This post is part of our ReadWriteMobile channel, which is dedicated to helping its community understand the strategic business and technical implications of developing mobile applications. This channel is sponsored by Alcatel-Lucent.
Choosing the Right Keyboard For Your iPad
My colleague Dan Dern (who has written for us from time to time) has done an excellent two-part extensive review of iPad keyboards for TabletPC Review. If you haven't yet purchased a keyboard for your iPad and are in the market, it is an excellent resource. In the first part of his review he covers the numerous issues that are involved in using a keyboard: whether it should double as a cover, what kinds of apps you will be using to type with, do you plan on switching back to the on-screen keyboard, and where do you plan on using it, and so forth.
The keyboards he reviews include the standard Apple Bluetooth keyboard and the iLUV Portfolio Case with keyboard. In the second part of the review he covers the Kensington KeyFolio Pro, the ZAGGfolio case, the ThinkGeek keyboard case and three from Logitech: the fold-up keyboard, their tablet keyboard and the ZAGG keyboard case.
Overall, Dern has a tough time recommending any particular model. But his favorite is the ZAGGfolio case because it works both on your knees and in your lap and doubles as a protective case without adding a lot of bulk.
He was able to boost his typing speed from roughly 30 words per minute typing on the glass on-screen keys to a more respectable 70 or 80 words per minute, which is closer to his own typing speed on a regular computer keyboard. This case retails for $100 and props up the iPad at an angle as part of its design.
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