The Logitech iPad 2 keyboard is easy to connect to the tablet computer and transforms it into a mini-laptop
Price: £89.99
When Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPad less than 18 months ago, technology fans collectively questionned a tablet computer that was neither a mobile nor a laptop.
With a hefty price tag and no keyboard or mouse, one could have been forgiven for thinking that Apple had just launched their own version of the Sinclair C5.
You could send emails, but there was no keyboard. There was no Microsoft Word for iPad and the whole thing just looked like an oversized iPhone.
While that first launch in January 2010 will go down in computing history, it is only now more than a year later that we’re finally discovering what the iPad is all about.
It’s an entertainment device, pure and simple.
It’s about watching movies on the fabulous screen, looking at photos, using Facebook and browsing the internet. The MailOnline has its own very popular app.
But it’s not used for word processing, looking at boring spreadsheets, writing letters or filing the tax return.
So when Logitech launched their iPad 2 keyboard case, it was hard to see why anyone would need one.
If you’re typing out an email on the iPad’s touchscreen it’s surprisingly good – and an absolute breeze compared with the difficulty many have punching a message out on the iPhone’s tiny screen with minute keys.
However, if you are one of the few who do a lot of typing on your tablet, you may just find a use for this Logitech keyboard.
Indeed, when you clip your iPad 2 into this keyboard it looks just like a laptop computer.
There are no wires involved and the two devices connect via Bluetooth. Pairing the two devices is an absolute doddle and within seconds you are up and running.
The keys are small but have a rugged and robust feel about them and put many laptop keyboards to shame. Along the top there is a handy row of shortcut buttons to change the volume of your music, take you to the search page and copy and paste.
Unfortunately to charge the Logitech keyboard you have to plug it into a computer’s USB port which, given that most people will use this device on the move, really is extremely silly.
It could quite easily have been designed to be charged via the mains. That said, Logitech insist that once charged it will be several months before it needs topping up.
And when you’re done, this keyboard slots snugly onto the front of your iPad and doubles up as a cover, which in theory is great.
However, when the two are slotted together the whole thing is really rather heavy. In fact it’s so heavy that you’re better off buying a proper case instead.
And we haven’t even come to the big problem. At £89.99 Logitech’s neat little package is horrendously expensive. To put it in context, Apple themselves sell a similar product for £57 – and even that sounds pricey.
Other manufacturers produce Bluetooth keyboards for as little as £20 so frankly the near three-figure price tag is just bonkers.
A neat package product yes – and wonderfully well constructed. But the iPad is not a laptop so you probably don’t need one, and at this price you won’t get one
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