Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Moshi Announces Ultrathin 'VersaKeyboard' iPad Air Case

Only difference is OS...

TimeSquareDesi said:
my thoughts exactly! everyone is buying keyboards for their $500 ipads and getting less functionality than an actual laptop....

ipad + keyboard case is $600 before taxes.... throw in a little more and get a macbook air! seriously........... i dont know why people are sacrificing usability by getting an ipad and keyboard....

the folks i know with ipads all have "other machines" (mac and pc) to do "real work" according to them... it makes no sense to me...
Click to expand...

Why would you buy a Macbook Air when for just a little more money you could buy an iPad with a keyboard attachment that's less than half the weight?

More seriously - it simply comes down to the OS at this point - more precisely, the software running on each OS. Does the software you use exist on the iPad or just the Mac? It's like deciding whether or not you need to install VMWare and emulate Windows or not.

If you need more serious stuff - bigger hard drives, etc, then a Macbook Air won't do either.
 
Thanks to my Kensington keyboard for my iPad, I haven't had to lug a laptop with me to NAB for the last 3 years. With the Wordpress app on iPad and, my iPhone as camera and audio/video recorder, I am able to get my articles written and uploaded in short order. My shoulder is very thankful that I am no longer lugging a laptop around the LVCC for 3 or 4 days. iPads are also exempt from having to be removed from case when passing through airport security which helps things go a little more smoothly. I can put the whole thing in the seat pocket in front of me while flying.

Having a full fledged laptop isn't always necessary. For the poster who said they were waiting on Apple to offer one, don't get your hopes up. Apple is quite content to allow a 3rd party ecosystem around its devices to thrive and flourish.

When you do use an external keyboard, you get the whole screen for whatever you are working on and access to common keyboard shortcuts for cut, copy, and paste. When I'm done writing lengthy articles, I lose the keyboard and revert to smart cover for every day use.
 
jdiamond said:
Why would you buy a Macbook Air when for just a little more money you could buy an iPad with a keyboard attachment that's less than half the weight?

More seriously - it simply comes down to the OS at this point - more precisely, the software running on each OS. Does the software you use exist on the iPad or just the Mac? It's like deciding whether or not you need to install VMWare and emulate Windows or not.

If you need more serious stuff - bigger hard drives, etc, then a Macbook Air won't do either.
Click to expand...

I'd like to see you develop an iOS App on the iPad! You're obviously a content consumer and not a creator. And that's fine.
 
QUOTE=acedout;18401850]Because many people will happily pay for quality. $100 isn't really a large amount to pay for something that looks good and will last.[/QUOTE]

I've yet to see, what you'd expect to be a high quality case (based on price). Most of them have the same flaws:

- Poor quality 'pleather' that is fixed together with glue or cheap stitching
- Really terrible groves so when you 'stand' the ipad it slips out of the groove and falls flat on its back

I wouldn't mind so much if they DID last longer and they WERE high quality, but lets be honest, apart from one or two niche cases, most are cheaply made, regardless of price.

The benefit of a 'cheap' case is that you dont have to worry if you damage it, you dont have to pad it out, protect it, etc. You can use it for a year then buy another one and still be better off than paying some of the crazy prices out there.

It's not about being a cheapo - its about being realistic. More money != better quality.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
APlotdevice said:
I disagree. One lightweight iPad can replace several pounds worth of conventional textbooks. We've all been through that pain. Why continue to subject our children to it?
Click to expand...

Never mind the children! I'm much more inclined to use the online version of my course textbook than I am the several pound physical alternative, and an iPad can do all kinds of things that the textbook can't. :)
 
rmwebs said:
I've yet to see, what you'd expect to be a high quality case (based on price). Most of them have the same flaws:

- Poor quality 'pleather' that is fixed together with glue or cheap stitching
- Really terrible groves so when you 'stand' the ipad it slips out of the groove and falls flat on its back

I wouldn't mind so much if they DID last longer and they WERE high quality, but lets be honest, apart from one or two niche cases, most are cheaply made, regardless of price.

The benefit of a 'cheap' case is that you dont have to worry if you damage it, you dont have to pad it out, protect it, etc. You can use it for a year then buy another one and still be better off than paying some of the crazy prices out there.

It's not about being a cheapo - its about being realistic. More money != better quality.
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? These $100 cases in this thread are about keyboard cases which automatically add $50 to the cost.... They don't use pleather or weird groves (okay technically this has one in the keyboard, but those aren't the groves you are talking about).

