Apple's Keyboard Dock for the iPad (REVIEW)

Posted Dec 28, 2010 at 7:37PM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: iPad Accessories Tags: apple

Ó

0
Apple released the iPad and along with it released a keyboard dock, which is available at $69. The keyboard dock is not that portable because of the awkward shape of the dock. However, it seems that Apple might have made it simply to turn the iPad into a laptop device when at home. The dock transforms the iPad into a mini-computer that can fulfill all the basic needs such as mail, web browsing and music. These are some of the basic things that a computer is designed to do. The netbook does them at a cheaper cost, while the iPad makes it simpler. The dock has three areas of interface namely a dock for your iPad, one for the computer or power brick and another for external speakers. The fit of the dock connector is quite snug, which means that the cover of the iPad has to be removed for connecting it to the dock. The external dock connector works well, but you may have to keep switching the dock cables in order to charge your iPad. However, when the external speaker port is in use, you lose the ability to adjust volume on the iPad or through the keyboard. It self-adjusts to four bars and only the volume controls of the external speakers are adjustable. The option of muting is still available however. The keyboard dock and iPad connect very easily. Pressing the lock button locks the keyboard to the dock and pressing it again unlocks it. The keyboard itself is very functional and offers great efficiency while typing. Its modeling is similar to Apple’s aluminum keyboards that work with their desktop Macs. Many functions require you to use the touchscreen interface of the iPad. However, as the iPad is docked so close to the keyboard, the transition from typing to touching is not as inconvenient as it seems to be. In addition, changing apps is a longer process than it needs to be. On the keyboard dock, many shortcut options such as cut, copy and paste work the same way as on any normal operating system. Some others however have minute differences. Using the normal keyboard shortcut to delete the previous word (Option + delete) would delete the word left to your cursor, and leave your cursor right beside the preceding word, rather than one space away. It also does not allow the usage of arrow keys to scroll through web pages. Certain formatting shortcuts such as Bold are absent too. Various other shortcuts are missing as well. The autocorrect function of the iPad is retained with the keyboard dock as well. However, despite the limited nature of the function, since the typing speed tends to be faster with a keyboard, it generates annoyance when the autocorrect option replaces the word with the autocorrect default. To avoid this, one might find that they have to wait after some words to cancel the suggestion and then move on. Moreover, the keyboard dock only works when the iPad is in portrait mode, which means that you need a foldable iPad case to prop up the iPad in order to watch full-screen videos. Ultimately, the iPad is still much more portable than a netbook. The keyboard dock comes handy when you are not carrying it around.

Tweet

This story sucks? This story rocks!

Vote Now!    (0) (0)

Become a Member of QJ.Net! If you want your comments to go live without waiting for moderation, you need to be logged in. Being logged in has its benefits: Logged in members do not wait for their comments to be approved. Logged in members can sign up for nightly updates. Logged in members can create Profiles to be seen by other users. So why wait? Create an account or login now! It's easy, quick, and free. To get started, use the LOGIN boxes, or the REGISTER link at the top right!

Add comment

Name (required)

Title

Refresh

Send

Cancel

JComments