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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: yt8019 on Tue, 27 July 2010, 23:54:36

Title: Choosing a laptop with good keyboard
Post by: yt8019 on Tue, 27 July 2010, 23:54:36
Can anyone recommend a laptop with a good keyboard? I have a UniComp keyboard but can't really carry it everywhere with me. I also have a Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 13 which has a very good keyboard. (But battery life isn't great, headphone jack has noise issue and the laptop gets very hot)

Can someone put in some suggestions for laptops with good keyboards? In particular I am looking for 12" to carry around and a 17"+ to leave at office. But any size/brand will do, noting other qualities of the laptop would be a plus.
Title: Choosing a laptop with good keyboard
Post by: zmurf on Wed, 28 July 2010, 00:54:32
The only laptop keyboards I ever been really satisfied with is those on IBM/Lenovo laptops. And I tried a lot of different Dell, Thosiba, Fujitsu, Asus, Acer, Apple and Sony laptops.

And if you want a modern laptop that doesn't run hot you will have to go for an Atom or equal low performance CPU. I believe there isn't any high end systems that doesn't run hot these days.
Title: Choosing a laptop with good keyboard
Post by: EverythingIBM on Wed, 28 July 2010, 01:10:58
Lenovo has other models which have a really long battery life. Heck, my old thinkpad lasts for at least 4 hours.

The best keyboards other than IBM/lenovo have to be sony.

But yeah, lenovo these days is as good as it gets.
Title: Choosing a laptop with good keyboard
Post by: ch_123 on Wed, 28 July 2010, 05:32:54
Quote from: yt8019;206983
Can anyone recommend a laptop with a good keyboard? I have a UniComp keyboard but can't really carry it everywhere with me. I also have a Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 13 which has a very good keyboard. (But battery life isn't great, headphone jack has noise issue and the laptop gets very hot)

Can someone put in some suggestions for laptops with good keyboards? In particular I am looking for 12" to carry around and a 17"+ to leave at office. But any size/brand will do, noting other qualities of the laptop would be a plus.


Get an X201. You get the 12" screen, long battery life, and what is considered to be the best quality keyboard of current Thinkpads.

The Thinkpad "Edge" is their low end model. It has more in common with their consumer laptops than the other Thinkpads. It's also bloody hideous...
Title: Choosing a laptop with good keyboard
Post by: jmpespxoreax on Wed, 28 July 2010, 07:36:00
I bought my Thinkpad because of its nice keyboard (along with other considerations). I have also typed on some Dell laptops that had good keyboards, but they were old ones.
Title: Choosing a laptop with good keyboard
Post by: Superfluous Parentheses on Wed, 28 July 2010, 07:38:00
Quote from: ch_123;207054
Get an X201. You get the 12" screen, long battery life, and what is considered to be the best quality keyboard of current Thinkpads.

Agreed. I was shocked at how good the keyboard on the X series feels. Aside from that, I think they're quite good looking machines, if you like matte black.
Title: Choosing a laptop with good keyboard
Post by: itlnstln on Wed, 28 July 2010, 07:59:46
Laptop + HHKB Pro 2 = Laptop with good keyboard.
Title: Choosing a laptop with good keyboard
Post by: firestorm on Wed, 28 July 2010, 08:05:23
My wife has a Lenovo notebook primarily because the keyboard wasn't outright horrible.  Many of the Dells at work, all Latitudes (business class) have reasonable keyboards... nearly comparable to the Lenovos.

FWIW, per Sony, one of the notebooks we saw at Office Depot was a Sony and that particular model had a horrible keyboard.  It had keys that resemble those metal keys on ATMs, and the key feel as numb and heavy, not to mention the lack of tactile feel from the flat keys.  I remember disappointment, as it felt like a quality, rugged keyboard... just not-so-good to type on.
Title: Choosing a laptop with good keyboard
Post by: paardvark on Wed, 28 July 2010, 08:17:14
I've never tried the thinkpad, but I've always been a fan of the vaio keyboard.
Title: Choosing a laptop with good keyboard
Post by: Phaedrus2129 on Wed, 28 July 2010, 08:24:41
My Thinkpad X100e apparently has one of the poorer keyboards of the Thinkpad line, and it's still one of the better laptop keyboards I've used. Nice textured keys and scissor switches with decent tactile feedback and very little if any mush.