Kibbles & Bytes Blog

Apple news, tech tips, and more…

KB Dog

  • iPad Pro 10.5 inch Keyboard Showdown – Apple Smart Keyboard vs. Brydge

    I took advantage of our recent liquidation purchase and bought myself an iPad Pro 10.5 inch unit. My plan was to use this many of the times that I would normally use my Mac but do not need the specialized features of my MacBook Pro, like accessing Small Dog’s custom database.

    Aside from that database, my initial impressions after extensive use of the iPad Pro is that it could easily replace my MacBook Pro for much of what I do and provide me with some advantages, too. I am not giving up my Mac but I am also not carrying it around when I do not need. So, on my recent trip to San Francisco, where I would normally pack my MacBook Pro and my iPad mini, I left them both behind and took my iPad Pro. I was nervous about this since I normally travel with all my devices but it worked out great!

    While I can type okay on the on-screen keyboard, it just is not the same as having a real keyboard so over the past couple weeks I have been testing both the Apple Smart Keyboard for the iPad Pro and the Brydge Aluminum Keyboard for the iPad Pro that was generously provided to me by the good folks over at Brydge.

    The Apple Smart Keyboard for the iPad Pro is a lightweight keyboard that connects via the Apple Smart Connector on the iPad Pro so it does not require its own power source and you never have to charge it up. The Smart Keyboard has an integrated stand that folds both for typing and viewing and provides a cover for the iPad Pro when not in use. It is “splash-resistant” and the keyboard is easy to connect and use.

    Pros:
    Lightweight keyboard with good key action. The keyboard case folds to protect the screen and also into both a typing and a viewing mode. It is easy to set up and because it connects via the Apple Smart Connector there is no Bluetooth pairing to deal with. Did I mention that it is lightweight?

    Cons:
    I am not usually so negative about an Apple product but I have to say the Smart Keyboard does have some drawbacks. First among those is that it is not backlit. I am so used to using backlight on keyboards that this really was obvious to me as I was trying to answer an email with the iPad Pro on my lap on a darkened airplane.

    It is a regular keyboard – i.e. it has all the normal keys but no function keys and no special keys that would make working with the iPad Pro easier. I think the keys are a bit noisy but not that bad. It only comes in one sorta boring, ugly gray color and while I am not using a pencil it would be nice if it had a slot for that.

    At $159, the Apple Smart Keyboard is not a bad choice, especially if you want to maintain the sleek low weight feel of the iPad Pro.

    The Brydge Aluminum Keyboard for the iPad Pro 10.5 inch is a much heavier device and at first that put me off on this choice. But then I started using it and I came around to love it. The Brydge keyboard is made of aluminum and comes in 4 colors that match the iPad Pro colors. Maybe it is just me but the Brydge keyboard made me think I had just come up with the perfect combination of MacBook and iPad Pro in one device.

    The keyboard is easy to set up and pair. Once you have inserted the iPad Pro into the hinge, you hit the power button which responds with a green light. Hold down the Bluetooth button for 3 seconds to pair the keyboard and your power button will turn blue, indicating it is in pairing mode. Once it is paired the light on the power key goes off and you are good to go.

    The keyboard connects via Bluetooth and must be charged from time to time, although the battery is good for up to a year in normal use. The iPad Pro slips easily into the patented hinge, just make sure the camera is on top and not in the hinge. The hinge allows the iPad Pro to be used at 0° to 180° angle for typing viewing or slouching on the couch. And if you want to switch to iPad mode you just pull it out of the hinge!

    Backlighting is one thing but 3-levels of backlighting take it to another level. You can adjust to your ambient lighting and still be able to type away in the dark. I liked the feel of this keyboard and its natural tactile feel. The keys are a bit smaller than on my MacBook Pro but even my fat fingers had no problem getting productive on this board.

    Unlike the Apple Smart keyboard, the Brydge has a row of special keys that are made for iOS operation. This may be the single reason that the Brydge has won this keyboard shoot-out. I find myself utilizing this top row of keys frequently to enhance my productivity. It has keys to toggle between the on-screen and physical keyboard, it has a Home and Control Center button that I learned to use all the time. It has a quick lock key, keys to control your music and volume and of course, an on/off button. In the lower left corner, it also has a Siri button which Apple oddly omitted from their offering.

    Pros:
    Backlit keyboard, specialty iOS keys, great typing action, great screen protection, matches your iPad Pro color, 1-year battery life. At $139 it is less expensive than the Apple Smart Keyboard. Feels substantial and highly protective of the iPad Pro.

    Cons:
    It is heavy but you are essentially making your iPad Pro into a laptop and the combination of your iPad Pro and the keyboard is about the same weight as a MacBook and less than a 13-inch MacBook Pro. It also does not have anywhere to stash a pencil if you are using an Apple Pencil. It is Bluetooth so it must be paired but that was super easy to do and once paired is stays paired.

