Lenovo keyboards--good, bad, what do you think?

I figured I couldn't go wrong with a Lenovo keyboard based on their reputation, but after a few weeks with my ideapad Y580 I'm not so impressed. On the surface the key action is realy nice but in actual use I find that the buttons are often just a bit too hard to push, and don't respond to quick double keystrokes. I type 80 WPM or thereabouts, so naturally double keystrokes are fast. I also am noticing that depending on the angle of my wrists and forearms, my fingers will often run up against the vertical surface of the chicklets. For example if I type D-E, then my finger doesn't want to pull completely off of the D before moving to the E, but then it strikes the side of the E key. My other machine is a Vostro, whose keyboard is really easy to use and doesn't have any sharp edges to catch on. Basically I'm finding it really hard to type on this thing. Anyone else having similar problems?

 

ThinkPad keyboard is great, ideapad keyboard is generic.

 

THe <<< this is my main mistake, happens about 80% of the time. I guess my pinky doesn't pull off fast enough before my right index hits the H.
hte, is also a common mistake for me, but this one is purely my fault.

 

Y580 is ideapad, not thinkpad.

 

thanks andrick, typing w/o thinking. edited.

 

Lenovo Ideapad keyboard is alright for me but I just don't like their "non-standard" arrangement of "Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn" key (this also apply to lenovo value-line laptops). I'm more used to "Home, PgUp, PgDn, End" key arrangement. Because of this, I will never buy any lenovo non-thinkpad laptop despite their good reviews, unless they change the keys arrangement or it's the only laptop in the world with direct access to the four keys (direct access = without need to hold FN key).

 

I borrowed a TA (teaching assistants) Ideapad for a couple of minutes a week ago and instantly noticed how remarkably flexy its keyboard was in comparison to ThinkPads I have used. The clickpad also was pretty unsavory in its execution. Pressing to select would cause the cursor to move off the link or the item I wished to select. I also found myself feeling for the trackpoint by habit. I feel it is nice to have (2) on-board options of manipulating cursor movement (trackpoint and touchpad). I use either at various times and find each are useful in their own way. As for the model of Ideapad the TA owns I am not sure. I may ask him sometime this week. I do know it was not the type of laptop for me. Needless to say I was very relieved to get back to my ThinkPad

 

ideapad typing feeling is totally different with thinkpad. i really tought is the same. cause it does looks the same. but the feel is different.

 

I think you should compare similiar price notebooks from different manufacturers rather than comparing notebooks within a brand that sells such a wide range of laptops with different prices.

 

IdeaPad != ThinkPad, and not just in terms of keyboard. They're almost apples to oranges, actually.

The current ThinkPad keyboards (I've tried out the W530), as far as typing experience goes, is pretty similar to the older generation of ThinkPads (say, the W520). Key spacing and key travel are practically the same, with the only difference being that the spaces between the keys are now empty instead of slopes from nearby keys (so, island-style instead of traditional).

Other than that, there are some differences between the old and new ThinkPads that you probably wouldn't notice coming from an IdeaPad. The older ThinkPad keyboards had sensible key placement, imo, whereas the new ones have some funky ideas of where certain keys go (my favorite being the PrtSc key being near the arrow keys). Also, some of the extremely useful keys have been removed for the current generation, such as the forward/back keys that were once near the arrow keys.

I've tried the IdeaPad keyboards before (Y410p, U310) and while they work, they're nothing like a proper laptop keyboard like in the older ThinkPads.

 

Typing on a Sandy Bridge Thinkpad is totally different from typing on an Ivy bridge Thinkpad or Ideapad. It's not bad, but the layout is different.

On Ideapads you have larger Arrow keys but smaller Shift key, that's the only difference in my book.