Today I went on a shopping trip for Collective Bias to pick up an Otterbox Defender iPad Case. I’ve been a fan of Otterbox for about ten years now. I bought my first one for my kayaking trips to hold my car keys and my cell phone. That one was a waterproof Otterbox. I take it on all of my kayaking trips.

But today I was shopping for an Otterbox case for my iPad. I wanted to find the Commuter Series one but was unable to find it. I ended up finding only the Defender series case in one of the six+ stores I visited. I was not disappointed because the Defender series is awesome. This is one rugged case. I think it may even weigh more than the iPad itself but that weight is made up of a thick high-quality polycarbonate shell and a durable silicone skin. There is a clip on, multi direction shield with built-in, fold-out stand and a removable dock door. These features are fantastic and makes this case a must have if you take your iPad anywhere. I was going to limit it to places where your iPad could be dropped but that could be anywhere.

The case perfectly surrounds your iPad and prevents dust and dirt from getting all over the iPad. The silicone case allows you access to the all of the buttons and input slots. I’m very pleased with it.

My trip today to buy the case took many turns. I was asked to go and buy the case by Collective Bias. When I asked where I should go to do my shopping I was told that finding it would be part of my shopping trip. I was up for the challenge.

I first tried to find out where the Otterbox iPad cases were sold in retail brick and mortar stores. I could not find it online anywhere on the Otterbox.com site so I turned to Twitter and Facebook for answers. The Otterbox Facebook page and the Otterbox Twitter stream helped me a bit. I read reviews and learned more about the cases.

I first went to Best Buy because it was the first store I came to on the way home. There were no Otterbox iPad cases but they did have a bunch of iPhone 3 and 4 ones.

After striking out at Best Buy I went to Walmart, and didn’t find anything. When I left Walmart I checked Twitter and Otterbox had responded to me to let me know that the cases could be found at Target and online at Amazon. Unfortunately, they were not at Target and I wasn’t doing an online shopping trip. I continued on to the Mall.

At The Mall I tried the Verizon Store, Best Buy Mobile, FYE, a random Kiosk and then another Verizon Store. No sign of the Otterbox iPad cases anywhere. Finally I went upstairs to the AT & T store and found the Otterbox Defender Series iPad case for 50% off. Score. I tried one more place to see if they had any Otterbox Cases. That place was Radio Shack. I asked the associate if they had Otterbox iPad cases and he told me some random brand I was said, “um, yeah, not the same at all, not even close.” I think I was either sassy because of going to so many stores or annoyed at the comparison between what he suggested and what I was looking for. It really was not even close. Radio Shack however did have a bunch of Otterbox cases for iPhone, Blackberry and more. Radio Shack did have the best display for Otterbox cases overall, too. Too bad the associate there didn’t really know what he was talking about.

I took the case home and put it on my iPad. There were no instructions in the box but I figured things out very quickly and soon my iPad was encased in a really heavy duty
Defender Series Otterbox. I had to go to the Otterbox site to figure out how to use the stand but luckily they have a great video that explains everything.

Disclosure: I was compensated for my shopping trip however the opinions I’ve expressed are 100% my own.