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blow45

macrumors 68000
Jan 18, 2011
1,576
0
I kinda wish MacRumors clearly marked which articles were advertisements. Uh em, I mean, "Paid articles".

Good point, as much as I like this site the occasional paid article plug should be clearly marked as such. It's not honest to present something as news when it's sponsored ad space, and it's not fair to other manufacturers. Of course this site needs ad revenue, but it should be clearly marked as such. Another ipad keyboard is not a rumor, and certainly not page 1 news material, since logitech are paying for it this should be noted.
 

Larrywb

macrumors member
Aug 27, 2010
37
0
CT
The keyboard doesn't need direct sunlight. I have the desktop version for my Mac and I never have direct sunlight on my computer. Battery level on my keyboard is always 100% and it charges even with ambient light. It is really great.

----------



Mine was shipped today and it is going to be delivered tomorrow, at least according to UPS tracking.



Thanks for replying petvas, I'll look into the keyboard option. That sounds like a fit to me for my Mac as well.

On the iPad cover, can it pull a big enough charge from indoors is my question - and can it pull a 10W charge. If it is, I could see buying one if it can charge with regular indoor lamps / work florescent lamps.
 

Exotic-Car Man

macrumors regular
Oct 29, 2010
138
0
USA
Not a paid post!

This seems like a story Logitech paid for. I would honestly have no problem if that was the case, provided it was made clear. Something along the lines of "sponsored story". It shouldn't be masquerading as something newsworthy.

Of course Logitech probably paid for it. How else do you think MacRumors pays for the site? Advertising. And yes, ethically IF Logitech paid for it, it should be a "sponsored story" as you put it.

I kinda wish MacRumors clearly marked which articles were advertisements. Uh em, I mean, "Paid articles".

Good point, as much as I like this site the occasional paid article plug should be clearly marked as such. It's not honest to present something as news when it's sponsored ad space, and it's not fair to other manufacturers. Of course this site needs ad revenue, but it should be clearly marked as such. Another ipad keyboard is not a rumor, and certainly not page 1 news material, since logitech are paying for it this should be noted.

I have a nice roundup of links for you, and everyone else who thinks this is a paid post, to see.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/10950717/
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/13282448/
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/13417297/
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/12590601/

There are four links above from arn stating that no posts are paid for by companies unless stated. Now, can we move on from this?
 

mukade

macrumors member
Feb 13, 2010
40
0
Japan
I like Logitech gear, but for the most part
the on-screen keyboard fulfills my needs.

I have a portable Bluetooth keyboard, but
if I want to do a quick email, it is just so much easier to
use on-screen.
 

highdough

macrumors regular
Sep 10, 2008
192
64
...Or you simply just could buy a Macbook Air. The solar powering is a nice idea, but I'll never understand people actually working with this kind of gadgets for iPad..

A MacBook Air is definitely light, but it still doesn't hold a candle to the iPad, in terms of portability. If I have the choice between taking an Ipad and a MacBook Air on a trip, I take the iPad every time.

And the MacBook Air is also a lot more expensive. If you can spend $630 on an iPad and this keyboard, or $1000 on a MacBook Air, and you don't need all the extra firepower for the Air, then why not go with the iPad?

The iPad does enough for most people. It's biggest drawback is the lack of a physical keyboard, which this solves. And most people spend $50 or more on a case for the iPad, anyway.

----------

at $130, you're creeping in on the $999 macbook air territory.

If creeping in is a few hundred dollars difference.
 

Confuzzzed

macrumors 68000
Aug 7, 2011
1,630
0
Liverpool, UK
A MacBook Air is definitely light, but it still doesn't hold a candle to the iPad, in terms of portability.

I don't have a dog in this fight as I own both, but I respectfully disagree with you. The portability of the 11' MBA is quasi-iPad in my opinion AND it's darn side more powerful in terms of computing power as well. The only downside of the MBA 11' is the battery life. Regarding your calculations, if you are looking at portability, it's not the price of the base iPad you should be looking but the iPad 4G and given a lot of 'sophisticated' iPad users tend to favour the larger capacity iPads, I think you can see the price of the iPad 4G 32GB plus the price of this solar thing would be creeping towards the $999 of the MBA...
 

haruhiko

macrumors 604
Sep 29, 2009
6,529
5,874
Well, I own both the MacBook Air and the new iPad, I can tell you that in terms of portability... it's not really the weight that matters, you know the new iPad is not light, especially when we bring a keyboard with it (I use the Incase Origami Workstation with Apple's wireless keyboard... a perfect combination in my view).

The issue here is battery life. If it can't stand for one day or most of the day, we have to bring a charger with it. And with the power brick + cable, the MBA is suddenly much less portable.
 

Confuzzzed

macrumors 68000
Aug 7, 2011
1,630
0
Liverpool, UK
i.e. $729 + $130 = $860...that's a mere 16% lower than the price of an MBA. And if you are in education (where you feasibly have to do a lot of typing) you have a nice 14% discount with your MBA (plus back to school gift) whilst for an iPad it's a mere 3%. It's actually cheaper to get the MBA!!
 

tatonka

macrumors 6502
Aug 25, 2009
495
40
For the millionth time: MBA != iPad + KB. I'm not even going to dignify that with an explanation.

A lot of people already use some sort of a case for iPad. Why is it so hard to understand the usefulness of it having a keyboard on which you can quickly and comfortably type a (lengthy) reply to an incoming (urgent) email, or do a (longer) IM session, or use any number of VPN apps to connect to a desktop or an MBP running back at home (or office) to complete some incoming task on it where you wouldn't have to lose the half of the screen to the on-screen keyboard.

