Keyboards

So, I am at my local Best Buy this past weekend with a friend who was looking for a new computer and I ran across a 15.4" T60p. While looking at it and doing a little bit a typing I noticed that the keyboard on this machine was vastly superior to my T60 keyboard. Now I know there are three differnt keyboard manufctures, and not that my keyboard is bad, but wow, the differnece was crazy!

I have tried to look up which keyboard I have but it has a new FRU which is not listed in the FAQ in this forum. Just thought I would share my experience.

 

Keep us posted on which keyboard manufacturer is the best!

 

You looked up the FRU in the email that was sent to you when your T60 was shipped? (It would have your serial # also in the email)

I have a NMB Keyboard, and that is probably what you saw on the T60p. They are supposedly the best, followed by ALPS, then Chicony, although I just read on another thread that Lenovo might be slapping NMB stickers on Chiconys... @.@...

 

My T60p came with an NMB keyboard according to the FRU number.

The only way you can be sure of what kind of keyboard you are really getting is to lift up one key, underneath, if the key is resting on a round blueish semitransparent plastic base, then it's an NMB keyboard. If you see white colored diagonal plastic struts, then it's either an ALPS or a Chicony. I seem to remember if the strut is going one way, it's an ALPS, if it's going the other way it's a Chicony, but I don't remember which one is which.

And be careful about peeking under the keys, you can pop them off. Then it's off to the repair depot, because it's really hard to pop them back in again.

 

Did a little research (google search) and it turns out my FRU 42T3209 is the ALPS keyboard.....I must say that I am still surprised by the difference!

 

suprised good or suprised bad ?




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I'm noticing less consistency even among examples of the same keyboard.

I liked my old chicony better than the nmb on the t 61 I returned- and I liked both of them better than this new chicony. It's softer, with less feedback like the alps I've tried. Hopefully it's not too much of a chore to swap out with my z.

 

Just to clarify the "semi-transparent" blue housing that signifies the NMB keyboard... I took a quick pic of mine

 

mine looks just like that, thanks for the visual aid.

 

Take a look at this forum and it has pictures of all 3 of the keyboards:

Here.

 

Are the T series the only ones with 3 different types of keyboards manufacturers? Do the X (X61s in particular) series have 3 different sets of keyboards as well?

 

damn i got a alps keyboard

 

Mine is an NMB keyboard, it's the old R50 by the way

 

Don't act so disappointedly. Any of the three keyboards are better than anything else out there: Dells, HPs, Macbooks, Acers etc. They're all solid with really no flex at all, if there's any flex its negligible. They're also the most comfortable to type on in my opinion. I have the ALPS and I'm happy with it.

 

I got an ALPs keyboard too and I'm very happy with it.

 

I have an ALPs and love it. Very nice and solid and miles above anything else I have used on a laptop.

My Logitech G15 is still my favorite keyboard though and still what I am fastest on

 

I liked my Alps as well...

 

I had a Chicony that I was perfectly content with. A little loud, but better than any other laptop keyboard I've used.

 

What was loud about your keyboard? What causes the noise? Is there a click to each key or is it the sound of the key hitting the keyboard backing? I know on my Alps there was no definitive click. The keyboard was soft which was comfortable but not the best for typing since there was no tractile feedback for when I keystroke was successful. Still miles ahead of every other laptop keyboard I've tried.

 

Not sure I remember since I returned it. It was kind of clicky, but I thought it sounded kind of nice. However, the keys had excellent feedback and very easy to type with. I kind of hope my new one has a Chicony, but at the same time, I really want an NMB.

 

An NMB would be nice, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. I haven't seen anyone post a T61 with an NMB which includes the last 3 months. It seems everything going out now is Chicony/Alps. I think I remember one person saying he thought they reserved the NMB keyboards for high end preconfigured models, but that could be just speculation.

 

That's what I thought.. I haven't heard any NMB's mentioned in a looong time. I can still hope though

 

Don't know about the T61 keyboards, but the X61 I bought about 2 weeks ago, is equipped with the NMB keyboard. Maybe one could assume that since the X-series ThinkPads are generally premium priced that they come with the NMB keyboards?

 

That could be. Are the X61 keyboards different than the T61 keyboards in layout and form?

 

Not really. That's the great thing about the X61. It's an ultraportable but still come with more or less a full size keyboard.

The layout is exactly the same as on the T61 (7 rows), but there a some keys which are smaller, such as i.e. Enter and Backspace. Generally the keys at the right and left edges.

Look here for the X61 keyboard:
http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/23667.jpg

and here for the T61p keyboard:
http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/25777.jpg

 

If you are asking if the keyboards on the X and T are interchangeable, they aren't. That would be pretty cool if they were though.

 

My X61s has a Chicony.

My X60s has a NMB.

Before I read this post I liked my X61s Chicony keyboard better. After reading this post...I *still* like my X61s Chicony better! You can definitely tell there is a difference between the two. I'm not sure how to describe the difference, but I definitely thought "wow I like this new keyboard better" when I got my X61s. I notice that I can type faster on it for some reason.

 

I guess that answers my question about X61-series coming only with NMB keyboards.

I honestly have not been able to feel a major difference between any of the ThinkPad keyboards I have used the last 5 years or so. And I have used many different ThinkPads.

In any case, since one of the selling points of the ThinkPad is the keyboard, there shouldn't be a very noticeable difference between i.e. Chicony, Alps or NMB keyboards. And according to many posts I've read there isn't (everything is subjective of course).

Only a small percentage of the ThinkPad users are actually as nerdy as we (NBR Lenovo board members) are and they probably don't even know there are different manufacturers. They just want the keyboard to work well and that is it.

 

My T61 14.1" 4:3 that shipped yesterday has a NMB keyboard.

 

What do the rest of you guys think?

Those of you with more than one ThinkPad (or often write on different ThinkPads) do you feel a difference between the different keyboards? Assuming they are made from different manufacturers that is.

 

I ordered two identical T61s at the end of June. One shipped with the Alps, the other with the NMB keyboard. As others have said, the Alps (mine) is a bit softer while the NMB (my wife's) has more tactile feedback. I'm not much of a typist and think that the difference is negligible. My wife zooms along at 100wpm and loves the NMB after working on a Dell D620 for a year (which wasn't bad either).

 

wow, 100wpm is quite fast. I do about 60 wpm without making errors.

I just tried typing on my girlfriend's Acer notebook and it is actually surprisingly good without any flex. Not bad for a low priced notebook. I guess being one of the biggest notebook producers in the world has taught them a thing or two

 

you are a good man rockyp, if I knew that my wife's laptop had an nmb keyboard, I would've done a trade without her authorization

 

I have Alps and i love it more than chicony on my t60p

 

JabbaJabba
Lenov is famous for some reasons :
Their HDD shock protection
stylish laptop
their keyboards
their roll cage
and .....
and i should put this one first " their shipping delays " lol