What are your thoughts on keyboard flex? Is it an issue to you?

Im surprised theres no topic on this since keyboard flex is brought up in every laptop review. It bothers some people (including myself), but as long as its minor I can deal with it. But anything more, it just makes the laptop feel cheap and the typing experience blah.

 

I'm not a keyboard slammer. Spring and resistance are more important to me than flex - I need keys to actuate and pop back up quickly to type quickly. If those are both bad, only then does keyboard flex matter, because only at that point do I need to slam the keyboard to get keys to activate,

 

To be honest, any laptop keyboard is unremarkable, since by design they're reduced versions of the original desktop keyboard. The closest approximation comes from the full size keyboards found in the desktop replacements. Still, the tactile sensation can be somewhat of a love/hate relationship.

The best designed keyboards have no flex; but it's typically not a deal breaker for me if it's not perfect, since laptops are expected to come with some amount of compromise from their sturdier desktop brethren. Nevertheless, with smaller keyboards found in Netbooks, it can be extremely fatiguing when you have to deal with those cramped quarters especially if you have large fingers and never quite mastered the technique of the light key stroke.

I've seen some people pound on the keyboard like they were trying to push the keys to China. With my laptop, I'd be cringing in mortal fear to let them use it. In any event, with a more durable external alternative connected, I have no worries.

For the moment, my laptop is my sole computer, so as soon as I get home, I immediately plug in my Logitech full-size keyboard and do all my typing on that. Not only does it have superior feel and usability, it also take a lot off the wear and tear off my laptop's keyboard--which as you know are typically one of the first parts to wear out.

 

my keyboard solid.. i really can't complain about it unlike the rest of the laptop.

 

I hate flex but I can live with it if the flex isn't ridiculous or the keyboard isn't rubbish to begin with. I will say my W500 was eligible for a keyboard replacement via Mark@Lenovo and the official Lenovo forums. The original implementation of the weight-saving (dare I say "swiss cheese?") keyboards for the T/W/X #00 series was horrendous and I much prefer the solidback T61 keyboard. The left side of the keyboard was a sinkhole (with some weakness on the right side to boot). The later models and now the T/W/X #10 series have internal brackets that prevent that kind of flex. Still, when I switched out the keyboard I discovered the weight-saver had bowed down into a significant U! Not sure how safe that was.

 

I think, like Krane mentioned, the issue with flex is really how hard is that you push the keys. So far both laptops I have have this flex (well actually I have to 'look directly' to really notice the flex) and it ins't an issue for me.

 

My notebook has no keyboard flex so im loving that.
My little brothers Compaq CQ60 (Something...) has some keyboard flex but i doubt he even fells a difference. xD

 

Minimum typing makes it less of an issue.

 

lol i do hope u didn't register to give such a dumb answer... u can't afford not to type unless u have a tablet so seriously..