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iPad BRYDGE PRO+ Wireless Keyboard w/Trackpad for iPad Pro
- Thread starter jamezr
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Owned the B+pro and found that the trackpad is not as sensitive compared to other but overall slick design to have.
Yeah i just have to be extra careful when i bring it around as it's mostly at the side of the ipad. If it's too risky, i just place it in my pocket. Whatever works for you.
I am contemplating brydge pro 11 and 12.9 for my ipads, but the reviews and the inconsistency has been holding me back.
If I can get some honest opinions that can push me over the edge, I would be grateful.
of note, I do have brydge pro 12.9 currently without trackpad and love the build compared with the new Apple magic keyboard.
Thanks,
Steve
If I can get some honest opinions that can push me over the edge, I would be grateful.
of note, I do have brydge pro 12.9 currently without trackpad and love the build compared with the new Apple magic keyboard.
Thanks,
Steve
I have the Brydge Pro 12.9 without the trackpad also. How is yours holding up? For me, I couldn't stand using it when it hit the 1 year mark. My rubber grips were all worn out, the Bluetooth was shoddy (it lost connection often), and I didn't like the fact that when I took it off the keyboard, that it was still connected. In that sense, the MK makes a lot more sense to me since once I take it off the keyboard, it's no longer connected.
The typing experience on the MK, along with the track support, make it all the worthwhile for me. It has really changed the way I use my iPad even when I still have the Brydge. The Brydge always felt to me like an additive Bluetooth keyboard whereas the MK gives me a completely different experience. Also, having that 2nd charging port makes such a huge difference too.
One big thing: If you have AppleCare+ on your iPad like I do, then the MK is covered by Apple. For me, I had a REALLY difficult time convincing Brydge to replace my first faulty unit that was only 6 months old (several keys failed). Since I have a good chunk left on my AppleCare+, I intend to use it before it goes away.
I think it really depends on how intensive your use might be.
I own the original Brydge pro 12.9 as well. I actually like the feel of this keyboard (Brydge Pro+) better in terms of typing experience— though I’d have to use my old one again to really articulate how. This one is just a little “clickier” / seems to have a bit more travel and such.
As for the trackpad... I’m middle of the road. Scrolling in the browser is still just janky if you ask me. No inertia, really abrupt stops, makes it feel choppy if you are going to do much scrolling. Others will note a lack of certain gestures that the magic keyboard has— I’ve never used it so I don’t know what I’m missing. This is my main disappointment with this device. It’s not the touch experience you’re used to having with an Apple device.
If I’m doing much typing I’ll find that occasionally it stops responding briefly— not sure if this is the keyboard losing its Bluetooth connection or what, but it can be annoying to have keys suddenly stop registering for a few seconds.
The battery seems worse than the old Pro as well, though I have no idea if this is a battery calibration issue or what.
I am tempted to try a magic keyboard. This is definitely less expensive than Apple’s solution but its still fairly expensive anyways— I’m now regretting a bit letting the Brydge folks talk me into keeping this when I inquired about cancelling my preorder.
I’m reminded of this quote attributed to John Ruskin:
“It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”
Granted, this Pro+ isn’t useless-- I’m getting daily use out of it. It’s just been a bit disappointing. It suffers both from some quality / firmware issues and just from the unexpected competition from Apple themselves (which sucks for them). I don’t know if they’ve got some more substantial firmware updates in the works... but it’s been radio silence for a couple months now. They made a couple of firmware updates to convince people they were going to make things better, but if this is their “good enough”, I’m not likely to buy another Brydge product without better reviews (duh, huh. I rolled the dice based on some of the reviews I’d read about this and just feel like I’m coming up short).
Hello everyone,
I appreciate your kindest feedback regarding this.
For me personally, having a product that is not top notch would not work from any angle.
In fact, as a physician I read many many books on my ipad and having a trackpad issue without the ability to smoothly zoom in and out of PDFs would be a solid dealbreaker.
I have let go of the whole brydge fiasco once in for all, I truly had high hopes of their abilities to tackle this issue but having pindrop silence and mere small updates to fix the trackpad is highly disappointing.
I would rather spend $289+$329 for the keyboards than to have a sub par product that costs half of that. I quite enjoyed the thinking of @rumz of spending it on the best instead of regretting it later on and having paid more indirectly.
I have a 40% off brydge coupon that is expiring on 8/18/20 if anyone wishes to purchase/use you may PM me and I will be more than happy to share with you.
Steve
I appreciate your kindest feedback regarding this.
For me personally, having a product that is not top notch would not work from any angle.
In fact, as a physician I read many many books on my ipad and having a trackpad issue without the ability to smoothly zoom in and out of PDFs would be a solid dealbreaker.
I have let go of the whole brydge fiasco once in for all, I truly had high hopes of their abilities to tackle this issue but having pindrop silence and mere small updates to fix the trackpad is highly disappointing.
I would rather spend $289+$329 for the keyboards than to have a sub par product that costs half of that. I quite enjoyed the thinking of @rumz of spending it on the best instead of regretting it later on and having paid more indirectly.
I have a 40% off brydge coupon that is expiring on 8/18/20 if anyone wishes to purchase/use you may PM me and I will be more than happy to share with you.
Steve
Realize most of you using the Brydge Pro+ for iPads, but I needed a key/track combo for couch media/gaming setup in the living room. Mini review here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/keyboard-trackpad-combo-for-media.2248827/
tldr; Brydge Pro+ trackpad is laggy and just plain sucks currently. Maybe it will be fixed in a later update. That said, it's probably getting returned on Monday.
Might try the upcoming BT5.0 Brydge 12.3+ for Surface Pro connected to mac mini/windows. Or possibly the logitech combo thing.
tldr; Brydge Pro+ trackpad is laggy and just plain sucks currently. Maybe it will be fixed in a later update. That said, it's probably getting returned on Monday.
Might try the upcoming BT5.0 Brydge 12.3+ for Surface Pro connected to mac mini/windows. Or possibly the logitech combo thing.
Have you considered apple magic keyboard? judging from the reviews of brydge keyboard, the apple keyboard is seamless, having been using it currently I have no regrets on spending that cash.
I've used the magic keyboard and it's great. After so much time on my MBP however, I've come to really value a trackpad in front. Kind of bizarre why every media track/key combo puts it on the right. Yeah it's a bit more compact, but also much more awkward to use for any length of time.
Bought one for my spouse and she loves it. She dropped it on floor and screwed up hinge on one side. Brydge replaced it at no charge! Great company..great product!
Thumbs up!
Cheers,
Unkei
Thumbs up!
Cheers,
Unkei
They are good keyboards but man that hinge is its greatest strength and weakness. Bought one and the hinge inserts broke not long after I got one. The replacement ones were hard to install so I gave up. I found it cumbersome to keep getting the Ipad in and out of the hinge. Ended up going for the Magic keyboard which is easily for me the best portable keyboard for the iPad if you can afford it. if not then would go for the logitech keyboard.
Just installed the new firmware for my Pro+ keyboard… So far it’s massively improved. The only thing I’ll have to watch for is to see if palm rejection is improved (I do use tap to click). Previously I’d find my cursor jump to somewhere else in the paragraph mid-typing which was really frustrating.
Scrolling is so much better. Like it’s behaving like a trackpad now instead of approximating an old clicky mouse wheel.
Anyone else update their Brydge Pro+?
Scrolling is so much better. Like it’s behaving like a trackpad now instead of approximating an old clicky mouse wheel.
Anyone else update their Brydge Pro+?