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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Epic0range on Sat, 29 January 2011, 10:58:02

Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: Epic0range on Sat, 29 January 2011, 10:58:02: **If this is in the wrong place, sorry.**

I'm in the market for a new laptops. Im not partial to OS X or Windows so I can go either way. I do a lot of writing and was wondering whats opinions you guys have of laptops with great (or decent) keyboards.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: keyb_gr on Sat, 29 January 2011, 11:36:38: Thinkpads have a pretty solid reputation in that regard, especially those with NMB-OEM'd keyboards. I think some of them fruity books were noted for nice keyboard action, too, though I forgot which. Didn't we have a fairly recent discussion of this topic anyway? You may want to go looking for that.

In any case, there's always the option of lugging along a separate keyboard like a HHKB or Cherry ML4100. The former seems to work fine on top of the built-in keyboard.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: theferenc on Sat, 29 January 2011, 11:50:07: I use my HHKB on top of my older macbook pro keyboard all the time. Would work even better if you have a right angle USB plug you can use. But without that, I do prefer having an external mouse.

Assuming you don't want to carry an external keyboard, I second the suggestion of a thinkpad. Best laptop keyboard out there, for my money.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: Pylon on Sat, 29 January 2011, 12:50:57: Shape of the domes, throw, and shape of the keycaps play a huge role, along with how well the keyboard is reinforced (which contributes to flex). It's not just the scissor mechanism. A Thinkpad keyboard feels a lot different and has more throw than some cheap flexy Acer keyboard (which BTW is the worst laptop keyboard design ever due to the keycap design - it might look nice, but there's practically no distinction between different keys because there almost is no edge).

It's the same thing with rubber dome keyboards. My Dell SK-8125 felt great because of the shape of the domes, which gave it a much sharper tactile point than say, my older HP SK-2565.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: Pylon on Sat, 29 January 2011, 12:57:27: FYI my Dell Latitude's keyboard feels a lot different than the one on my 2002-erar Vaio, which feels different compared to one I salvaged from an old Inspiron. The Inspiron is "bouncier" (not in keyboard flex, but as in feel) and has the sharpest tactile point, followed by the Latitude and then the Vaio.

How do you do force-displacement curve diagrams? I should make some with various scissor boards just to prove Ripster wrong.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: didjamatic on Sat, 29 January 2011, 13:00:35: THINKPAD FTW!!!

Great keyboard, case, components and... you get the best Trackpoint in the industry. My Thinkpad X series has a satisfying thockyness to it while my Dell Latitude E6500 is just ho hum ticky and it's trackpoint wanders worse than a white Shaolin monk.

(http://fusionanomaly.net/kungfucainedesert.jpg)
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: Pylon on Sat, 29 January 2011, 13:31:57: Yeah, the Thinkpad trackpoint implementation is the best. The cap on my Dell is rather slippery and poor.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: woody on Sat, 29 January 2011, 16:52:59: I just typed few lines on some Lenovo Thinkpad a friend has. Can't find anything great about it, compared to other notebook keyboards. It was bit stiffer, though.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: Epic0range on Sat, 29 January 2011, 20:54:59: I'd love to get an HHKB, but I can't justify $275 to myself for a keyboard right now.

I've had a few ThinkPads before. I have a T43 right now actually. The keyboard is ok, but something about the way they feel/sound seems a bit cheep to me. The letters also wear off after only a year.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: Pylon on Sat, 29 January 2011, 21:07:38: Latitude E6410 w/ backlit keyboard? I have one and well, it's different compared to the Thinkpad but once you get used to it I find that it's pretty decent.

It's tactile but pretty quiet.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: keyboardlover on Sat, 29 January 2011, 21:23:11: Unfortunately it seems like there isn't a single laptop made in the 21st century with a "great keyboard". I hope that will change...
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: Pylon on Sat, 29 January 2011, 21:35:56: Well, depends on whether you like scissors or not. I do.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: TexasFlood on Sat, 29 January 2011, 21:39:05: Quote from: didjamatic;286937
THINKPAD FTW!!!

Great keyboard, case, components and... you get the best Trackpoint in the industry. My Thinkpad X series has a satisfying thockyness to it.

Agreed...
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: keyboardlover on Sat, 29 January 2011, 22:06:26: Personally, I've never tried a single scissor-switch board (or rubber dome) for that matter, that I would consider a "great keyboard". To me "great" means something else. As a result of the engineering, design, feel, etc. I would consider Cherry and Topre switch keyboards "great".

As soon as I go from one of my Cherry or Topre switch boards to my Thinkpad laptop keyboard I'm like "SIGH..."

But yea, as far as laptop keyboards go, Thinkpad keyboards do tend to feel a bit nicer IMHO.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: Pylon on Sat, 29 January 2011, 22:42:30: Hmm, I differ a bit. I learned to type well on a laptop (Dell D630), so naturally I feel right at home on scissor switches. Plus I prefer to rest my palms on the palmrest, and the ones on the laptops are rather nice.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: itlnstln on Fri, 04 February 2011, 16:09:12: That would make sense if I'm looking at that right. It appears that the scissor has a "plate" that helps push the dome down instead of just the cap. Maybe the extra layer of "interface" helps smooth the feel of the dome collapsing.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: manfaux on Fri, 04 February 2011, 16:15:26: Quote from: ripster;289928
Hmm.... I think I may have figured out why the ThinkPad feels different.

A dude was cleaning his at OCN.
Show Image
(http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/4899/p1140064.jpg)

My mushier DealExtreme HHKB Killer. Actually the favorite for me so far is the Logitech Google TV scissor switch. Check it out next time you visit a Costco. Be sure to complain about the new Polish Dogs.

Show Image
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/5303685633_90a51e8c0d_z.jpg)

what exact difference is there ripster?

I live very close to Best Buy, and every time I'm there I'd try to type on every one of their laptops to find which one feels the best. To me, most of them (9 outta 10) are just plain crap, especially the macbooks, there really isn't one that stands out.

I still feel my thinkpads' keyboard are better than most other manufaturee's by a small margin. I've owned many thinkpads and not all of them are created equal(don't ask me why).

The best I've seen is from a X201 which I own now, and a T400s I used to own. The T4xxs series have superior feel than the non-s thinkpad for some reason, and the X series tend to feel a little mushy when bottoming out compared to the bigger thinkpad.

with all that said, none of them even comes close to a real mechanical of course, they get the job done, but in a much, much less satisfying way. I think of it as having sex with 2 condoms on.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: itlnstln on Fri, 04 February 2011, 16:18:27: Quote from: ripster;289942
Home come I'm the only one around here who figures out these things?

I bet somebody at DeskAuthority will claim they knew it already.

Wait, you doubted everybody. We already knew the Thinkpads were better/different.

Webwit probably has 23 Thinkpad keyboards in boxes on his racking.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: itlnstln on Fri, 04 February 2011, 16:22:02: Drink more water. It helps with the muscle spasms.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: itlnstln on Fri, 04 February 2011, 16:24:46: As do I, ripster, as do I.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: itlnstln on Fri, 04 February 2011, 16:36:41: Damn. At least no one has cracked open a bottle of haterade yet at that other forum.
Title: Laptops with great keyboards?
Post by: itlnstln on Fri, 04 February 2011, 16:45:56: First you're a-poopin', now European?