iPad mini I tore apart my Belkin Wireless Keyboard and I like it MUCH better now. :D

This is the only iPad Mini keyboard I tried. I saw it at Wal-Mart and decided it wasn't bad from just looking at it, so bought it a few months ago. The cover itself is horribly bulky but the keys are decently spaced out and nice.

All the keyboards for the Mini are either also covers, or they make you sit the thing in a small opening for it on the top. Well, I also spent $40 on the smart cover when I got it originally, so I really wasn't wanting to replace it. And to be honest, I LOVE using the Mini without the cover to begin with. It just feels really nice.

So anyway, I just took some scissors to the case and cut the keyboard out. It needs a little refining and maybe putting some nicer fabric on top, but it looks fine. I did try to dissemble it, thinking that the thing was just glued on, but no, it's actually wrapped with the fabric and if you pull it off, its the keyboard, battery, and other bits inside of it.



Now I can just use the smart cover as the stand, and then have the keyboard separate. It still all fits in my pocket, I can have the keyboard to the side and type, and I can even move it quite a bit back so the thing is not all in my face. I can freely elevate it to my liking too with a SD card holder or whatever's around then and there.

I thought I'd share, because I know there's a lot of people who buy cases and love the keyboard itself, but hate the casing. Or you might not like the marks a lot of these things leave on the screen. If you can easily whack off the holder, you might just use it again, and it's better than buying those really generic ones.

Night Spring said:

Seems like a good idea, but does the keyboard have an off or sleep switch? If not, how do you prevent accidental input? Or it just doesn't accept input if the iPad is asleep?

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It has an on and off switch. I'm pretty sure if the iPad is off it doesn't accept an input either. You usually have to reconnect it anytime you turn it back on anyway.

I always turn it off between uses personally. I think it's like 1000 hours of battery life? Haven't charged it once since I got it, hahaha.

MDJCM said:

I wonder how much typing i'd have to do before I felt like the touchscreen keyboard doesnt cut it.


Are you one of those people thats very attached to mechanical touch-typing

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I use it to write long form, and then code. Otherwise I prefer using the screen or short stuff.

My fingers start cramping up after tapping the screen for too long though.