IBM thinkpad ultranav keyboards for your PC any good?

[trikster2]

Everyone gushes about how wonderful IBM thinkpad notepads are.

For a notebook.

Are they good enough for everyday use?

Ibm has an external thinkpad keybard that I am thinking of getting. Yeah it's expensive but I figure $79 (epp price) to see if I want to by a 3 grand laptop is money well spent, plus I can use it on the road when my Lattituded D800 keyboard is driving me crazy...

Linky for IBM Travel keybard

 

[Justin216]

Worth every penny...I've got one, and don't even consider MS or Logitech to even make a good keyboard anymore

 

[phisrow]

IBM laptop keyboards are pretty nice indeed, My primary machine has one and I never use anything else(and I write a fair few papers for school). The one thing is, that if you are getting the keyboard for any desktop use, you have to remember IBM's desktop keyboards(not any of the new ones, the classic "Model M" see http://everything2.com/index.p...0Model%20M%20Keyboard). I'm not lucky enough to own one myself; but the general consensus is that the old IBM clicky boards are to IBM laptop boards what ordinary desktop boards are to ordinary laptop boards. They are built like tanks(more steel in your keyboard than in some computers), and are rather clicky, so no good at all for field use; but worth a serious look if you just want a desktop board.

 

[trikster2]

I've got some nice keyboards, a northgate omnikey 101, and the one I am using now an old micron NMB that is built like a tank and feels wonderful.

I am getting some wrist pain on my mouse hand so I thought the ultra nav would mix things up. Plus I can play on the keyboard to decide if the keyboard is good enough to pay the thinkpad premium when I buy a laptop early next year.

 

[phisrow]

True indeed. In that case go for it!

 

[fbrdphreak]

Wow, that is sweet! I might have to find a good deal on one of those. Got a Thinkpad and I love its keyboard, might have to pick one of those up....

 

[arnoldf]

I have a Thinkpad and also a Sony Vaio. When one of the Vaio keys came off, I tried to get a new one from Sony and they said nope, they'd be happy to send me a new keyboard for like $250.

When I spilled tea all over the IBM keyboard (yeah, I know, I'm a clutz) and then broke one of the little tabs trying to pry the keys off and get them back on again (note: don't try taking the key caps off. They have a complicated click mechanism underneath), I called IBM to find out about getting a new key and they said "let me check.. hmm... your Thinkpad (which is over a year old) is still under warrantee until 2006. We'll send you out a new keyboard right away!

And they did. Amazing.

That's customer service!