If you’ve been following me on Twitter (@razorianfly), you’ll likely have heard that my iPad dock which I imported from the states using transatlantic shopping service @Bundlebox, arrived on my doorstep here the UK this morning.
This is the model without the attached keyboard, however we also have the model with the attached keyboard on its way, for quick review later this month.
First Impressions
Its a dock. As Twitter user @mgetzski tweeted about an hour ago now, due to the iPad launching in the US early last month, the official iPad dock has been covered in detail by many other review sites already, so we’ll try to keep this as short as we can.
The first thing I noticed when taking it out of the insanely small box was how heavy it is. You won’t need to worry about this falling over, or indeed your iPad falling over while docked to it, Apple has cleverly weighed down the base to counterbalance the pressured weight of the device suspended above.
Docking the device was fairly easy, as with any Apple dock it’s just a case of lining up those 30-pin connectors … and away you go.
One other thing I noticed here was the fact although the combination of device and dock seemed to be sturdy when not in use, actually tapping on the iPad’s screen while docked resulted in some noticeable leeway between the dock’s back support and the device … hence, not good news for the 30 pin connector. *Snap* much? That said, I’ve not yet had chance to test the product for an extended period of time, these are just first impressions.
My first impressions though say that this dock won’t be suitable for actually using the device while docked, and to be fair to Apple, they don’t exactly market the product as such, advertising it simple as a way to easily display photos while on your kitchen counter, desk or windowsill.
Overall though, I have to say I’m pretty happy with it. The build quality, apart from the slight issue mentioned above, seems to be very Apple. Just like any other previous dock they’ve released really. At least this now allows me to dock my iPad somewhere for the purpose of syncing. Plus, it also avoids me having to put that beautiful looking aluminum backing on scratch prone surfaces.
I’d like to give a huge shout out to the guys over at @Bundlebox for delivering both the device and its docking station in perfect working order.
Had experience with this dock yourself? Let us know in the comments, and stay tuned for another quick blast opinion on the Apple iPad Keyboard Dock, later this month!
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