iPad Clamcase Pro for iPad Air (2)

[jryu90]

Has anyone here ordered the Clamcase Pro for the iPad Air 2? I know they aren't shipping till January 2015 sometime (I ordered mine about a month ago). I was also wondering if any current Clamcase Pro (for the iPad Air) owners could chime in with their reviews and opinions on overall build quality, and most importantly, keyboard feel and response. There appears to be a dearth of reviews for this product, and even more aggravating is the lack of detail these reviews have of the keyboard quality.

 

[mstein88]

Has anyone here ordered the Clamcase Pro for the iPad Air 2? I know they aren't shipping till January 2015 sometime (I ordered mine about a month ago). I was also wondering if any current Clamcase Pro (for the iPad Air) owners could chime in with their reviews and opinions on overall build quality, and most importantly, keyboard feel and response. There appears to be a dearth of reviews for this product, and even more aggravating is the lack of detail these reviews have of the keyboard quality.

I'd also like to see some reviews on the Clamcase Pro for the Air 2. I ordered one over the weekend but am probably going to cancel the order (for now). It's not scheduled to ship until late January.

I initially picked up a Zagg Folio for my Air 2, but the hinge broke within 2 weeks of normal, everday use. Thankfully, Zagg's warranty/guarantee appears pretty consumer friendly, so I expect I'll get a full refund. In the meantime, I decided to pick up a Zagg Slim Book over the weekend based on the (mostly) favorable reviews of this case in these forums. After 2 days of use, I'd say it's a significant improvement over the Folio. My Folio often had lag. I'd start typing a new sentence and the letters would take 3 or 4 seconds to begin appearing. Also, the Slim Book allows me to very easily remove the iPad from the keyboard base while still having the back cover on the iPad attached for protection. This is nice when I'm playing a game and don't need the keyboard.

I have a good friend who swears by the Clamcase for his Air 1. He's used it everyday for 6+ months and says the case is still in excellent shape and that, most importantly, the hinge is very high quality. Incidentally, he sells hinges/latches for a living so I trust his judgement here.

I plan to stay with the Zagg Slim Book for a few weeks and, if it holds up, will likely keep it. The Clamcase is next on my list if I decide to return the Slim Book though.

 

[Invadermars]

I believe I ordered my case for the Air 2 shortly after they first became available. The site was down for maintenance, and once it was back up, orders were being accepted.

Something went wrong with the order, and I had to reorder around Christmas. I just got a ups ship notification that mine will arrive on 01/07. I'll update once I recieve it.

 

[satchmo]

Has anyone here ordered the Clamcase Pro for the iPad Air 2? I know they aren't shipping till January 2015 sometime (I ordered mine about a month ago). I was also wondering if any current Clamcase Pro (for the iPad Air) owners could chime in with their reviews and opinions on overall build quality, and most importantly, keyboard feel and response. There appears to be a dearth of reviews for this product, and even more aggravating is the lack of detail these reviews have of the keyboard quality.

FWIW, this company takes forever to bring something to market. I gave up on waiting for over 6 months of delays for the Clamcase Pro iPad Air model. I finally gave up and got a Zagg.

The reason why you have so few reviews on the product might be because people simply gave up or didn't buy due to the rather hefty price tag.

 

[baypharm]

I agree with Satchmo. This company is not worth pursuing. They constantly send out emails advertising free postage or $20 off or something but they never deliver the goods. This game has been going on for at least a year now. What's even worse is they require prepayment up front. Buy another make.

 

[jryu90]

I actually received notice that my order shipped via UPS, along with the tracking number. Should be delivered by next week. My card wasn't charged until the day it shipped out. Their site also states don't charge until shipment, which in my opinion is a better policy than some of the other small, niche keyboard makers like Brydge (I've also had quality issues with Brydge). Though I did notice the original Clamcase Pro model for the Air did take a while to be released. The updated model for the Air 2 luckily didn't seem to have taken them too long.

 

[BrianSoCal]

I actually received notice that my order shipped via UPS, along with the tracking number. Should be delivered by next week. My card wasn't charged until the day it shipped out. Their site also states don't charge until shipment, which in my opinion is a better policy than some of the other small, niche keyboard makers like Brydge (I've also had quality issues with Brydge). Though I did notice the original Clamcase Pro model for the Air did take a while to be released. The updated model for the Air 2 luckily didn't seem to have taken them too long.

I'm really enjoying the QODE Ultimate Pro at the moment, but looking forward to your thoughts on the Clamcase.

