Turning your iPad into a Macbook lookalike – Brydge Keyboard

If your iPad is more than just games and apps at home, you’re probably doing a bit of typing on it and if you’ve been looking for a keyboard you’ll probably want to check out the Brydge Keyboard which does everything in its power to follow some strong Apple design cues and give you the MacBook look you might be longing for.

Available online for $99 with speakers (as reviewed) for iPad 2nd, 3rd and 4th Generation this is a solid chunk of metal which doesn’t just pair up as a keyboard it really feels like a keyboard.  Plus, with two very sturdy hinges you slide your iPad in and get a full laptop-like experience with a design that doesn’t make it seem out of place.

As per the model name, this one also has a speaker which can be paired with the iPad and to save your battery is paired as a separate device.

Tricky at first go, it’s not a switch or button on the side for pairing either the keyboard or speaker.  Once you turn the power on the device, you press CTRL-K to turn on the keyboard, or press and hold down CTRL-B until you hear the beeps.

Once you get the hang of it, you’re off and running.

It’s a solid construction, and most of all, the keyboard feels as close as you’ll find to a laptop – a cheap one if I’m honest, but certainly a whole load better of those thin flimsy plastic ones that come with lots of “keyboard cases”.

There’s an iPad Air version now available ($150), and a speakerless version for $89.

It’s a top quality keyboard, the only downside I can see is the $40 shipping cost -I’m told by the team at Brydge they will have local distribution within weeks, so keep an eye out for that!  Seems logical, given the company is owned by three Aussies:)

[schema type=”review” rev_name=”Brydge iPad keyboard” rev_body=”Great quality keys, solid construction an excellent product – be warned, the shipping costs are high!” author=”Trevor Long” pubdate=”2014-07-21″ user_review=”4.5″ min_review=”0″ max_review=”5″ ]