iPad keyboards have become a Holy Grail of mine. I keep looking for a keyboard that includes responsive keys (no rubber, please), a complete key layout where I expect them to be, easy Bluetooth connection, plus a lightweight integrated case that travels along with the iPad easily. If you’re in business and working remotely, writing for a blog or composing a lengthy email, you’ll want this kind of mobile accessory.

Cirago, a player who’s new to me in the Apple world, has a keyboard that seems to shine like the Grail. Its Aluminum Bluetooth Keyboard Case, which it calls the IPA 6000 on the company website, is an iPad accessory that made it possible to write most of this review (using the iWriter app). Cirago’s keyboard has real keys, with response and sound that might remind you of the set you’d see on an ultrabook. Nothing toy-like here, like the Kensington Folio keyboard’s whose rubbery keys remind me of an Easy Bake oven. Or the Zagg Solo, crafted mostly out of plastic and flimsy enough to be broken in transit on my order. (Still didn’t keep Zagg from charging $69 for it.)

Hooray! There’s real keys for the apostrophe and a genuine caps lock on the IPA 6000. Cirago’s designers also have wedged 17 function keys across the top of the main keyboard. The keys do expected things like adjust brightness, volume and bring up the software-based keyboard. Plus novel things, like select everything on the screen, cut or paste. The cursor keys have been integrated to allow you to select text without pulling your hands off the keypad by just holding the shift key as you move the cursors. One of the best ways to measure the superiority of an iPad keyboard is to watch how many times you must touch the screen to get something done. The number on the IPA 6000 was nearly zero.

The layout, for the reader here who writes fast, has a few right-hand-side problems. The right shift key is positioned next to the up-cursor, and that apostrophe key rests next to the Home key. In a standard keyboard, there’s a large shift key on the right, and the return key is next to that apostrophe.

Overall, within the limits that any portable keyboard presents, I could only find one slight ding: the Bluetooth sync button. It’s small and recessed just above the main keyboard, so I had to press hard to feel the responsive click that told me I’d sent a pair-up command. On the plus side, the keyboard falls to sleep to conserve battery.

In an improvement over the competing Zagg keyboard, Cirago has included a multiple-position plastic resting tab to balance your iPad or iPhone upon. It’s a small but thoughtful improvement that comes from buying a product in the second or third generation — like a “here’s how we do this better.” You can also use the Cirago keypad  on your lap or desk without the iPad or iPhone attached. If your iPad is nearby and paired with the keyboard, your mobile device will interact with it. Unlike the earliest of Apple iPad accessories, no docking is required. You will, however, need to get accustomed to the habits of typing on a compact keyboard — true of all products in this field.

Training yourself on a new keyboard is like learning to skateboard on a new deck, how to paddle a new kayak. There’s the unchecked anticipation of adding new gear to a confirmed passion. (In my case, writing.) There’s the unexpected, like learning that the right-hand shift key is right next to the upward cursor key. Half the time in the beginning days I found myself shooting my cursor up into a prior sentence when I wanted to shift on the right-hand side. Or the overall adjustment of a tighter pattern of typing, sort of like learning to dance on a very crowded floor. The delete key is a fraction of the regulation size and a further stretch than a lifelong typist might recall. I was hitting the slash key about one keypress out of four during my initial hours of use. I don’t know about the ability to touch type without looking at the keyboard, but with enough practice this could substitute for an on screen software keyboard.

But very few of these are reasons not to buy the Cirago keyboard. The unit is built to protect your iPad in an aircraft-grade aluminum case, one that makes up the bottom of the keyboard and comprises the cover for your screen. It’s a handsome package that holds your iPad in place with a clever rubberized gasket around the keyboard’s perimeter.

In the interest of preserving battery licfe (you charge via your laptop or other USB port,) the Cirago unit’s got a penchant for putting its link with the iPad to sleep. You can tell when your cursor disappears, and you simply press any key and hold it to revive the link. Not intutive at first, but neither was that new skateboard deck.

The blue Status key that shows a true Bluetooth link blinks on and off when your battery is low during use.  Plugging in the keyboard for an overnight charge works only if you direct your Macbook or iMac to stay awake to preserve the charging status.

I have yet to test an iPad keyboard that integrates as a cover but doesn’t force your typing into a pattern as tight as a Blue Angels jet flyover. You will always pay this price for an integrated keyboard. The iPad is nine inches across; most keyboards are at least 11 inches wide. One more thing, you early adopters of the iPad: like everyone else in the iPad accessory market, this unit only fits with the latest iPad 2 model. iPad 1 users can have this feather-light keyboard worthy of going mobile, but the larger iPad can’t fit to use the keyboard’s bottom as a screen cover. (Blame Apple; few of the iPad cases seem to accomodate multiple generations.) When I finish this review, the keyboard will become a compact and light accessory, something slipped easily into a good travel bag like the Pocket Bar from Urban Tool.

Cirago’s Bluetooth keyboard is a keeper, especially if your iPad is second generation. At $89.99 it’s a better value than the Zagg $99.99 units. If your writing habits need to include the iPad, this one is worth packing along.

Tags: Bluetooth, keyboard