Converting my iPad into a portable office.

I have been using the iPad to do a lot of my peripheral work as a developer and some writing (ex: some of the posts in this blog) and while I have been very happy with it I still have to feel comfortable writing with the screen keyboard.

I tried a few external keyboards without luck. I found them either too flimsy or the key arrangement was odd or they stopped working after a few days.

Two weeks ago I walk into Best Buy looking to buy the Logitech keyboard-cover. I heard really good things about it. Once in the store, one of the guys suggested to try the Logitech Keyboard folio instead.

I played with both of them for a while and I decided to go with the folio.

They both felt good but the folio keyboard feels more “real”.
The key arrangement is “almost” perfect and the way the iPad is hold in place makes for a great experience while writing.

The iPad is hold into the back with a nice rubber frame that has a magnetic lock in the keyboard just over the first key row.

I was able to type on my lap sitting in a chair or the coach and it make for the perfect arrangement to type while on a place. As a matter of fact I’m writing this post while on a plane.

The only issue I see with the keyboard is that the key for the letter “a” double as the caps lock with the function key.

Also the key for the “q” doubles as the tab key. I find myself hitting the “s” when I try to type “a” for a few minutes each time I came back to it after working in a real computer for a while.

Besides those little issues, I’m really happy with the keyboard and the experience of working in the iPad with it have been really good.

I noticed that I’m using it more and more to edit files, make small changes on code directly on Github and a lot of writing. Ex: this post.