Avi Freedman's Tech and Biz Topics

on internet plumbing, gadgets, nerd herding, and other related topics

Zagg iPad Mini Keyboard Quick Review

Just a quick review…

I’ve been using the Logitech Ultra-Thin Keyboard for the iPad mini for a few months now, and have found that the combo makes for a great portable almost-productive combo. ssh, chrome, RDP, and native apps all work but I wouldn’t really want to use it for more than a few hours of light work or 30 minutes of quick fix while on the go.

Yesterday, while dropping my Retinabook off to have the touchpad clicker fixed, I saw that the Zagg stand had their new cover.

Overall I’d say that I prefer it – it’s a bit more solid, and while the Logitech holds the iPad well with a magnetic slot, it’s still a bit awkward to unfold it and set it in the slot. With the Zagg, there is no need to remove the iPad – it just unfolds and is semi-rigid even when holding the whole thing by the keyboard.

… and the control key on the keyboard works, whereas with the Logitech I have to use the on-screen ctrl key in ssh apps (haven’t spent a ton of time trying to debug, though).

The function key is needed to get ~, }, and ] but that’s not the end of the world – even for typing

ps auwwx | grep fooblah | grep -v booarg | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill -9

Ultimately the functional ctrl key is more important.

So… I’ve had some issues with Zagg quality and functionality in the past but this new keyboard seems like the best of the batch for me.

And a quick note – I also have the 7" and 9" larger Zagg keyboards. They’re better for typing, the 9" especially, but they make it thick enough that the combination isn’t nearly as portable.