Palmrest on X230

Hi,

Can any X230/220 owners provide their experiences typing with the small palmrest? I've heard some reviewers say they aren't bothered by it, and others say it's a significant ergonomical design flaw.

This laptop fits my needs exactly, but the short palmrest is the only thing really making me hesitate going for it. I plan to be doing a lot of word processing on the go, which is what makes the keyboard so attractive, however, if this palmrest is as much an ergonomic disaster as I've read, then that may negate the whole typing experience over extended periods of time.

I wish I could find a demo model near where I live to check it out, but seeing as I can't find one that has an x230, I will have to rely on you owners to describe what it's like.

Thanks for your help!

 

I find my X220 to be excellent to type on, the best ultraportable keyboard in my opinion. I have heard the palm rest thing too. I don't know what to tell you. That's not been my experience. If you want a smaller notebook, I think most palm rests will be on the shorter size. It's a function of having a smaller screen. You could bump up in size if you want a bigger palm rest, but that usually means more weight. If you live near a college or university, they sometimes have ThinkPads on display.

 

I was actually quite surprised to find that I have no problem with the palmrest. I am a 6' tall teen guy with fairly big hands and the X230 just looks like it has the tiniest place to rest my palms. haha
But yeah, for me I don't have problems. The bottoms of my hands rest as far in as the intel and thinkpad logos on the palmrest, and I never feel as if they are going to slip off while typing.

 

Perfectly fits my hands. No issues whatsoever...

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I like laptops with short palmrests, I keep the lower third of my palm off the laptop, curled over the rounded front edge. I do find the sharp right corner to be uncomfortable, it digs into my palm when using the arrow, page up/down keys. I use those extensively for browsing, speciallu since the touchpad is so small and doesn't respond well to multi touch. Shame as everything else on this unit is excellent for me.

 

I don't have a problem with the X220/X230 or my X120e's palmrest. When typing, I "float" my palms above the palmrest, keeping my wrists close to level. It's actually better ergonomics that way.

 

The size and other features of palmrest are only important for, well, palm rest. Hands must not touch it when typing, and the likes of Model M keyboard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia or Das Keyboard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia just don't have any palmrest . Many ergonomic-oriented keyboards have something wrist-rest like, not a palmrest.

So typing ergonomics wise, if palmrest matters it's a sign to check typing techinique and healthy computing guides; carpal tunnel syndrome is a nasty thing. Reviewers complaining about any palmrest being too short are often just MacBook-inclined, where a large palmrest is the price to pay for the large touchpad and the lack of alternative cursor navigation aka Trackpoint.

 

There are many ways to use a laptop, it is not just a keyboard for use by those with proper typing technique. Many of us browse sites using the arrow and page keys, along with the touchpad, so the palm rest in front of the keyboard is important. Only an arrogant manufacturer would dismiss this as being the incorrect way to use the laptop.

 

Of course, there are many ways to use a laptop. And palmrest size, and material, and softness, and temperature, are indeed important if hands rest on it most of the time, with occasional Space/PgUp/PgDn. Still, if palmrest being too short causes suboptimal typing experience, it's a problem with the typing technique, not the palmrest. Even Apple's own desktop wireless keyboard does not have any.

Also, it's hard to call Lenovo arrogant. On the contrary, despite having a nearly perfect TrackPoint and 7 row keyboard, they added a mandatory trackpad to Thinkpad X series, and now switched to the 6-row keyboard layout (possibly to further increase the palmrest=touchpad in the next chassis update). No such heresy was possible in IBM days