Staples: Making this Mom’s Life Easy!

Disclosure: The Apple Wireless Keyboard and Easy Button photographed below were sent to me by the great folks at Staples to facilitate my review.  All photographs, text, and opinions are my own.

When we first moved to our new house a year ago, I begged my husband to take the empty bedroom and use it as his office.  It was to my benefit, really.  He’d started his own firm about 2 years before and had been working without an office for that same period of time, which meant that he worked anywhere he could find space – the kitchen table, the couch, our bedroom, anywhere.  And in case you’re unfamiliar with the practice of law, it involves a ton of paper.  Tons of paper.  We’re talking multiple reams per day.  Which equaled paper strewn all over my house.  And once the day is over?  New stacks of paper were entering my house for the next day’s work.  I wish I could tell you that he was great about moving the old papers out into the recycling box, but he wasn’t.  You don’t even want to know what my house looked like by the end of one week, let alone 2 years.

So you can see why I wanted to contain him and his paper to one room of the house.   It was very strategic on my part and he never suspected a thing.  Sure, he put up a fight about how he couldn’t possibly take one whole room to himself, but eventually agreed to the idea, and later admitted I was a genius for suggesting it (okay, perhaps an exaggeration, but he did tell me what a good idea it was).  The downside of giving him the entire room as his office?  It left me without a space to do my own work.  I mean I need room to blog, right?  But realistically, I can’t sequester myself to another room when my kids are at home.  That would just be too…too…dangerous.  Something might end up glued to our cat again – or worse.  I need the tools of an office, but I need them to be portable.

Which is exactly where Staples and their amazing collection of Apple accessories came to my rescue –

When I was first asked to review an Apple accessory from Staples this wireless keyboard was the first thing that came to mind.  I’d seen others using them and heard their rave reviews, to the point where I really wanted to try one myself.  Since I’m not tech savvy, I wondered if it would be easy to setup or if I’d have problems connecting it to my iPad.  I wondered if the keyboard would be so reduced in size that I’d have problems using it.  And most of all, I wondered if this keyboard would be able to give me the portable office that I so desperately need at home and when I travel, since I’d very much prefer not to carry my heavy laptop through an airport.

I think it would be fair to say that I was downright giddy the day that this keyboard arrived.  I opened it expecting a lengthy setup process, but instead, found that it was ready to go, fully equipped with the 2 AA batteries that it needs.  And given that I’ve been using this keyboard a ton over the past nearly 2 months that I’ve had it, I think it would be fair to say that these batteries last forever.  (And yes, that is a Chuck E Cheese token that I used to open the battery storage area.  Ahhh, the life of a mom.  So glamorous.)

Still expecting a difficult connection process, I turned on the keyboard by pressing the power button on the opposite side from where the batteries are inserted.  The light began to blink, so I grabbed my iPad and went into my “Settings” to turn on the bluetooth.  No more than 5 seconds after I turned on the Bluetooth, my iPad was connected to my keyboard.  It was just that easy.  I could now go into any app and use the keyboard function instead of having to slowly peck out words using the internal pop up keyboard.

It’s pretty much been love ever since.  The keyboard’s sleek 1.4″ H x 12.8″ W x 7.3″ D measurements and light as a feather design allow me to take it anywhere.  It even fits in my purse.  In fact, that’s exactly how it traveled with me to BlogHer13 in Chicago last month – in my purse.  No need for a heavy laptop or bulky laptop bag.  But as compact as it is, it feels like it’s a full size keyboard.  I haven’t had any problems typing whatsoever; the keys feel like they are spaced exactly how they are on my regular laptop.  The angled design makes it ergonomic and easy to use, which makes me like it a lot more than my friends’ wireless keyboards that are flat.  With a 30 foot wireless range, I have flexibility in where I work – I can work on the smallest airplane tray table or from across my kitchen.  And should I acquire any more Apple products, this keyboard easily connects to an iPad, iPad mini, Mac, or even AppleTV.

So here it is, my office.  Well that was my office yesterday, who knows where it will be tomorrow…but as long as I’ve got my Apple Wireless Keyboard there are no limits.

Right now, you can pick up an Apple Wireless Keyboard at Staples for only $69 and have it delivered in just 2 days.  Or you can pick site to store for free shipping.  Oh, and if you’re want to be a hero, buy one of those Easy Buttons when you go to get your keyboard.  My kids think it is officially the best toy I’ve ever gotten for them.