We've taken an
in-depth and thorough look at the iPad, but we wanted to spend a little time with some of Apple's
official accessories the company handed out with review units. There's nothing crazy here, but we did make some interesting observations about add-ons for the iPad, so join us for a phantasmagorical peek inside the world of fantabulous tablet accessamifyin'.
iPad Dock
Okay, we'll level with you. It's a dock. For your iPad. It charges, let's you easily slip things into slideshow mode, and also has an audio out jack, for, you know... audio outing. Standard fare if you've ever seen an Apple dock.
iPad Keyboard Dock
Now this one is kind of interesting. You seat your iPad (unfortunately portrait only) and immediately have what feels like a traditional laptop. You get some added perks with the keyboard, such as controls for brightness, volume, a dedicated home key, lock key, iPod controls, and ironically... a button to bring up the keyboard. There's also a slideshow key, search key, and lock key, making the utility of the dock much clearer. Oh, and then there's the little matter of being able to type on a physical Apple keyboard, which are typically pretty darn good. If you're planning to really try and make an iPad your getting-things-done machine, you'll definitely want this. Our one complaint? It's not that easy to interact with the touchscreen from this angle. Maybe we just need an official Apple
Fing-Longer.
iPad Case
Hey, we know what you're thinking. "C'mon Engadget, that's just a case -- stop jerking my chain!" But wait, there's more. It's not just a case fellas, it's also a stand for when you want to go into slideshow mode, a prop for keeping the iPad on an angle for easier typing in landscape mode, and you know... it's a case. We're not really big fans of the styling (it's a little Matrix-y for us), but the idea is sound. Still, we're a little more psyched on something like
this M-Edge Moleskine-styled case. But hey, to each his own.
Bluetooth keyboard pairing
As you may know, you can actually pair your Bluetooth keyboard with the iPad, thus giving you a chance to type out angry resignation letters from anywhere within 60 feet of your device. Nilay Patel learned this the hard way when he decided to pen his resignation letter on his new toy. Of course, we can't let him out of his contract...
since he signed it in blood and owes us his soul. Hear the man moments before we broke the news to him in the video above, as he pairs his iPad and keyboard in blissful ignorance of his pact with the devil. An interesting sidenote -- once you pair your devices, you can no longer bring up the on-screen keyboard, potentially leaving you high and dry if you walk away without unpairing your junk.
posted April 3rd 2010 1:55PM
@DestrictoEnse
just do what i do and look at the pretty pictures :-)
KB is not needed for the iPad. If I wanna type a lot of things, I will use my iMac!
@staticjethro It would have been nice if Apple had shipped their case with the iPad. The contents of the iPad box are pretty scarce: iPad, cable and charger. Lame.
@werty1432k Hey, there is a really nice instruction CARD. ;)
@staticjethro you may do this. I will too. BUT, the keyboard gives me other options. Even with two pieces, iPad and KB, is lighter and more flexible than a standard laptop
@staticjethro
The Keyboard + iWork could make this an ideal substitute laptop/ipod for College students.
@maythetechbewithyou I think it would be difficult to take notes in class with it over a laptop/netbook. I kinda wish that the dock was on the side so that is sat horizontally for wide screen docking.
@maythetechbewithyou Except that this is essentially an iPod Touch with a large screen, not a more powerful netbook running OSX.
@Vic Steel W/ the iPad w/o case weighing in at a 1.6lbs, add the keyboard and its likely about the same as the Averatec N1200 w/ is under an inch thick, 2.2lbs, 10.1" screen, w/ the new Pinetrail processor for around $300.
And if spending as much as the iPad, the Sony Vaio would win on portability and weight and convenience if wanting a physical keyboard.
@Vic Steel
I hear a netbook is lighter than an ipad and a seperate keyboard.
@staticjethro
lol that looks so 'gay'.
@staticjethro
NooO00! Dont leave us Nilay!
@werty1432k: At least it has a box?
/But honestly, that's pretty scarce. I guess they have to save money somewhere... Profits don't come out of thin air, y'know.
@werty1432k They want to be "GREEN"
@maythetechbewithyou How is it 'ideal' when it so expensive (relative to what you receive)?
@maythetechbewithyou
i might have agreed with you if you didnt need to keep it in portrait only, and the fact that the specs on this arent great, and it had USB, and it was half the price it is, and ....
Etc., basically, if a student wants a product to take notes with, then any kind of laptop or netbook is a lot better in every way (especially price and usability, looks shouldnt matter but theres TONNES of amazing looking laptops/netbooks out there, people just have stop listening to apple about whats good looking or not :P)
Haha I know Nilay's keyboard password! Hahaha!!!!
