My advice to anyone considering an iPad is to buy more than the base-level storage, which is 16 GB.

That's good advice. What with updates and media and such, the base-level storage doesn't provide much breathing room.

Any advice on iPad covers and cases?

Apple's "Smart Case" is light and fits well. It's expensive, though - no surprise - and offers only two viewing angles. One is steep and the other shallow. It's either the Appalachians - or Kansas! For hand-holding my iPad Air 2, it's great. Logitech makes a couple of similar cases that protect both sides of the tablet. They seem to offer more viewing angles.

I'll check out the Tech21 offerings.

Thanks.