Slim Book for iPad Air 2 - First Impressions
I ordered the Slim Book from Zagg and Best Buy shipped it very fast...it arrived the second day after I ordered it. Here's a quick overview of my experience with it so far, typed using its keyboard.
First, it might be reassuring to know that the unresponsive keys problem mentioned by another reviewer is not an issue on my keyboard. Everything fires fine. Positioning of the keys is not a problem for me. I'm a touch typist (typing without looking), and despite having large hands, am having absolutely no trouble hitting the right keys. Travel is shallow on the keys, which I like, since I use Mac keyboards all the time and am used to that. The keys are somewhat "clacky" sounding, but like most things in life that you notice at first, it has already blended into the background and I don't really notice it.
I love that the shell cover for the iPad Air itself detaches from its magnetic connection to the keyboard. I have not had the problems others have mentioned with the shell coming loose from the iPad, at least not so far. That said, I do notice the shell doesn't seem quite as tight-a-fit as I might prefer. The holes for all ports, speakers, etc. are spot-on though.
The magnetic docking of the shell/case with the keyboard is absolutely fantastic on mine. It's strong enough that you need to use a little energy to release it, which is exactly how I like it. The connection is very secure. I turned mine upside down and literally shook it (over a couch, of course), and it showed no signs of detaching.
As others have mentioned, the hinge is stiff, so much so, that I feared at first I might break it as I adjusted its viewing angle. I'd rather have it too stiff though, than not stiff enough. At any viewing angle, there is some play where the iPad fits into the hinge slot, so if you intentionally wobble the keyboard forward and back, you can make the iPad "flap" a little. It's not enough to be noticable when you're typing though, even on your lap like I'm doing now.
Fit and finish are nice. The keyboard is beautiful aluminum with black chicklet-style keys The underside of the keyboard and the iPad shell are plastic with a matte finish that looks like it's already getting a little bit fingerprinty so I suspect I'll be cleaning it from time to time.
Some things I like thus far: The Siri key! I use Siri quite a bit to schedule reminders, and invoking "her" from the keyboard is nice. I also like the use of the "Escape" key to minimize the currently-open window and return to the desktop, the Finder (magnifying glass) key, the media keys, the quick and easy bluetooth pairing, logical keyboard layout, the overall thinness.
A few things I REALLY like thus far: Removing the iPad from the keyboard for hand-held use or popping it, cover and all, into my clamp-on desk mount, that's awesome. Even when separated from the keyboard, the back cover lets me safely lay the iPad down without concern about scratching it. I love how nicely the keyboard and top section hinge completely closed for 100% protection, and how reliably the locking mechanism does its job of shutting off the iPad when closed. I like that the stiff hinge assures the two halves stay closed. And I think it's awesome that you can flip the top around and turn it to a 90 degree angle to view movies, and even swing the back of the case down against the keyboard. So there really are four valid ways to use this thing.
I'm mighty pleased with Slim Book so far...it's doing exactly what I wanted it to do, and I'm glad I got it.
Suppertime so I'm going to just go ahead and post this without proof-reading it, apologies in advance if there are any typos! Hope it's helpful to someone.
