Mobile: Be Careful with You ZAGGFolio

A few weeks ago, I put up a post about my new ZAGGFolio keyboard case for my iPad2.  So far, I've found the case to be fairly useful.  It the keyboard came in quite handy for taking notes at the AGRIP Conference in Colorado Springs and work working remotely in the Denver Airport.  My one warning, however, would be to not drop the case.  Earlier today mine fell from desktop height and the result was several keys popping off of the keyboard.  I was able to get most of them back on, but one of the direction keys seems like it is just itching to pop back off.

• The take-away: my ZAGGFolio didn't fall very far for a mobile device, but turned out to be surprisingly fragile.  Be careful if you have one.  I still recommend it, though, as being handy for note taking and remote work involving a lot of typing on the iPad.

Mobile: ZAGGfolio for iPad 2

iPad2 in ZAGGfolio Case

I have an iPad 2.   I bought it last August for business purposes, although it gets a lot of personal use as well.  After using the iPad Smart Cover for about a year, I decided to try out an iPad case with a built in Bluetooth keyboard.   While I typically use my iPad to read content, there are times when I want to write long emails or take notes.  My iPad is great for travel as well as taking to seminars and meetings.  Thus I find myself typing on it fairly often; in my experience using the iPad's virtual keyboard becomes fairly tedious after writing a few sentences.

I decided to buy the ZAGGfolio case for iPad 2 after it was recommended by employees at a couple of different stores.  I bought my ZAGGfolio for $99 at Best Buy, after considering it as well as the Logitech Keyboard Case.  I went with the ZAGGfolio because it seemed more robust and it covered the back of the iPad.

I've found that the ZAGGfolio is great if you want to use your iPad like a netbook (see photo).  I find the keyboard surprisingly easy to use, and thus I've had a much easier time taking notes on my iPad as well as composing lengthy business emails.  For example,  next week I'm going to the AGRIP conference in Colorado, and I expect to leave my laptop in the hotel room while I use the iPad exclusively during seminars (Evernote for iPad is great for taking notes; afterward, you can attach additional files to your notes).

What the ZAGGfolio is not great at is treating the iPad like a tablet.  The case only allows you to use the iPad in landscape orientation in conjunction with the keyboard.  When you try to fold the keyboard section behind the iPad section (to hold the iPad like a regular tablet) it feel like you are about to break the ZAGGfolio.  Needless to say, this is distracting.  Thus, you are better off taking the iPad out of the case if you want to hold it while you read content.   Also, if you want to use an iPad while walking around, ditch the ZAGGfolio.  While these aspects of the ZAGGfolio seemed to aggravate some of the authors of product reviews I read, so far I've found it to be an acceptable trade off.  If I'm going to sit and type a lot of information into the iPad, the ZAGGfolio is great.  If I want to use the iPad primarily for reading, if you want to use it while walking, or you want to pass it around at meetings then Smart Cover is better option.