 

[Invadermars]

It came on Wednesday, and I really like it. My card was not charged until it shipped.
I was interested in the ClamCase for iPad Air too, and probably waited almost until the end of summer before giving in and getting a New Trent Airbender. The Zagg was an option, but I have no need for the backlit keyboard, and I wasn't impressed with the design.



I haven't had any real problems with the case so far. I noticed that it does wobble a little bit in Movie mode. But not quite as much as the Slim Book for Zagg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVYM3IEwd9s


Of course it adds a lot of weight, and it's a bit top heavy, which causes it to flop over in laptop mode, depending on the angle it's in or surface I'm using it on (in my lap).

Besides that, charging the iPad inside the case was a bit difficult. It was hard to plug into and to remove. Not as much with the audio jack, but at least ClamCase included an adapter. I was using Apple's usb/earphones.



But if you watched any reviews for the Air version, then it's pretty much the same.
How'd you like yours?

 

[BrianSoCal]

It came on Wednesday, and I really like it. My card was not charged until it shipped.
I was interested in the ClamCase for iPad Air too, and probably waited almost until the end of summer before giving in and getting a New Trent Airbender. The Zagg was an option, but I have no need for the backlit keyboard, and I wasn't impressed with the design.


I just ordered one the other day, hoping to see it in a few weeks. I tried the Airbender but it was just way too clunky. I'm using the Belkin QODE Ultimate Pro now which I REALLY like but the hinge on the Clamcase had me curious.

 

[minicard]

It came on Wednesday, and I really like it. My card was not charged until it shipped.
I was interested in the ClamCase for iPad Air too, and probably waited almost until the end of summer before giving in and getting a New Trent Airbender. The Zagg was an option, but I have no need for the backlit keyboard, and I wasn't impressed with the design.


I just ordered one the other day, hoping to see it in a few weeks. I tried the Airbender but it was just way too clunky. I'm using the Belkin QODE Ultimate Pro now which I REALLY like but the hinge on the Clamcase had me curious.

I had a Clamcase for my iPad 4. It was nice and well made until it accidentally fell from my hand and hit the side of the table. I was able to catch it before it fell in the floor. Unfortunately the keyboard hit the side of the table and one of the keys came off. The most of the other keys were loose but worked. Great customer support from Clamcase and sent me a replacement key for me to repair. Didn't feel the same after the fall so I stopped using it.

I now have the Belkin QODE ultimate pro for my Air 2 and loving it. The mere fact that it detaches from the keyboard and very easy to put back was the biggest advantage I like.

 

[MikeBusch2]

I just received my ClamCase Pro, but can't figure out why it has fn, control, option, and cmd keys.

I've read that the traditional Mac keyboard shortcuts for cut/copy/paste work, thus the cmd key, but it seems silly to put in the effort to add a key that would duplicate functionality elsewhere. For example, the on-screen cut/copy/paste buttons, and the cut/copy/paste keys on the top row. I'm still in the dark regarding the fn, control, and option keys.

Regardless, it works rather well, I can type comfortably, and the build quality is fantastic. I'm not too keen on the white color, but I may find some sort of large vinyl something-or-other to put on the back.

If only some iOS games supported using arrow keys for input....

 

[jryu90]

I just received my ClamCase Pro, but can't figure out why it has fn, control, option, and cmd keys.

I've read that the traditional Mac keyboard shortcuts for cut/copy/paste work, thus the cmd key, but it seems silly to put in the effort to add a key that would duplicate functionality elsewhere. For example, the on-screen cut/copy/paste buttons, and the cut/copy/paste keys on the top row. I'm still in the dark regarding the fn, control, and option keys.

Regardless, it works rather well, I can type comfortably, and the build quality is fantastic. I'm not too keen on the white color, but I may find some sort of large vinyl something-or-other to put on the back.

If only some iOS games supported using arrow keys for input....

Like you mentioned, the cmd, option, control and fn keys are there to duplicate the functionality of a Mac keyboard. They're also there to provide a sense of familiarity and ease of use. I find myself using the cmd+c and v shortcuts more frequently than the dedicated keys for cut, copy and paste on the top row.

These desktop keyboard shortcuts also work in various apps on the iPad. In Safari, cmd+t and r function just as they would in Safari for Mac as both new tab and page refresh. In certain apps like the Tumblr app for iPad "j" and "k" can be used for scrolling up and down posts, "l" can be used to like posts, and "option+r" can be used to quickly reblog posts (these shortcuts are from the desktop site as well, however, they do not appear to work on the Tumblr desktop site in Safari for Mac, only in the Tumblr app for iPad).

