Clamcase for iPad

Shortly after the iPad was released in April 2010, a product named Clamcase hit the blog and Twitter scene with an impressive video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4IbgCLzazw). That video made me instantly want a Clamcase. I saw it allowing me to have the feel of a netbook, a video stand and still operate the iPad on a table with a stylus.

The Clamcase was supposed to ship sometime in the Fall of 2010, but when Fall changed to Winter word was that shipping details would be announced in December. So I was able to order my Clamcase on December 19th, 2010 with a promise to ship in January. I finally received my Clamcase today (January 26th, 2010). What a great day!

The Clamcase doesn't feel cheap or flimsy. It securely holds the iPad in place while allowing easy access to the headphone jack, volume controls, mute switch and 30 pin sync/charging port. The instructions, included on a cardboard card in the box, were very clear and allowed me to quickly setup the Clamcase. The box did include a USB cable for charging in addition to the instructions. Following the instructions, I easily paired the Calamcase to my iPad. Just hold the bluetooth button for five seconds while the iPad is in Bluetooth discovery mode, and you are prompted to enter a four digit number to complete the pairing process. To turn the Clamcase on or off, simply hold the power button for a couple of seconds. When powering the Clamcase on, a light will blink a number of times indicating the battery level.

The Clamcase includes a number of helpful buttons on the top row of the keyboard. These include home, search, playback, cut, copy, paste, photo slideshow and volume buttons. I really love the home button. If you double tab it, you will see the recent running apps just like when you double click the iPad's home button.

So far I really like the Clamcase. It is everything I had hoped for when I first saw that video last April. I was a little concerned about the small size of the keys on the keyboard at first. The keys are small like some netbooks. After a few minutes of typing at my local Starbucks, I feel like it will not be a problem for me. I am glad that the Clamcase wasn't made larger to allow for larger keys. That would have been a mistake.

You can read all the marketing info about the Clamcase at http://www.clamcase.com. Check out a video of my unboxing below.