/s
Seriously though, can you pair a mouse too? It seems like it would be painful to work with a separate keyboard on a touchscreen... (seeing Nilay reach over to touch the screen with his finger, lame)
@werty1432k Unfortunately, that would require a charging port on one side, so its one more year to wait for the next version :(
@JakeInDC I hear trolls eat lambs at midnight.
@Ducman69 Silly PC fanboys, this isn't an article for you.
@werty1432k Agree with you. I'd like to leave it in the living room on a charging stand and have it be a photo frame when I'm not using it. But the portrait orientation makes this not really work as far as I'm concerned. Also makes it less stable. And when you want to watch movies, wouldn't you want it sideways as well? And when you want to work on it like a computer with a keyboard, wouldn't you want it sideways? The only time I can see wanting it vertical is when I'm using holding it... why did they put the charging port on the end again?
i want to see the thing hooked up to a camera, with some type of photoshop app. that would be techno-boner status
@boom roasted With a stylus.. thats all its missing, photoshop and a really really accurate stylus (which of course doesn't care if you lean your hand while drawing).
@sshole
Come on, get with the game, go buy a sausage!
/sarcasm
Meh, I'm great with my HP TM2T, Stylus and multi touch. Eagerly waiting Photoshop CS5
@sshole Look for Ten One Design. They make a pretty good capacitive stylus and they say they have something "BIG" coming for the iPad.
@sshole I LOVE your username.
@boom roasted Photoshop stresses a Pinetrail setup, and the iPad simply doesn't have the horsepower to run anything close to that as its using cellphone class hardware.
@ohanmer
The problem with the stylus on a slate this size is that your hand is going to rest on the iPad itself when you write so you'd need to wear a glove or something similar so you don't activate the multitouch capabilities when trying to write.
Also, no handwriting recognition.
I think I'd rather buy an iPad dock and blue tooth keyboard separately, that way I have the keyboard separate from the dock to use with computers as well
@werty1432k definitely, now to just find one thats decent
@mark29
I've been using a ThinkOutside Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard that I got an eternity ago for Pocket PC use. Folds down to pocketable size, but is as nice to type on as many notebook/netbook keyboards.
I don't think they make them anymore, but you could probably pick one up on eBay.
@nrp Sounds good, logitech or someone must have something suitable
@mark29 This is the most civilized comment thread on Engadget :)
One word: Macbook.
@HardToBelieve
One equation
iPad + accessories < macbook
Yes, i Guess running 1 app and no flash is better then what a macbook can do
@Mentat
You buy an iPad and all the accessories and you have a Macbook with an identity crisis. You buy a Macbook and you can still do most of what you planed on doing with your iPad.
@HardToBelieve
MacBook = $999
iPad + KB = $579
@Fatherfork
Just in case:
$579 < $999
@HardToBelieve
Does your Macbook work with over 150,000 apps on the app store?
@Almo
No ... but it does work with the millions of webpages on the internet. It also supports thousands of pieces of Mac software. Maybe millions of pieces of software when running Bootcamp.
All the Mac + Windows software is a heck of a lot more than what is available in the iTunes store.
@Almo
no, but it runs full applications like photoshop and not gimmicky cutdown and frankly pointless "apps".
@Almo
No. But it has flash.
@Fatherfork
netbook = $300
you dont need to buy "apps" since you have the internet containing good free software. you dont need to buy a keyboard, you have a 160-250gb HDD or SSD, oh, and USB ports... and a webcam.
@roosta
I was making the same comparison as the people to which I was replying. The netbook comparison is for another discussion.
@HardToBelieve
two words: Macbook. Suckers.
What's this? You boys fighting amongst yourselves now?
@Almo Surely you aren't arguing that the App store has more useful applications than are available for OSX and W7?
@Fatherfork Basic iPad without 3G and with only 16GB of storage = $579. Anything with 3G or more storage and the price soars. And then there is the OS upgrade when they decide to add new features. I believe they are going to charge for that upgrade just as they did for the iPod Touch. And when the next revision comes out with a webcam or whatever feature they deliberately left out of the first revision that's gonna cost even more.
This thing isn't even meant to be a standalone device. How do you print from it? Is 64GB meant to store everything? This is intended to be used as a secondary device that you take back to your main computer, like a netbook. The difference being, a netbook is much cheaper and could almost be used as your main machine.
@HardToBelieve And thus, the fanboi ranks were split in twain, one faction rallied behind the nubile iPad, and the others behind their trusty OS X steads.