I'm sure there are more shortcuts that take advantage of the fn and control keys, but honestly, why take away the added functionality? They're there for certain apps to take advantage for keyboard shortcuts. Having to constantly peck at the screen or hunting in the top function row while typing away can be both disupting and jarring at times, so I'd rather have them there than not.

----------

It came on Wednesday, and I really like it. My card was not charged until it shipped.
I was interested in the ClamCase for iPad Air too, and probably waited almost until the end of summer before giving in and getting a New Trent Airbender. The Zagg was an option, but I have no need for the backlit keyboard, and I wasn't impressed with the design.



I haven't had any real problems with the case so far. I noticed that it does wobble a little bit in Movie mode. But not quite as much as the Slim Book for Zagg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVYM3IEwd9s


Of course it adds a lot of weight, and it's a bit top heavy, which causes it to flop over in laptop mode, depending on the angle it's in or surface I'm using it on (in my lap).

Besides that, charging the iPad inside the case was a bit difficult. It was hard to plug into and to remove. Not as much with the audio jack, but at least ClamCase included an adapter. I was using Apple's usb/earphones.



But if you watched any reviews for the Air version, then it's pretty much the same.
How'd you like yours?

Thanks for posting the pictures and your impressions! I just recieved mine from UPS yesterday, and I'll update the thread with a few pictures of my own when I get back home from work.

I agree with all your points. The screen does wobble a bit, but like you said, it's not as pronounced as it was on the ZAGG Slim Book. The plastic shell from ZAGG covering the iPad also brittle and vastly inferior to the polycarboate hardshell used on the Clamcase Pro. It is also, slightly top heavy, as you mentioned, but only really pronounced if you prop the display back further from the intial "laptop mode." I do wish Clamcase made the ports larger to accomodate various Lightning cable designs and headphone jacks. The headphone jack is egregiously small and ACTUALLY useless unless you use the supplied adaptor and the Lightning port will only fit the standard Lightning cable. It won't even fit the USB to Lightning adapter I use.

 

[psychedelia]

Finally Zagg made a revision of the Slim Book for iPad Air 2 and it is so much better. Finally it works as it should!

 

[mulliganman]

Finally Zagg made a revision of the Slim Book for iPad Air 2 and it is so much better. Finally it works as it should!

Where can you get the revised version of the slimbook? The only website I have seen that has the new listing ID6ZF2-BBA is amazon and you can't order it right now directly from them.

 

[mulliganman]

Another question: Anyone know if the cracking issues there were present before on some clamcases has been resolved since Incipio took over? Is it as prevalent in the IPAD Air 2 model? Trying to decide between it and the slimbook as I like that style. By the way, looks like the clamcase is now available in a smoke/grey color too

 

[psychedelia]

Where can you get the revised version of the slimbook? The only website I have seen that has the new listing ID6ZF2-BBA is amazon and you can't order it right now directly from them.

I got my replacement straight through Zagg.com

 

[mulliganman]

I got my replacement straight through Zagg.com

I called Zagg about this yesterday and was told they started shipping out the improved versions I believe around July or so. However, there really isn't a way to tell if you got old stock or not unless it breaks. I even asked if the "new" Amazon listed was the "new" stock, but csr couldn't confirm and didn't understand why Amazon has it listed as ID6ZF2-BBA when everyone else including zagg has it listed as ID6ZF2-BB0 On a separate note amazon has this for its lowest price ever of $94.96....

I wish I could find more reports of whether the cracking on the Clamcase is still an issue since Incipio bought out Clamcase. Walmart website has that one for $113.99

 

[ppfd]

I had a clam case for the iPad 3, it was great. That said, when I was looking for a keyboard case for my air 2 I went with the zagg rugged book. The 2 piece design is really nice. I know it takes time to design and produce any item, but with so many choices for keyboard cases on the market, CC case with their constant delays. I didn't even consider them this time.

 

[mulliganman]

I think you can get the clamcase without any delays for the IPAD now. Unless something has changed Walmart has them for $113 plus tax. I had Best Buy price match that for my IPAD Air 2. It was the cheapiest I have seen on it. I had also picked up a Zagg Slimbook as well. I couldn't decide and am kind of trying to see if some of the issues with cracking on the Clamcase has been resolved since Incipio took over. Also interesting was mine says clearly on the box it has a 1 year warranty now (never said that before)...