— except for two important details:

1) mechanical stability.

there is NONE in portrait mode!
the ipad just tumbles backwards out of the cradle & thuds on to the table —
which is an invitation to a cracked screen depending upon your relationship with Mr. Murphy’s tender mercies! 🙁

the fact logitech couldnt put in better magnets in the centre of the cradle – or at least work with apple to get these added to the ipad4 before it was released – shows that this company STILL does not “Get It” when it comes to designing for the Apple marketplace: they just dont sweat all the details … they are (still) limited to harvesting only the easy pickings from the low-hanging fruit 🙁

(The fact that they are even in the exotic end of the keyboard business to begin with is only a function of the the product engineering experience they garnered from LICENSING from people who do have top-notch industrial design DNA – in this case (no pun): from their successful OEM relationship with ZAGG)

2) illuminated keyboard

it is just ridiculous that a premium product ($120) cheaps out on such a crucial typing feature!

I do a fair amount of HTML and was going crazy with the number of taps necessary to get to the “” characters, so a physical keyboard has been a sanity-saver. This keyboard is more than that… it is a joy to use. And it is a wonderful screen cover, too!

I have to say, though, that my favorite feature is the magnet lock in the docking mechanism. I only wish it were possible to lock in the portrait orientation as well, since I do use that frequently with Pages. It is amazing how much more stable the iPad feels with the magnetic lock than without!

All in all, I have to completely agree with your well-written and thorough review. This is a great little keyboard in a well designed cover, and it looks just wonderful with my iPad!

Good question. It would be difficult to find, but it is possible. This cover sits flush with the iPad’s edges all-around, so any cover would have to not stick out any past the screen of the device. Most that I have seen have a small lip on them that helps hold them in place, which would get in the way of the cover.

If you are just looking for scratch protection, a skin works great paired with this device. Good luck in your search. Let us know if you find one.

Hello, and thanks for reading Abbey. As far as on-screen keyboards go, the iPad’s is about as good as it gets. I uses to use it all the time, and didn’t mind typing on glass. I just found that I was more productive with the actual physical keyboard. But, these accessories certainly aren’t for everyone. They are more of a luxury for those of us who need to type out a lot of email, letters, articles, notes, etc, and prefer the instant on/off and interface of the iPad to a laptop or Netbook. To each their own.

Thanks For the kind words, and for reading, Jeff. Glad I could help.

The detailed look at the hinge and the careful comparison (both written and photographic) with the earlier Zaggmate/Logitech keyboard/cover were especially useful.

Thanks!

Unfortunately not. The original iPad does not have the Smart Cover magnets necessary to make this cover work. Also, because the Ultrathin Keyboard Cover is specifically designed for the iPad 2 and New iPad, the keyboard dock will probably not fit the original iPad either.

Just got the Logitech keyboard case home and see it says for iPad2. I have an original iPad – is it worth me taking it out of the box and charging it up etc??

Thanks Tammy. I’m afraid that I don’t have any hands on experience with the latest Adonit Writer 2, but Thomas wrote up an excellent review a little while back. You’ll find it here:

I can say that I have always heard great things about Adonit’s keyboard cases. Also, bear in mind that these are two very different products. The Adonit is a full case that completely encloses the iPad. The Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover just protects the screen, but is also smaller.

Hopefully this helps.

Thanks!

With that said, I will be also be reviewing Logitech’s new solar powered, fully enclosed iPad keyboard case in the next few weeks. If you want more protection, and like what you see from Logitech on the keyboard side, you might also take a look at this case, as well. Just FYI.