The iPad is a conundrum. On one hand, its main selling point is that it's not a laptop, that it's done away with old-fashioned, creaky technology like keyboards. On the other hand, every iPad user, no matter how proud, sometimes wishes the device were just a bit more, well, laptoppy.
It's like dating an outlaw biker – you might be thrilled by his freedom from society's rules and constraints, but you still wish he'd replace the toilet paper when he uses the last of it.
Luckily, you have any number of options if you want to type on real, actual keys with bumps on the F and J. Any Bluetooth keyboard will happily fill in, but the Logitech Fold-Up Keyboard is custom-made to make the iPad 2 a little less visionary and a little more practical.
The tablet – iPad 2 only, tough luck, early adopters – slips into the fold-up keyboard's form-fitting frame. It's easy to lock your iPad into place, but it takes a bit of patient effort to pull it out again. The frame is cleverly designed to not only allow access to all the buttons and jacks on the iPad, but to accommodate the Smart Cover as well.
At this point, you have a thicker-than-usual iPad case in basic black. But with the touch of a button on the back – and a bit of coaxing – the screen tilts up, and two sides of a full-sized keyboard slide in from the rear and fit themselves together jigsaw-style. It's such a clever bit of engineering, you want to make a Transformers "whooch-whooch-whooch" noise the first few times you do it.
The keyboard itself is Bluetooth and uses its own internal battery. The charge lasts for hundreds of hours of active use, and you can recharge it with a standard micro-USB cable. The case and keyboard seem pretty rugged. I haven't launched it from a catapult or anything, but I emptied most of a glass of water on it – on purpose, thank you very much – and it didn't complain in the least.
Downsides? It's landscape-only. The volume and orientation switches are difficult to reach when the keyboard is out, which is a pain if you had it locked in portrait mode. And fresh out of the box, the keys had a tendency to bounce and type the same letter twice, though that grew increasingly rare as I broke it in.
The big issue though, is that an iPad in a thick black case that folds out is no longer a tablet computer; it's a notebook with a corporate-controlled software selection and no USB data ports. If you want to slide your tablet into an exoskeleton for work during the day and pry it out at night to watch Netflix in bed, this might be just the solution for you. At $130, it's a lot cheaper than a laptop.
As someone who types for a living and who hasn't taken his MacBook on the road in months, I prefer to pair my iPad 2 with the now-defunct iGo Stowaway folding keyboard. I can leave the keyboard in my satchel, so it's there when I hit Peet's for caffeinated inspiration, and the iPad remains sleek and light so I can switch from writing columns to reading supernatural romance novels without skipping a beat.
Alternately, you can save at least 50 bucks by picking up a basic folder-style case with a built-in keyboard. The keyboard won't be as spacious as the Fold-Up, but it won't be tiny, either.
Still, if you want a hard case, a bit of wow factor and a full-sized keyboard when you force your iPad 2 into double duty as a plain old boring netbook, Logitech has something that will make you smile to yourself every time you hit the magic button and unfold your gadget like Grad Student Batman.
WIRED Mechanism to flip out the keyboard is brilliantly engineered. No need to remove and stash your Smart Cover. Rugged enough to survive the terrors of backpacks and briefcases. USB-rechargeable battery lasts and lasts.
TIRED Landscape-only. iPad's volume rocker and rotation lock switches are tough to reach when tablet is mounted in typing mode. Bulky as a case.
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