    Conclusion
    Having used both of these keyboards extensively, I have decided that I will be using the Brydge keyboard for my iPad Pro. Whether I am on an airplane or just being a couch potato the iPad Pro 10.5 with my Brydge keyboard is my device of choice. The Brydge keyboard offers the protection I want for my expensive iPad Pro screen and the keyboard connects easily and is great to work on. The backlighting and iOS specific keys make this a productive combination that simply cannot be matched by the Apple Smart Keyboard. The winner is Brydge by a span.

  • Dear Friends, Grace and I lived up to our motto of “More Fun!” in San Francisco. We had a ball celebrating and visiting…

  • We have so many deals here at Small Dog Electronics that we thought we would pull some of our best deals into one location. We have a wide variety of discontinued, used and dented carton iPads and Macs. Many of these deals are single units, so if you’re interested in one do not delay scooping it up.

    Would you prefer a new Mac or iPad? Our selection of new Macs and iPads are just as large plus we stock many custom configurations! You can e-mail us, sales@smalldog.com or call us toll-free 1-800-511-6227 and we can help you find the perfect iPad or Mac.

    We have free shipping on orders over $75 and no sales tax to most states!

  • As you read this I am probably on an airplane with Grace heading for our long weekend celebration of our 50th anniversary. Damn, we are so old but we are still having fun! We will see Joe Bonamassa in concert, check out comedy by Margret Cho and then I rented a fancy car through Turo to visit some old haunts from when we lived in the Bay Area. Our motto is the same exclamation that Grace tells me every time I complain about some random age-related pain – MORE FUN!

    This trip should bring back memories of our days as hippies and political activists in Berkley and Oakland in the 60s. I think we are gonna have some fun.

    Thank you so much for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes. I hope you find some value both in our content and the specials that we bring you each week.

    Your Kibbles & Bytes team,

    Don & Emily

  • Malware Is On The Rise

    According to the McAfee Threat Report, macOS malware grew by 744% in 2016, with an estimated 460,000 instances detected. However, that number it is not as bad as it sounds. Most cases where “malware” was detected turned out to be adware bundled into utility apps, i.e. fake system integrity scans, like CleanMyMac and Mackeeper. These system scans have turned out to be phishing scams by bloated apps that do nothing but bog down your system processes and expose you to unwanted ads.

    While rare, real deal malware does exist on macOS, as seen in an attack earlier this year that hijacked Safari and Apple mail causing the machine to crash. The best way to protect your Mac from true malware is to only ever install software from the App Store and trusted developers. This means paying for legitimate software.

    While most of the surge in Mac malware was adware, we’ve had some just nasty Mac-based attacks over the last year, including ransomware and password hijackers. Ransomware is a form of cryptovirology attack, where the attacker takes your data and encrypts it, and holds it hostage till the victim pays a ransom. Password Hijackers do just that; they hijack your passwords to keep you from accessing your computer, phone and internet accounts. This can be easily avoided as well by only downloading apps from the App store or trusted developers. Additionally, make sure you’re using secure passwords and avoiding using unprotected wifi networks. This is also another reason to keep up on time machine back-ups so your data is yours.   

  • A Gateway To The Apple Ecosystem

    When I started as an employee of Small Dog Electronics over a decade ago, I didn’t know anything about Mac. I’d used the Apple IIe in Elementary school, but all I remember is the poor graphics on my favorite game Oregon Trail; Sally seemed to always break her leg and never made it to the end of the trail. In College, I’d seen a few students using colorful Apple laptops, but the operating system looked so foreign to me I couldn’t figure out how anyone used them. Thankfully, my first position with Small Dog was shipping and receiving. Really all I needed to know what how to accurately match up part numbers on an invoice with part numbers on a box. My first office workstation was an Indigo Blue G3 iMac. Having to use Macs every day at work I quickly adjusted and started to more easily navigate around on a Mac. I still can’t believe we had a Mac that was old enough to run Mac OS 8, which we used to process US Mail shipments.

    Before I start to date myself and my time at Small Dog any further, where is this article going? It was in my early days at Small Dog and my time in shipping lane that I slowly began my baby steps into the Apple Ecosystem and it all began with a used laptop.

    One evening at a Small Dog company party I as the lucky winner of a used G4 iBook. I think the hard drive was all of 30GB and had minimal memory. That little machine was the start of it all. I pushed aside my Dell PC at home and I never looked at a PC again. My little used iBook did everything that I needed it to do but it didn’t take long to have my eye on a silver shiny PowerBook. The only catch, I didn’t have the funds for my new dream computer. Eventually, we found some deals on refurbished Powerbooks and I traded up in the laptop world. I loved that little 12in Powerbook. It went everywhere with me, even on a cross-country trip and never missed a beat. I was so impressed with the performance of my refurbished PowerBook that when an opportunity came along and a great deal on a refurbished 17in iMac I jumped on that opportunity. After all, two computers were better than one! I admit, I didn’t even have a real need for it other than I didn’t want to share my PowerBook when I was at home.