Did you even read what this thread is actually about? And yes there are cheap keyboard cases, but the keyboards are crap. They keys feel like mush, the exterior is of very poor plastic, and overall they look like keyboard to a Leap Frog (you know those kids "laptops") rather than a good piece of business hardware.

I personally have a Zagg keyboard cover that is silver and matches my iPad perfectly. The keys have a nice feel to them and that is why I chose it over a "cheap" $20 bargain basement keyboard.
 
staveb said:
If I needed a keyboard, wouldn't I have gotten a laptop?
Click to expand...

Funny, 3 and a half years after the iPad was introduced (along with a first party keyboard no less), people still ask this on every thread on every website that announces a keyboard accessory for the iPad. If the answer wasn't obvious in 2010, I can't understand why it still isn't in 2013 :)

It's an optional accessory that adds functionality- what's wrong with that? Maybe someone wants a tablet experience 90% of the time, but wants to type on a physical keyboard 10% of the time?
 
9000 said:
Oh no, several pounds! Those poor souls. They deserve to not have to exercise as much.

/s Actually, they're not even putting all of the textbooks on the iPads. I don't know about LAUSD, but other districts with similar programs only have a couple of books in digital form. And now that the kids have "hacked" the LAUSD iPads and caused the program to halt... How much pain did you really suffer carrying textbooks?
Click to expand...

When I was in school, I had to carry nearly 45 lbs of books and supplies around. That's nearly the OSHA limit for where two full grown adults are required to lift something. That limit is in place to help prevent back injuries. I currently suffer from a compressed disk in my back, which may be linked to dragging around that backpack full of books.

Mock him if you want, but those 'several pounds' worth of books has been shown to cause severe back problems in kids who are still growing.

----------
acedout said:
I'd like to see you develop an iOS App on the iPad! You're obviously a content consumer and not a creator. And that's fine.
Click to expand...

Web development
iOS App Development

Just because you're not aware of it doesn't mean it's not possible. :rolleyes:
 
9000 said:
Oh no, several pounds! Those poor souls. They deserve to not have to exercise as much.

/s Actually, they're not even putting all of the textbooks on the iPads. I don't know about LAUSD, but other districts with similar programs only have a couple of books in digital form. And now that the kids have "hacked" the LAUSD iPads and caused the program to halt... How much pain did you really suffer carrying textbooks?
Click to expand...

I'm sure if we did a survey the vast majority of people would prefer to carry a single tablet over 6 to 12 books. And it wasn't just several pounds most people/kids had to carry. It was often several pounds per text book! It's ridiculous. And yes it was a big pain. That's why students had to use backpacks.

And just because there's one setback does not mean the world stops moving forward with digital boosk. Digital is definitely the way to go with these textbooks. Not to mention how textbooks can evolve and become more interactive. There are many ways they would improve.

We're here on a tech site and you're against moving to digital? Doesn't seem to make sense.
 
InfernoShade said:
We're here on a tech site and you're against moving to digital? Doesn't seem to make sense.
Click to expand...

Sorry for being the bad guy. Why switch to iPads before the books are available in digital form? I believe there's an idiom for that, "putting the cart ahead of the horse". Even after that, why iPads rather than cheap laptops that do the job plus more?

----------
InfernoShade said:
I'm sure if we did a survey the vast majority of people would prefer to carry a single tablet over 6 to 12 books.
Click to expand...

They'd also prefer no homework... and personal servants. And tablets that don't even have the books on them but are just fun to play with.

----------
tbrinkma said:
When I was in school, I had to carry nearly 45 lbs of books and supplies around. That's nearly the OSHA limit for where two full grown adults are required to lift something. That limit is in place to help prevent back injuries. I currently suffer from a compressed disk in my back, which may be linked to dragging around that backpack full of books.

Mock him if you want, but those 'several pounds' worth of books has been shown to cause severe back problems in kids who are still growing.
Click to expand...

If you really had to carry 45lbs, you are a special case. My backpack loaded to the maximum it could carry with only minimal ripping weighed less than that, and I was the special case in my school since most people used lockers and didn't carry laptops.
 
What about a mouse?

I am considering to get an iPad Air. Do people who use an external keyboard using add a wireless mouse as well?
 
hajime said:
I am considering to get an iPad Air. Do people who use an external keyboard using add a wireless mouse as well?
Click to expand...
No, the iPad in fact does not support mouse input. Only keyboards and game controllers. (the latter needing to be specifically made for iOS)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back