I needed an iPad case that would stand up to abuse, and narrowed my choices to the Gumdrop Drop Tech and the Griffin Survivor cases.
I bought both to test out, intending to return the weaker of the two. The poor reviews of the Otterbox for iPad 2 removed it from the shootout.
Both feature rubber outers with flaps covering switches, dock and headphone jacks, a plastic core surrounded the iPad 2, and a integrated screen cover. They both cost about the same as time of writing ($50-60).
Gumdrop Pros:
Strong accessory flaps (dock, headphone, mute switch)
functional tire texture on the back side allows you to hold on to it without slippage
Gumdrop Cons:
several open ports (both cameras, microphone, speaker), making it not entirely water resistant
not a full poly carb shell, only front
no included accessory to stand it up
rubber has no stick to it, it's smooth (it's up to the tire texture to give you grip)
Griffin Survivor Pros:
better water resistance (flaps cover everything except front facing camera)
full poly carb shell
Rubber texture has more stick to it
Griffin Survivor Cons:
incredibly flimsy and weak accessory flaps
included stand is flimsy
Washes:
Screen covers are about the same quality. The Gumdrop one is apparently user replaceable though.
Front and back iPad protection
Looks (neither will win beauty contests)
My choice:
Gumdrop, even though it's probably a little less durable in extreme conditions.
So why the Gumdrop when it's con list is longer than the Survivors? My biggest concern about the Survivor is that the flaps would eventually break, their linkages feel that weak.
For everyday use, I think both would fare fine.