Thursday, August 18, 2011

The new travel rig...




Here's a couple of pics of my iPod Touch resting on a stand that I made recently from an old bicycle spoke. In front of it is the Apple bluetooth keyboard that I just bought (2nd hand, but looks unused) from a member of the Ars Technica Classifieds.

Here's a breakdown of the weights of the components in the system:
iPod................................3.56oz
Stand...............................0.3oz
Charging cable and power adapter....2.0oz
Keyboard...........................11.4oz

Total..............................17.46oz

It would be hard to find any system that offers such capability, good looks, and such a low combined weight. Bear in mind, that an iPad alone weighs 21.3oz, and then you would be typing on a sub-optimal virtual keyboard.

A few things to note.
1...Apple says that the Bluetooth Keyboard has a minimum system requirement of "an iPad". Whatever that means, rest assured that it pairs with, and works with, an iPod perfectly.
2...Almost all of the special function buttons on the top row of the keyboard work perfectly with the iPod. Just a couple don't work, and that's because the iPod simply doesn't have the equivalent function built-in.
3...Pairing is almost instantaneous, there is also zero lag time between a key press and the result appearing on the screen.
4...There is an "eject button" on the keyboard (the top right button on the keyboard). This is essentially a toggle between the Bluetooth keyboard, and the on-screen iPod Touch keyboard.
5...I built the stand with the ability to change the screen angle. This is useful when setting it up for optimum viewing, whether typing, or watching video.

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