This is the scenario: You’ve got an Apple Wireless Keyboard. You’ve got a Magic Trackpad. You want to keep them together. Henge Docks has your back.
The Clique is a hunk of white plastic that perfectly fits the Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, keyboard on the left and trackpad on the right. And that’s...pretty much it. Each device snaps into the Clique snugly, and my hands quickly got used to having the two conveniently located side by side.
It does one thing, but it does it well: keeping your Magic Trackpad and Wireless Keyboard together.
Rubber feet on the bottom of the Clique keep it steady on your desk--they are more substantial in size and thickness than the keyboard and trackpad’s own feet. This is a nice touch, as the Wireless Keyboard on its own used to rattle against my slightly-less-than-totally-flat IKEA desk when I typed. The Clique dampens that movement and noise perfectly. It also helped me train myself to use the Magic Trackpad--since it’s, you know, right there--and stop reaching for my mouse instead. (Yes, having the trackpad and the mouse both on the desk wasn’t exactly the best plan for taking advantage of the trackpad’s nifty Multi-Touch gestures. And yes, I should have realized this and stashed my mouse in a drawer long ago.) The power button on the left of the trackpad is covered but still accessible, and the Clique has a plastic lever on the bottom that pushes the keyboard’s power button for you, so you don’t have to remove the keyboard every time you need to turn it on or off. When you do need to pull the keyboard or trackpad out to change their batteries, they snap free easily without much fuss.
The Clique covers the trackpad’s power button and the keyboard’s, but you can still press both thanks to plastic triggers.
As of this writing, the Clique only comes in a traditionally right-handed setup (trackpad to the right of the keyboard). Henge is taking preorders for a left-handed version (trackpad to the left), which doesn’t have a firm release date yet--the company says they’ll produce it if there’s enough demand.
The bottom line. At first glance, you’ll be forgiven for sniffing, “It’s just a piece of plastic.” But it turns out this is one handy hunk of plastic, ably uniting the Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, cleanly matching the keyboard’s white plastic keys, and without breaking the bank.
Clique
Apple Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad
Keeps your keyboard and trackpad happily wed. Rubber feet prevent movement. Power buttons accessible. Inexpensive.
Left-handed version available for preorder, but not available at press time.
McBluffin
April 18, 2012 at 1:33pm
I agree with driverajr. When are companies going to start focusing on actually innovating instead of ripping off ideas and mass producing cheap imitations overseas? This is just another chinese knockoff, less functional and less stylish that either the magic wand or the bluefin which came out last year. But hey, the price is like the build quality - cheap. I know, I bought one at MacWorld thinking it would be cool to use with my mac mini, and it's complete junk. The trackpad gets stuck and you can't use the click. There's a lesson to be learned here for the company that makes this product - before you name your product after its main feature, take the time to make sure the feature actually works first, ok. :)
driverajr
April 02, 2012 at 12:15pm
More of the same stuff we already have...re-packaged. : ( They're running out of ideas...then they don't want to hear me talk about my ground breaking idea: VIVID COMPRESSION...everyone is looking for the next break but apparently my skin has too much color to it.
iRovr
April 02, 2012 at 11:23am
I'd like one that allows to also have the numeric key pad connected. So the keyboard would be in the middle, the track pad on one side and the numeric pad on the other side. It would be even nicer if the user could choose which pad goes on which side of the keyboard.
ahhh...dreams... Or maybe a Kickstarter?
