3 ms·

Between T520 and T550, there was T530, which had basically the chiclet version of the T520 keyboard, and it was just as good if not better than the T520 keyboar

by gkop 9y ago

Between T520 and T550, there was T530, which had basically the chiclet version of the T520 keyboard, and it was just as good if not better than the T520 keyboard. Indeed, Lenovo really screwed up with the T540 and beyond - the useless numeric pad shifts the rest of the keyboard way off center. Fortunately, there's the T4XX series, that has a very good keyboard still.

rhizome 9y ago
I recently did a little bit of research and as far as I could find, currently there are exactly two 15" laptops with tenkey-less keyboards: Apple's and (now) the Dell XPS 15.
zzalpha 9y ago
I can attest, the keyboard on the 5th gen X1 Carbon is also excellent. Remarkably, they actually managed to improve on previous generations (which, for the record, have Backspace, Delete, PgUp, and PgDown keys) by increasing key travel. About its only fault is the Ctrl/Fn key position, but you can swap them via configuration for those who have trouble adapting. As an aside, I much prefer Fn key mappings for thing like media keys over dedicated buttons: fewer things that actuate means fewer things to break, fewer things that'll get crumbs or liquid under them, etc. The 5th gen carbon has one button aside from what's on the keyboard: the power button. The result is a much simpler, cleaner layout.
Clubber 9y ago
I had a W500 and the keyboard was amazing (as was the whole laptop). I replaced the screen, the hard drive, memory, etc. I've bought Thinkpads since IBM sold them because of their keyboards and nub. I hate the numeric keypad. It throws the balance off and I feel like I have to shift the laptop to the right to type. Is the demographic that wants the numeric keyboard that large? They used to sell a separate one for accounting types, now they all have them and I hate it. They also switched to the chicklet style like Apple. I like the chicklet style on the Macs but I don't think I'd like it on a Thinkpad. I believe they took a row off the keyboard and jammed them together in some jacked up configuration. The home/end/pageup/down isn't in a position that resembles a 101/104. That aggravates me too. I'm ready to buy a new laptop. My 2013 rMBP is getting old. I've had to repair the trackpad and now it's complaining about a memory module. I looked at the P51s and P71s, but that damn keypad. Come back to us old Thinkpad keyboard, it was a real differentiator.
- zzalpha 9y ago
  Give something like the T470 a try in-store somewhere. I had an old T410 with the old school Thinkpad keyboard, and I loved it, but the chicklet style that Lenovo uses these days is actually pretty damn good.
  - Clubber 9y ago
    We had a T4xx series at work. I forgot the exact model. The keyboard was really good, old Thinkpad style, but the home/end key is in a weird place. As a coder, I use home and end probably more than any other keys except maybe space (and backspace hah). I thought about getting one, but I wasn't sure if I could get past it. I map the Cmd-> and Cmd<- on my Mac to the home and end. It works really well in a Windows VM. Might get the new MacBook, but I'd buy a Thinkpad with an old style layout in a second if it existed. I even tried resurrecting my old W500 to use as an RDP machine, but it's too far gone.

by gkop 9y ago

rhizome 9y ago

I recently did a little bit of research and as far as I could find, currently there are exactly two 15" laptops with tenkey-less keyboards: Apple's and (now) the Dell XPS 15.

zzalpha 9y ago

I can attest, the keyboard on the 5th gen X1 Carbon is also excellent. Remarkably, they actually managed to improve on previous generations (which, for the record, have Backspace, Delete, PgUp, and PgDown keys) by increasing key travel. About its only fault is the Ctrl/Fn key position, but you can swap them via configuration for those who have trouble adapting. As an aside, I much prefer Fn key mappings for thing like media keys over dedicated buttons: fewer things that actuate means fewer things to break, fewer things that'll get crumbs or liquid under them, etc. The 5th gen carbon has one button aside from what's on the keyboard: the power button. The result is a much simpler, cleaner layout.

Clubber 9y ago

I had a W500 and the keyboard was amazing (as was the whole laptop). I replaced the screen, the hard drive, memory, etc. I've bought Thinkpads since IBM sold them because of their keyboards and nub. I hate the numeric keypad. It throws the balance off and I feel like I have to shift the laptop to the right to type. Is the demographic that wants the numeric keyboard that large? They used to sell a separate one for accounting types, now they all have them and I hate it. They also switched to the chicklet style like Apple. I like the chicklet style on the Macs but I don't think I'd like it on a Thinkpad. I believe they took a row off the keyboard and jammed them together in some jacked up configuration. The home/end/pageup/down isn't in a position that resembles a 101/104. That aggravates me too. I'm ready to buy a new laptop. My 2013 rMBP is getting old. I've had to repair the trackpad and now it's complaining about a memory module. I looked at the P51s and P71s, but that damn keypad. Come back to us old Thinkpad keyboard, it was a real differentiator.

zzalpha 9y ago
Give something like the T470 a try in-store somewhere. I had an old T410 with the old school Thinkpad keyboard, and I loved it, but the chicklet style that Lenovo uses these days is actually pretty damn good.
- Clubber 9y ago
  We had a T4xx series at work. I forgot the exact model. The keyboard was really good, old Thinkpad style, but the home/end key is in a weird place. As a coder, I use home and end probably more than any other keys except maybe space (and backspace hah). I thought about getting one, but I wasn't sure if I could get past it. I map the Cmd-> and Cmd<- on my Mac to the home and end. It works really well in a Windows VM. Might get the new MacBook, but I'd buy a Thinkpad with an old style layout in a second if it existed. I even tried resurrecting my old W500 to use as an RDP machine, but it's too far gone.