Rubber pieces at each corner, and in a strip behind the keyboard, hold the screen off the keys to protect it when closed. The same padding runs around the inner edge of the case to hold the outside edges of the iPad. Nothing clips or locks into place, but the iPad stays in securely as long as you make sure to press all of the edges down.

The slot behind the keyboard also props the iPad up securely, in either portrait or landscape mode. The slot holds the iPad at only one angle, but luckily it's a good one.

Behind the slot are the on/off switch and connect button, along with LEDs to indicate status and charging. The outside of the textured aluminum case accommodates the Micro-USB charging port on the back right side.

Due to the way the case is designed to grip the outside edges of the iPad, there is a high lip around the keyboard that dips only in the center front to stay out of the way of your wrists. It works for the most part, but at times I bumped the corners of the lip with the edges of my hands if I let them drop too low, which I tended to do when I tried to use the keyboard on my lap.

Surprisingly, the thin little trench that the iPad slots into was secure enough to hold the iPad in place while I used the keyboard on my lap in landscape mode, but it was too top-heavy in portrait mode.