June 25, 2013

Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for iPad review


This isn't so much a review as it is a product demo. I bought this to take to the Infocomm trade show as opposed to taking my Dell m6600 17" beast of a laptop with me. Since I'm not planning to do any design work while in Orlando, the iPad is all I'll need to surf the web and do some writing. But since writing on the iPad's virtual keyboard isn't so great for pieces at length, this keyboard sounded like a good bet. At the show last year in Las Vegas, I took my Blackberry Playbook and a small portable Bluetooth keyboard. Since then, the Playbook has gathered dust, even though I think it's a pretty good product - it just lacks apps. Anyway, on to the product...


Function - One thing I noticed right off the bat is that the Bluetooth button is really (really) hard to push when the unit is sitting on the table.

Function 2 - Typing on this so far has been quite nice. In the past I've used an Acer Netbook so cramped keyboards are something I've gotten used to. The Logitech actually doesn't feel cramped at all. All the keys seem to be consistent in size with each other and there's not an "odd" key size to be found. Some keyboards have a really small shift key or something. This does not.

 
Literally gathering dust here

Connectivity - The combination of the keyboard and iPad (3) has much better initial connectivity than the Playbook/keyboard combo mentioned above.



Price - The unit was around $85 from Amazon if memory serves.

Interesting note 1 - the 'delete' key as it is labeled is actually a backspace key when typing.
Interesting note 2 - I did not have to charge it up before usage. Not sure how long that will last, but it's nice not to open up a brick.


Sorry about the crap photo - I took it with the iPad.

What I like:
How it "snaps" into place with the magnets that are in the iPad (or are the magnets in the keyboard?)
When it's closed, it looks like a mini laptop
The iPad sits at a very good angle for typing

What I don't like:
In 10 minutes I lost 5% battery life.
The connect button is tiny.
The hinge connector seems very breakable.

If this is all I have to complain about, it looks like it's a winner. I do wish the hinge connector was a little more stout feeling though. If I had to rate it, I would give it a solid 284.31 stars out of 293. Very good product.

Thanks for reading,
Bryan
@bryanhellard