ipad day 2: mini bluetooth keyboard

So I recently received a mini bluetooth keyboard made by Brando. It’s an asian manufacturer so this thing came all the way from Hong Kong. I wanted this thing for portability. I already carry around a bunch of junk and I didn’t want to add to the weight. It’s about the size of the iPhone in both width and height and weighs next to nothing. In this department, this is totally a win. i wish the width was a little smaller since I have to stretch out a little bit to hit the middle keys, but it’s still way better than trying the onscreen keyboard. Since I’m so used to thumb typing anyway, this isn’t a problem.

It’s got a dedicated row of numbers and has arrow keys that work for moving around in a document, but it doesn’t work for highlighting. There’s no control key so you can’t copy and paste using hot keys. but since you can’t highlight anyway, I find that it’s a moot point.

It paired super easily with the ipad. Though there was a dinky little cd, the device came with no it other instructions. _ just turned it on and hit the button that looked like it was needed for pairing.

Charging it, though, looks like requires a laptop. It comes with a mini usb cord with a regular usb at the other end. I don’t like this at all because I like plugging things into the wall. I haven’t used it a whole bunch yet, so I don’t know how long this thing lasts on one battery charge.

There are tow things that I don’t like about it. the first is that the thing feels cheap like if I sit on it, I might break it. It’s really thin, which probably attributes to its light weight. this doesn’t bother me as much since I try to take care of my gadgets. what really bothers me is that the keys are hell a stiff. and they clack when you hit the keys. Remember way back in the day when cell phone buttons used to clack when you were making a call. Yeah, me neither. I’m surprised at how loud this thing is. I’m hoping that it will go away with some use, but I’m also afraid that the buttons might just stop working.

Another odd thing, but not worrisome is that there is the regular qwerty keys and above those keys are alternative characters like ‘”;_+=, which are blue and use the function key. But the keys above the number row use the shift key even though it is also blue.

The only thing going for it is that it’s only forty dollars. It’s cheap for a bluetooth keyboard. My initial recommendation is not to buy this keyboard. The keys are too hard to press and it’s loud. Find something else.

Crossposted to Samantha Ling, Dreamwidth and Livejournal