    It took about 2-3 years to become a full-time member of the Apple Ecosystem as bit by bit I added more accessories. It was so easy to sync an iPod and set up a new Airport that I could not imagine using another product line. I was a real computer novice at this time so to be able to set these devices up with minimal help was a real treat. I’d keep my eyes out for deals and when I upgraded computers migration assistant made it seamless. In the following years iPhones and iPads synced up with minimal effort, the list goes on. Now over a decade later I have just about every Apple gadget and my household is filled with Apple products everywhere you look.

    My eye for great deals hasn’t stopped either. We recently purchased a number of Apple products from Watches to iPad to computers that are less than perfect boxes or have some minor damage but are still in excellent condition. I have my eye on a TouchBar MacBook Pro at the moment; it’s got some cosmetic damage but I can see past a blemish or two for a great deal! Not to worry though, we have many computers that only have some blemishes on the boxes. Don and I actually spent an afternoon last week opening up computers with damage to their outer brown boxes to find nothing more than a minor dent in the white Apple boxes.

    Here are some of my favorite deals on some bad box computers and iPads that would make for a perfect addition to your Apple Ecosystem, or if you know other young Emilys out there who have not made the switch you should share these deals with that friend!

    MacBook Pro 13in w/Touch Bar 3.1GHz i5 DC 8GB/256GB – Dented Box was $1799.99 now $1699.99

    MacBook Pro 15in w/Touch Bar 2.8GHz i7 QC 16GB/256GB/2GB – Dented Box, was $2399.99 now $2299.99

    MacBook Pro 13in 2.3GHz i5 Dual Core 8GB/256GB – Space Gray – Dented Carton, Was $1499.99 now $1349.99

  • Hello Everyone!

    The warm, breezy air last night tricked me into leaving my bedroom and living room windows open, and I woke up to a freezing cold reminder that October is unpredictable. This weekend is what I would consider peak photographic fall atmosphere. Although most of the leaves have fallen, I love the tumbling leaves on the sidewalk and the dramatic skies that October brings. Before I get started, I have to thank one of our Tech Tails readers, Dennis. He replied to a recent edition where I had mentioned instant film, and informed me of Polaroid’s return to the market. Somehow this news had not appeared in my world yet, and I must admit I initially doubted the accuracy of this claim. Since the discontinuation of Polaroid, I have patiently waited for this announcement. After receiving my first box of the new Polaroid 600 type film, I dusted off my “Cool Cam” and made some great memories. The nostalgia of adding 600 type prints to my collection for the first time since High School was surreal and exciting. Now that Polaroid is back in the game, I think I’ll be watching some more advanced Polaroid camera models on eBay!

    In Apple news, I’m happy to report that the Apple Watch craze has only grown at our South Burlington store. As I’ve reported in the past, we all seemed to be carried away by the “world’s most popular watch” and continue to find new benefits of wearing one. Personally, my average mile running speed has improved about 1 whole minute, something I never imagined to be possible. In fact, I never really knew what my average mile speed would be, but the Apple Watch monitors every inch, every step, and every heartbeat. I’ve enjoyed tracking my progress, but more importantly, I’ve improved my running frequency simply because the watch reminds me every day that I should be moving more. It may sound funny, but have a fitness coach strapped to your wrist goes a long way!

    I hope you enjoy this edition of Tech Tails and be sure to write us with your feedback. Have a great week!

    Patrick McCormack
    patrickm@smalldog.com

  • Harry Ruffner

    Hobbies/Interests: Audio, electronic music production, synthesizers, video production, gardening Favorite Books: Kingkiller Chronicles, Mother Night, Martian Chronicles Favorite Bands: Aphex Twin, Boards of…

  • Notwithstanding the frost on my windshield this morning, we are having an extended Indian summer and we are just heading into peak fall foliage. The trees still have their leaves for the most part and the temps during the day are still in the 60’s for the next 10 days. That certainly means some fall motorcycling this weekend in between baseball if the Cubbies make it.

    Grace and I will be celebrating 50-years of marriage in about a week. We are heading to San Francisco for some playtime and to get tattoos to celebrate. It is hard to believe we have been married that long but I guess we have sort of blended into one, you know… like Gron or Drace. People tell us we finish each other’s sentences and I know that there are just some things I don’t need to remember because Grace has got that. I would do it all over in a heartbeat. I couldn’t ask for a better life companion (well, there is Jezebel…).

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes! It is hard to believe we have been writing this newsletter every week for the past 21 years and are past our 1000th episode! Thank you so much!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    Don & Emily