The Clamcase an iPad case that promised to turn your iPad into a laptop earlier this year is finally shipping. The company, Clamcase LLC, missed their Fall deadline for shipment by one day, but hey that isn’t a big deal. Right?
The keyboard portion of the case connects to the iPad via Bluetooth. It looks pretty awesome and I’ve asked the company to send me more information about it. It will be interesting to see if the product lives up to the hype you’ll see in the company’s product demonstration YouTube video.
The video presented a great proof-of-concept, but it left me wondering what reality will be like since the high-resolution press images weren’t available for download on the company’s press resources web page and most of the Clamcase images looked rendered versus photographed.
You can get the Clamcase, which retails for $149, for as low as $99 direct from the manufacturer for a limited time. If you order one of these let us know what you think about it after you receive it.
Check out the video after the read more link below.
[via 9to5Mac]
David W. Martin has more than 20 years of experience in the industry as a programmer, systems and business analyst, author, and consultant. David has written for CNET’s iPhoneatlas.com, MacLife.com, CultofMac.com, BYTE.com and recently for aNewDoman.net. He comes to Cult of Mac’s website with deep knowledge and passion for the all things Apple. Follow David on Twitter @david_w_martin or see what he’s up to now at davidwmartin.com.
18 responses to “Clamcase for iPad Finally Ships for 99 Clams”
I just received my new clamcase on March 9th, placing my order just after christmas. While waiting, I was worried about the many reviews that said that the clamcase arrived DOA. Happily, this did not happen to me.
Now that I have it in hand, here are my first impressions….
This is not a laptop replacement. There is no touchpad or mouse, since the ipad has no mouse driven cursor there really is no way to move ipads cursor around the screen other than touching the screen. This is really no big deal, but I do miss the mouse from time to time. You can move the cursor around with the directional arrows, which makes it easier for those with “sausage fingers” to accurately place the cursor without having to touch the screen.
When the ipad is in the case, it makes the clamcase “top-heavy” . When typing on my lap, the keyboard lifts upward slightly, and I have to push downward to counter. I take a few more breaks when typing this way as my arms get cramps. Typing on the table and this is no longer a problem. I noticed this same problem on my first tablet pc, the Compaq tc1000 (?). The tablet pc was much worse that this clamcase, in that the tc1000 was very top-heavy, and seemed always ready to tip over.
The keys are closer than on my macbook, so typing mistakes happen more often than usual. My SONY VIAO mini notebook (a computer similar to netbooks, but a much earlier model) had a very close keyboard, making it nearly impossible to type a long document. I find the keyboard to be very useable, only slightly less comfortable than a laptop keyboard. It’s better than carrying around a loose apple ipad keyboard. Way better than the old folding keyboards used in the palm III days.
Connecting to bluetooth was not difficult. I am wondering if at least some of those DOA issues are really inexperience connecting to bluetooth. The keyboard always is charged and ready to go, when charging every other day. It’s too early to say anything about battery life, but so far it seems to hold a charge well. I cannot use my ipad dock when its in the case. Pulling it out of the case isn’t easy. The ipad snaps in very snug, and prying it out just invites damage to the case or ipad. Instead, I am just going to plug the cable directly into the ipad, and do the same with the keyboard.
As a case, it protects the ipad well. The entire ipad is just swallowed by the clamcase, leaving just the touch screen exposed when in use. The case adds weight, but its still portable enough. Mucvh lighter than a laptop. The hinge swings all they way back so that it can be used as an ipad, but the extra weight is most noticable when using the clamcase in ipad mode. The hinge is solid, holding any angle that you want solidly. It makes it a nice ipad stand that works in portrait or landscape mode.
watch netflick movies is easier now with the clamcase. Previously, I had to use my compass-style ipad stand to prop the ipad up to the best viewing angle. I never had that stand in my bag when I wanted it, and ended up holding the ipad, which get old fast. I may actually watch an entire movie on my ipad now.
The cost for the clamcase was $140, which seems expensive for a case. But read above and tally the cost of equipment not needed when using clamcase…keyboard ($70), compass stand ($40), case ($40), ipad dock ($30); total cost of accessories, about $180. Exclude the ipad dock, and you still are at about the same cost of the clamcase. The added benefit is that the clamcase takes up less room in the briefcase than toting around all of those loose accessories.
It is a shame that the clamcase just started shipping out to customers just as apple announced the ipad 2. Now that the original ipad is discontinued, clamcase now has to redesign its product. I almost lost interest in this case, having to wait so long for shipment. I wonder how long it will be before an ipad 2 version will be available, or if anyone will really want one, since the smaller size and lighter weight is the main features of ipad 2. Will anyone want to bulk up the slimmer ipad 2, which has that really cool magnet cover.
I like the clamcase overall, but sometimes miss using the naked ipad, which seemed like a device of the future. But having a full keyboard, stand and a protective case always available in a portable package is very convenient. If you have an original ipad, you should be happy with this case.
Just one other thought…the price for this case, at $140, seems too high to make an ipad into a netbook. There are many cheaper windows netbooks out there that can serve as a mobile computer.
If you want to stay with the high quality apple products, the 64GB version of the 11 inch macbook air ($999) will cost almost as much as the 64GB ipad ($699) and the clamcase.
Once your ipad is in the clamcase, it becomes a netbook. It no longer feels like an ipad. So if you want the tablet feel of the ipad, let it roam the world naked.