Keyboards - what are the differences?

Hello,
I've browsed a little bit through this forum and learned that there are three different keyboard suppliers out there for ThinkPad-Keyboards (ALPS, Chicony, NMB). I also read that there are some differences between the keyboards of those three suppliers. Now I am curios: What are those differences?

Which keyboard is the best one to get?

Thanks for your answers!

 

Hi, if you do a search (upper right corner) you will see that this has already been discussed. There are a lot of threads for you to read if you are interested in this matter.

Short answer - NMB usually has a softer feeling and being more quiet, while Chicony is more clackier, and ALPS... well, something between. People have their personal favorites.

 

I thought NMB is the one in between and ALPS is the quiet one?

 

Try this:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=44310&sid=ab6ceabcf47ac366ddea7f2f1195eb5a

People's opinions could vary...

 

I thought the NMB was "the one" to get.

 

This was very helpful. Thanks for posting it.

 

Given that people's preferences can vary, Lenovo should offer buyers with an option of which keyboard they want when purchasing the laptops.

I have a Chicony and yeh..it is clickier. I would have preferred the less noisy and softer NMB tho.

 

Well, one is always in shark water when saying anything in this matter.

 

All three of the lenovo keyboards are the best you can get in a notebook - it has always been a point of pride. I have the ALPS, and consider it the perfect compromise of click and softness. If I got one of the others, I would find good things about them too. Least of your worries when getting a TP is the keyboard...

 

The problem is that the newer keyboards apparently don't have that hard steel backing anymore if I understand the review correctly. So any of the new keyboards may have flex. Boo. What we need is the old alps, nmb, chicony keyboards back. New alps, nmb, chicony keyboards may all have changed to that weight-saving design and have flex.

 

yeah, maybe you should sell it on eBay and buy the old version...
also, does anyone know if the X200 also has the backing removed?

and just curious, what suppliers do hp use (yeah off topic I know...)?

 

The same suppliers usually, but the keyboards are different anyway.


Btw, look at the back of this HP keyboard and tell me whether you have seen something similar recently.

 

The HP one looks like the new T400 or T500 series keyboards.
They seem just the same and will have the same flex.

 

what is flex ?

 

The HP keyboards have had some slight flex for ages, so that's not new for them and can be considered a feature already.

This:

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But, that's a cheap Acer, so consider it as an extreme example, we are talking about slight flex under pressure here, nothing near like what you see on the video anyway.

 

Good video, Dreamer.

 

Thanks Dreamer. I never knew what flex was, but I do now ! Also, what was that noise you had in the background? A TV show? "It's the moon that is blocking the sun..."

 

Lol, that was the first video I found on Youtube, you don't expect that I could have an Acer, now do you?