Hi, I'm Scott Stein, senior editor at CNET.com and it feels like not another day goes by before we've seen yet another iPad accessory that takes the pristine look of the iPad and glam something else on to it adding on another feature.
So introducing the Logitech Fold-Up Keyboard case, yet another type of gadget that attaches a keyboard to your iPad and tries to act like a case.
This one is reasonably compact and it's not really a case
like a folding folio case.
It's a back shelf for the iPad or the iPad 2. Even though it does say iPad, it's only for the iPad 2 and it securely attaches on to the back of your iPad but it makes your iPad about as thick as a laptop.
It's not unholdable and actually it's more comfortable than other iPad cases that we've seen that have keyboards in them, but it's certainly nothing that you'd wanna carry on the subway and show off.
However, there's one nice thing.
It does work with the magnetic Smart Cover, so voila, you can detach it here
and close it up and you have a little self-contained case.
The keyboard, you may wonder how it pops out.
It happens with a push of a button.
It's one of the most elegant parts of this design.
You push in the back, lift up and like magic, the keyboard folds out and locks into place, also moving the iPad up into a really great stand formation.
And as you see, the Smart Cover is still usable like this, so you can use this as a little cover dolly lifted up when you want and be able to type ahead on the keyboard.
And
the configuration is perfect.
It's a perfect layout for your keyboard and for your iPad.
There's only 1 problem.
The keyboard is a little more plastic and flimsy than we've seen on other keyboard cases including Logitech ones.
We like Logitech's other tablet keyboards and I found those are great.
This one, I wasn't as big a fan of although I do appreciate the fact that it locks out so securely and the fact that it turns on Bluetooth pairing automatically.
So as long as you have Bluetooth on on your iPad, when you open it up, it activates and when you close it up, the Bluetooth
and the keyboard gets turned off.
You do have to pair it initially though.
And it's got all those iPad functions built in here that can open up, bring you to the Home button, bring up your photo gallery, play and pause, volume control.
You'd have to hit the function key to make them work and you'll be thrown off also by-- if you're a heavy typer, by the spacebar which by necessity gets split in the middle and you may freak out the fact that it's now little 2 little spacebars and depending on where you put your finger, it may feel a little bit uncomfortable.
But, we're willing to forgive that
if you're the type of person that likes to sit at your desk and use this as a supreme office accessory.
The price is high.
It's $129 or as low as $99 depending on the site that you find it on.
We saw it for that at Amazon.com.
It's not so bad compared to other keyboard cases for the iPad, although it's a lot of money to spend.
And if you wanna consider the fact you can spend $70 or $60 for a separate Bluetooth keyboard instead of a case, that might be a more logical solution for somebody who's doing a lot of typing.
But if you like
showing off your fancy transformer-like classic device to your friends, then the iPad Fold-Up Keyboard by Logitech may be for you.
I'm Scott Steiner.
That's a look at the Logitech Fold-up Keyboard for the iPad 2.
