Macworld Forums: TwelveSouth MagicWand - Macworld Forums

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Nice idea, but $3 of Velcro and a rectangular piece of plastic to join the two works nicely for me.

i just took delivery of one this morning. i snapped in my wireless keyboard and magic trackpad and was ready to go. installation was very easy. i definitely like this product...it does what its suppose to, and makes using my wireless keyboard and trackpad that much easier. great product....i'm very happy :-)

I just got the MagicWand and I've been using it for about 20 minutes and I hate it. The clickable buttons on the trackpad are completely unusable which makes dragging, well almost impossible. it seems that the added weight of the keyboard holds the buttons on the trackpad in the depressed position so you can't let go of what you're dragging. Its also really hard to slide the H bar connector in between the keyboard and trackpad. It's too tight and won't slide up to the top.

I want to like it, so I removed the H bar and that solves the dragging issue but now, as I type, the keyboard rattles. I'll be sending this one back.

Magic Wand looks awesome!

Just saw these guys treedesigns.ca which looked pretty cool too.

They have created the "iDESK" which is a smart sexy case + organizer + laptop solution for the Apple wireless keyboard and trackpad.

This isn't really a comment about the magic wand, but more so the article. It says "such a setup would be perfect for controlling a Mac mini used in a home-entertainment system from your lap" - unless you put it on a hard platform, the magic trackpad isn't so magic. I really wish the magic trackpad was self-contained and didn't need to be a on hard surface. That is such a massive design flaw. If Apple could make it where the click action was sandwiched in itself, it would be a much better product.

I have been looking for a viable solution to connect my magic trackpad and wireless keyboard for over a year. As a designer I can appreciate the minimalism of the magic wand, but the lack of forethought into usability is a real letdown. Without being providing a solid support surface for the trackpad feet to rest on, the magic trackpad is relegated to a touch-tap device. This, in my opinion is a massive failure. First of all, I refuse to lay down $30 for an accessory that makes my magic trackpad less useful and actually limits my magic trackpad's core press-to-click functionality. I appreciate what 12 south has tried to do, but as an engineer, I can't believe they decided to connect the edges of the devices together with a plastic H-beam. It not only ruins the aesthetics of the apple devices, but more importantly, anyone who tries to use this device over time will undoubtedly end up warping their magic trackpad. Think about it - placing your peripherals into this thing, you essentially lock one edge of a moveable planar surface (the trackpad) to the non-moveable planar surface of the keyboard, allowing one side of the trackpad to compress more than the other. The trackpad is made of thin aluminum plating which will warp, and after repeatedly stressing the trackpad in this way you will eventually see the glass surface on top of the trackpad start to separate from its base. The trackpad will eventually become warped to the point that it won't sit flat on your desk anymore by itself. Um, thanks, but no thanks.

In my opinion, there are much better solutions out there that achieve precisely what the magic wand could have been if it wasn't such a failure. You can find adapters that are made of wood, aluminum and plastic that all support the base magic trackpad and let it move independently from the keyboard. I like the wood ones, but they're really heavy and you have to be careful about your $70 peripherals falling out if you hold it at the wrong angle. The aluminum ones look cool, but either took up too much precious desk space or else required me gluing velcro or magnetic strips to my apple devices. It took some digging, but I finally found a product that was exactly what I was looking for. Have been using it for over a month at both to control my iMac at my desk and to control my Mac-mini htpc and could be happier. It supports the base of my keyboard and trackpad and I can connect my devices in seconds without any additional parts or pieces. It's lightweight, minimalistic and costs about half of what the other functional solutions are going for. If you're looking for a solution to connect your magic trackpad and wireless keyboard together I highly recommend you checking out the bluefin adapter at meshwe.com. Good stuff.

[quote name='ChrisCameron6qp8' timestamp='1298506393' post='882346']
The clickable buttons on the trackpad are completely unusable which makes dragging, well almost impossible.

..true. But why not just set the trackpad to 'tap to click' and use the three-finger drag? Works for me.

I own the "Twelve South MagicWand". It makes for a neat package, and desktop stability for the assembly.

I have ONLY one "negative". The small soft plastic insert to cover the gap between the keyboard and the trackpad is somewhat unstable.

BUT the "TwelveSouth" company was quick to send a replacement. I would like one that is more stable.

**** stars.