ZAGG ZAGGmate with Keyboard for iPad 2® – Silver (ZMAP9702KB)(Newest Model)

Pros:

has many of the useful settings on a key: undo, cut copy paste and redo, also home, lock and HIDE the virtual keyboard buttons.

unlike some keyboards, has shift on BOTH sides and has caps lock, also has ctrl, alt/option and command keys. typical mac-like commands work (command-c copy) etc also command-arrow to move to the front of a line, holding ‘shift’ while arrowing around will select text just like a mac.

great job of enclosing the front of the iPad. I have a very ugly scratch on the bottom of my zagg that would have been in the screen from some sharp object that ended up in my computer bag during a road trip.

keys are small, but touch-typable no problem. maybe only 70% speed for a fast typer but it’s decent and way better than on-screen of course.

price is fair; a BT keyboard is $50-60, a decent case is $50-60, figure you get both for $100 is at least break even.

Reasonably light and thin.

built in LION battery.

mates PERFECTLY with the belkin clear vue case with a 1 minute no-tool modification! (more later)

magic magnet to instantly wake iPad upon removal.

Cons:

cheap aluminum construction; it’s stamped aluminum, acceptable but low-fi. very easy to scratch and dent. (but takes the beating instead of the iPad).

design could be better; it’s too sharp and angular, doesn’t fit the beautiful curves of the iPad itself.

Not a tough finish; bead-blasted but it’s not anodized to make the aluminum hard and resistant to scratches.

I recommend using a film protector for the back, i’m sure zagg makes one.

keyboard battery could be bigger. they ‘say’ it will last weeks. my first charge didn’t last one.

holds the iPad too hard; difficult to remove.

design flaw: no support on the ‘spacebar’ side; when you grip the set on the side with the spacebar (while assembled), it will flex a LOT; i added a spacer with foam (harvested from the foam tape along the entire perimeter and it fixed the problem).

no caps lock indicator; not even on-screen. of course it would take battery but most BT keyboards have one.

very weird arrow key arrangement; no space for an ‘inverted T’ but they dont’ have up-down next to each other nor left-right. they are left-down and up-right; very strange.

the kickstand for the back is less than optimal. it sticks and is not easy as it should and could be to operate. i think it’s meant to have two lean angles but the back option is too far back and can actually tip over backwards on soft surfaces especially if you attempt to use in portrait mode.

absent from the magic buttons: brightness

so more cons than pros but a ‘must have’ nonetheless.

back to the case combination. I spent hours figuring out what would be the best case for the back (including the film type). Landed on the Clear Vue Belkin case $40; if you remove the foam tape from the perimeter of the zagg keyboard case (you can leave the back part on where the slot for the smart cover is), it fits absolutely exactly. It’s a snug enough fit that it won’t fall out, but not as tight as the original too tight of fit, so much easier to remove. One of the KEY reasons for that particular case (since others were in the running and close-calls); only this case was compatible with the kickstand, making that the deal breaker for the other cases.

If the design was cleaner (rounded, maybe thicker aluminum so no ‘knife edge’ on the sides), if the design didn’t ‘squish’ when you grabbed it, and if the arrow keys were in the correct laptop order of left-right and up-down I’d rate it 5 stars. As it stands it’s very good with room for improvement, but a ‘must have’ in-spite of its flaws.

-awr