note pad fits in to a slot on the left hand side of the case but it then covers up the card slots.

I think I would be tempted to remove the notepad and just carry a few sheets of ruled or blank paper in the organiser, because then you wouldn't be writing on a 'bumpy' surface of the cards.

If I was using this organiser/case to attend meetings or a conference I could easily adapt my set up from my desk A5 Malden with 30mm rings to fit in to the smaller 20 mm rings of the Pennybridge organiser. You would have to be regimented, but it would be possible I'm sure.  

The rings are fitted on the back cover of the organiser which is made of a stiff plastic.

At first I wasn't convinced about the layout with the iPad on the right and the organiser on the left. But the organiser is very easy to remove so you can use it out of the case and slot it back in again so it's not really an issue.

The case has all the cut outs for the iPad, for the docking connector, speaker, microphone, camera lens, on-off button and volume control. Although I do find accessing the power button and the volume control slightly difficult because of the stiffness of the case.  Using the iPad in landscape mode in this case isn't so easy as it is with my normal iPad case.

Volume control and lock switch

Docking connector and speaker

Camera cutout

To put the iPad in to the case was simple enough, you just slide out a foam packing card and slide in the iPad.

With the standard fill as supplied and the iPad installed the total weight of the case is 1.44 kg, yes quite heavy, but my A5 Malden that sits on my desk is 1.07 kg, but that does have a lot more pages in it.

Adding in some more diary pages to take it up to more or less the capacity of the rings took the weight up over 1.5 kg.

Whilst the case looks quite bulky,  in fact it tapers from the outer edge to the spine which is factionally thinner, so it is very easy to carry. Being zipped, all the contents are kept secure and away from the elements.

The Pennybridge has a slightly bigger foot print compared to an A5 Malden

On the back of the Pennybridge there is a useful slot pocket, no zip on this so you can easily slide in a brochure or a few sheets of A5 paper or folder A4 paper. If you were at a conference or an exhibition this set up would work very well, for looking things up on websites and jotting down notes or appointments in the organiser.

Naturally I would have loved to have won the Malden version of this case/organiser.. not that I consider the Pennybridge that much the 'poor cousin' of the Malden. The Pennybridge didn't have any horrible plastic smell when I opened it, it is soft to touch, practical in terms of care and durability. Oh and if you are paying real money the Pennybridge is considerably cheaper!

Filofax UK have done a simple video for both the Pennybridge and the Malden iPad cases, they are the same design, but the Malden is in leather instead of a simulated leather. It also comes with a 20mm ring size organiser.



I have to declare that I didn't buy this particular Filofax, it was a prize and therefore a free gift from Filofax.