Has anyone tried converting replacement notebook keyboards into PC?

[dante]

ebay has a ton of thinkpad scissor switch replacement keyboards for laptops and was curious if anyone thought about converting these for PC use?

[Findecanor]

It is certainly possible, but you need to reverse-engineer the matrix and use your own keyboard controller. On laptops, the controller is usually on the motherboard -- not included in the keyboard.

By the way, there are lots of cheap low-profile keyboards at very low price out there with USB. There have even been standalone Thinkpad keyboards available for desktop PCs.

[dante]

Yes.  I'm actually ordering one of those this weekend.  But I've heard that it doesn't 'feel' like a real thinkpad.  I've read recommendations of putting dynamat on the inside and adding a full rubber mat on the bottom.

So yeah ... I guess I could dig up some specs to see how those keyboards are wired out and then steal a controller out of a dead unit or a $2 rubberdome.

[Halvar]

You can only use an existing controller from a cheap keyboard if your thinkpad keyboard has exactly the same matrix logically.

Membrane keyboards can't be rewired like mech keyboards to build some other matrix that a controller requires. If you want to reuse the membrane from the thinkpad keyboard, then in most cases you'll need a programmable controller like a teensy.

[The_Ed]

The only thing I like laptop keyboards for is donor plastic. It fixes broken Model M barrel frames quite well. I wonder what else I can fix with them...

[fateswarm]

As a long-term user of several laptops - I had to due to life style - I assure you, you don't want the "technology" of laptop keyboards to infiltrate desktops, especially those new flat ones.

In fact I have developed the idea of the 'mobile desktop'; it's basically a notebook without a mousepad and a keyboard with a perhaps shorter but thicker front so one can also put an external keyboard closer to it. [without the crippled technology of tablets]

Yeah.. I don't believe there's a point in not connecting a mouse and a keyboard to a laptop. And actually using a laptop on the road is quite a niche for the majority of people. Most of the time it's not used as a laptop but as a mobile desktop. [and the weight of a keyboard and mouse is negligible and they fit in a carrying case easily]

[Leslieann]

Logitech sells scissor switch keyboards, look into the Illuminated.

I kind of agree with Fateswarm.
Chicklet style is terrible, as is the overall flatness, but the bigger issue is durability. Those switches, while durable long term time-wise, are extremely fragile if anything is dropped on them or simply hitting them hard. I work on lots of laptops and I see busted keys constantly.