No it is not the same, but it is getting close in both expenses, weight and volume one has to carry around. So it does beg the question why not use a proper computer instead.

T.
 

Confuzzzed

macrumors 68000
Aug 7, 2011
1,630
0
Liverpool, UK
No it is not the same, but it is getting close in both expenses, weight and volume one has to carry around. So it does beg the question why not use a proper computer instead.

Like I said earlier, I own both. Depending on what I plan to do in the day, I either take the iPad or the MBA. If I am honest, I prefer the iPad for weight and battery life so 90% of the time I take the iPad because I know that my computing needs for the day will not be CPU intensive. But on the odd occasion, I may get caught out and may be required to draft a document which will require a lot of typing and editing. On these occasions, I prefer to have a bluetooth keyboard (a very cheap but very light one!!) with me so that I can adapt! I get paid to write and sometimes I don't get a lot of warning when I have to suddenly put 3,000 words down on paper. Both have their uses BUT yes, overall I agree that the MBA is a lot more computer than the iPad.
 

ksgant

macrumors 6502a
Jan 12, 2006
797
710
Chicago
...Or you simply just could buy a Macbook Air. The solar powering is a nice idea, but I'll never understand people actually working with this kind of gadgets for iPad..

Cool. I haven't checked the MacBook Air out in a while. When did they add the feature where you could detach the keyboard and use the screen as a tablet?

I mean, this seems to be the complaint for a few people, they can't seem to wrap their heads around why people would want to use a physical keyboard with the iPad. "if you want to use a keyboard, just buy this other thing that costs $500 more that has a keyboard attached all the time".

I mean, I always thought it was obvious that sometimes...not all the time...but sometimes people may want to sit down and compose a longer email or write something longer than using the onboard keyboard would be practical for. Just use a Bluetooth keyboard and BANG, you're off and typing away. When you're done, you put the keyboard away and keep using your iPad as normal. But I guess this concept is beyond the comprehension of some people...and that's fine I suppose.
 

mobilebuddha

macrumors regular
Jan 31, 2008
222
25
just wait until next year when they come out w/ the

"Darkfield Solar Keyboard", where it will charge even in complete darkness!

My job regularly requires me to type in perpetual darkness for three years.

So close and yet so far, Logitech. I guess you don’t want my business :(


----------

ya know ya make a GREAT point..

Why don't we all ask for a convertible notebook where the top half is ipad and bottom half is a mac but w/ no display and when the 2 are connected.. it runs OS X? Maybe even with share-able SSD.

But until that happens.. there will be those of us that want an ipad w/ a BT keyboard.

No it is not the same, but it is getting close in both expenses, weight and volume one has to carry around. So it does beg the question why not use a proper computer instead.

T.
 

Abazigal

Contributor
Jul 18, 2011
19,454
21,842
Singapore
Is there a point to the 2-year battery life claim? Unless you plan on working in absolute darkness for that period of time, your ipad will likely see sunshine at some point or another, and your keyboard will be able to use this opportunity to recharge. Or heck, just leave it on your desk when you are not using it. You should have the opportunity to recharge it at some point throughout the day.

Seems like there is really no practical point to this claim.
 

jj48

macrumors regular
Oct 15, 2011
181
0
UK
That thing looks like it weighs a lot.

About 450 grams, taking the combined weight of an iPad (2 or 3) and this thing to comfortably over 1kg. That's a deal breaker in my eyes, it barely weighs less than the device itself.
 

ristlin

Guest
Mar 29, 2012
420
0
God this looks so damn cheesy. Let's buy this fancy electronic gadget and add another 5 pounds of crap to replace the 10 pound laptop we once lugged around!
 

highdough

macrumors regular
Sep 10, 2008
192
64
I don't have a dog in this fight as I own both, but I respectfully disagree with you. The portability of the 11' MBA is quasi-iPad in my opinion AND it's darn side more powerful in terms of computing power as well. The only downside of the MBA 11' is the battery life. Regarding your calculations, if you are looking at portability, it's not the price of the base iPad you should be looking but the iPad 4G and given a lot of 'sophisticated' iPad users tend to favour the larger capacity iPads, I think you can see the price of the iPad 4G 32GB plus the price of this solar thing would be creeping towards the $999 of the MBA...

I also own both. If I don't have to use the extra computing power, I'd rather use and carry the iPad over the Air. When travelling, it's a hell of a lot easier to pull out an iPad and use it than any type of laptop, because with a laptop you really need some sort of surface to put it on. An iPad you don't. So do I bring both, or do I just bring the iPad with the keyboard built into the case? I'd rather bring one.
 

pluto24

macrumors newbie
Feb 26, 2011
6
0
Special Keys?

What are those two special keys on each side next to the space bar? I don't see special keys having any effect on the iPad. Or maybe they're there just so that you can use the keyboard with a desktop computer in case you want to. I don't know. Anyone there knowing more than me?
 

ibri

macrumors newbie
Mar 14, 2011
29
20
I have a nice roundup of links for you, and everyone else who thinks this is a paid post, to see.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/10950717/
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/13282448/
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/13417297/
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/12590601/

There are four links above from arn stating that no posts are paid for by companies unless stated. Now, can we move on from this?

Sorry about that -- I was unaware. It just reeked of a paid spot. Maybe the author of the story can make it more clear that it's something they personally find interesting. MacRumors *should* go the Daring Fireball route and sell paid spots that are identified as such.
 
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