Twelve South MagicWand Review
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From the makers of the Compass and BookArc stands, comes to us a new accessory for the Apple Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad called the MagicWand. In a bombshell the MagicWand is a little accessory that will connect both of your Mac peripherals into one solid device. Some of you were looking for that perfect way of combining the two into one, you might want to look no further. The MagicWand seems to be the perfect solution to your organizing needs, or is it? Find out in the full review right after the break.
When I first heard about Twelve South's new MagicWand I knew it was something that could be very useful to those who use a Magic Trackpad with a Wireless Keyboard. At a first glance you can hardly tell the MagicWand is installed because of how low-profiled it is. How it works is very simple, all you need to do to get started is to snap both of your input devices into the MagicWand. And because the MagicWand is made out of polycarbonate, it is easy to snap in without having to worry about metal to metal friction. From a design standpoint, the MagicWand blends in together with the Magic Trackpad and Wireless Keyboard. It does feels plasticky. You have the option to use the H beam included if you want to pick up your new MagicKeyboard without it moving apart. If you just plan on using your new MagicKeyboard on your desk, I don't think there is a need to add that H beam.
There are a few downsides to the MagicWand. Whether these are simple defects with my review unit I don't know. If you want to use that H beam you will have a very hard time sliding it in between your Magic Trackpad and your Wireless Keyboard. There is just too much friction and it's practically impossible to slide it all the way up. The H beam slides onto both the Magic Trackpad and Wireless Keyboard on both sides so you cannot use any skins on your Magic Trackpad and if you're using a keyboard cover it will lift up a little on the side because of that H beam. What I had to do in order to install that H beam was I had to take out my Magic Trackpad and then just clip the H beam onto the side of my keyboard instead of sliding it because that was not possible. After that all I had to do was snap back my Magic Trackpad and slide it a little to the left (or right depending on your usage) for it to clip into that H beam.
I also noticed a little bit of wiggle when typing when my keyboard is inside the MagicWand. Something isn't sitting completely flat on the desk which gives a little big of wiggle room.
All of that was the opposite of what Twelve South instructed to do but it actually worked. Then I ran into another issue from that H beam. Having installed the H beam onto the MagicWand I know noticed it was harder to register a left click on my Magic Trackpad. This is all because of that H beam which should be redesigned because it does not work properly. It's just too tight. If you don't care to use that H beam and never need to lift up your MagicKeyboard, the MagicWand actually works as advertised. You can set up the Magic Trackpad with the MagicWand to accompany your right or left hand.
I think if that issue would get fixed, the MagicWand would be the perfect accessory for your Magic Trackpad and Wireless Keyboard. I love to have my workspace clean and unorganized so using the MagicWand helps create a new breed, a MagicKeyboard. There is definitely some room to improve on to make the MagicWand work flawlessly. Until then you're better off setting both of your Mac peripherals side by side. If you're very anal about needing to attach the two together, you might want to give the MagicWand a try. Price $29.99.
Update: I was sent another unit to try out but sadly the H beam did not improve things and was just as hard to slide on. The only improvement I noticed was that the noise stopped after using the replacement MagicWand where I said that typing made noise and the keyboard rattled a bit. This is now fixed. What's also fixed is the freedom to left click without the H beam getting in the way. In the meantime you're option to neatly install that H beam is to not slide it and it's a great workaround to fix that issue for now. I now use the MagicWand daily and updated the rating from 3.5 to 4 out of 5.
