Notebook keyboards - they just don't make 'em like they used to?

[jana519]

I went to Best Buy today looking at laptops and I was shocked to find that almost every single new laptop they sell has the worst keyboards I can imagine. I mean I like new and fast processors, 1080P screens, all the goodies of a new laptop, but haptic feedback and touch is also a major consideration for me. I have a 6 year old Dell D430 and the keyboard is absolutely fantastic. The switches have a firm, snappy response and typing anything feels wonderful. Modern laptops seem to have awful, cheap feeling keys and switches despite the high-end specifications. An $1100 laptop at Best Buy had as cheap a keyboard as a $500 laptop. What gives?

 

[Darknite39]

I attribute it to cost cutting. Even lenovo is wrecking the thinkpad keyboard with each new wave.

 

[TerryMathews]

I went to Best Buy today looking at laptops and I was shocked to find that almost every single new laptop they sell has the worst keyboards I can imagine. I mean I like new and fast processors, 1080P screens, all the goodies of a new laptop, but haptic feedback and touch is also a major consideration for me. I have a 6 year old Dell D430 and the keyboard is absolutely fantastic. The switches have a firm, snappy response and typing anything feels wonderful. Modern laptops seem to have awful, cheap feeling keys and switches despite the high-end specifications. An $1100 laptop at Best Buy had as cheap a keyboard as a $500 laptop. What gives?

There are wonderful keyboards out there. You're shopping in the wrong product lines. Look at business laptops like Dell Latitude and HP Elitebook.

My 8560w has a wonderful keyboard and trackpad.

 

[skriefal]

Even lenovo is wrecking the thinkpad keyboard with each new wave.

Wrecked. The Thinkpad keyboards are a lost cause, and are now inferior to what is found on most Dell or HP business class laptops. Albeit still a little better than the cheap-o stuff at Best Buy.

I do wish that better keyboards were offered as an option. I'd pay an extra $100 for a truly good keyboard.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

The classic Thinkpad keyboard is no more, indeed.

The better chiclet keyboards on the business and "pro" notebooks are tolerable, but keep your fingernails short.

 

[jana519]

There are wonderful keyboards out there. You're shopping in the wrong product lines. Look at business laptops like Dell Latitude and HP Elitebook.

My 8560w has a wonderful keyboard and trackpad.

That's where I need to go, then. I love my Latitude D430. I'd be willing to buy another Latitude provided the keyboard isn't complete shit. BTW, are Latitudes sold in retail stores? It would be nice to try before buying.

 

[skriefal]

Haven't seen any of the Dell business laptops in a retail B&M store. Maybe some college bookstores. Otherwise you'll need to find someone who has one.

 

[HOSED]

100% agree, Dell d610 KB is perfect after 7 years of frequent use. I was very pleasantly surprised with the chicklet KB on the Sager in my signature. (but not sold in stores).
Lenovo seems to allow a 21 day trial period http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/shoppin...-and-shipping/ without any fees (unless I am missing some small print).

 

[kevinsbane]

The death of the Thinkpad keyboard is overblown.

It is still by far the best laptop keyboard I have the pleasure of using. Changes to the trackpoint are less desirable, but the feeling of the keyboard is still the best.

People who dislike the changes in layout have a point, but it's more of a desire to stick to the familiar than the new keyboards being bad in and of themselves.

 

[Commodus]

There are some nice keyboards out there still -- last time I tried it, I liked the keyboard on Samsung's ATIV Book 9. Apple also has consistently good keyboards, at least in my experience. Fast, well-built and quiet!

 

[corkyg]

Part of the problem is the market's demand for thinner, lighter notebooks - quasi tablets. A keyboard suffers when it has no substantive foundation.

Even business clients want thinner and lighter. Reminds me in a way, of the old tooth to tail ratio in military logistics. One general I knew said it best - if you keep cutting off the tail, you may eventually lose your ass!

 

[frozentundra123456]

May just be my personal taste, but I have two Dell Latitude business laptops, one IB, about a year old, and one Core 2 duo model, maybe 5 or six years old.

I have to admit, I am shocked by how poorly put together the newer model is compared to the old one. The new one is faster, runs cooler, and has a nice 1080p screen. But the older one has a much better keyboard, and the wireless actually can hold a connection all day without dropping the signal.

I think the wireless problem with the new Latitude must be a defect in that personal laptop, but I am shocked that such an expensive laptop should have a problem so early in its life. And the keyboard is a design problem. The keys just are so flat that you have no feel for typing at all.

 

[gorcorps]

Wrecked. The Thinkpad keyboards are a lost cause, and are now inferior to what is found on most Dell or HP business class laptops. Albeit still a little better than the cheap-o stuff at Best Buy.

I do wish that better keyboards were offered as an option. I'd pay an extra $100 for a truly good keyboard.

Depends on the model, but yeah things are definitely on a downward slope. The Lenovo Helix I have actually has a decent keyboard and touchpad compared to other modern thin keyboards, but they aren't the keyboards of the past.

 

[bluwing]

Hi,

Stick with the business Class Note books!!! Even if you buy a used one one to two years old.. I bought a HP elitebook 8540p with a I7 quad core ( it has four memory slots) and can take a max of 16 gb memory..

Keyboard is great! and it now has a 256 ssd in it. runs great!!! Also have a Dell Latitude E6510 maxed out with a ssd in it... bought it used...

If you are looking for a workhorse that you can design yourself try Ibuypower Good customer service... they may be called Gaming laptops but I designed on for my daughter that lives in Arizona and it runs cool and fast Also very upgradeable!!! It replaced a sony the lasted one year! Arizona heat killed it.. It even had a cooler under it..

Best of luck with whatever you choose...
bluwing

 

[Ken g6]

I tried out some of the new laptop keyboards at a local WalMart. I was so fed up with them that I eventually got a Thinkpad refurb just for the keyboard. But they seem to be out of them now.

 

[TeknoBug]

I actually love chiclet keyboards, that's basically all you'll find on modern laptops. I've owned laptops since the early 90's and most of them were too crammed for my fingers or too raised which is uncomfortable (and I'm a fast typist ~75wpm), Toshiba and Dell always made the most comfortable keyboards back then since they were level with the rest of hte surface instead of raised.

My old IBM Thinkpad 390E had a good wide keyboard, probably the best out of them all. While my MSI Wind12 U230 had about the worst keyboard, way too flat and easy to press the wrong keys when not looking (you shouldn't be looking down at the keyboard while typing anyways) and I think I'll avoid any laptop smaller than 15.6" from now on anyways.

PS- typing this on a chiclet Acer V5 right now.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

The only problem I really have with Chiclet kbs is that I need to keep my nails trimmed.

 

[vbuggy]

This is partly a myth I think. Part of the issue is that they have to pack more into a keyboard now (backlighting for example) which makes certain designs undesirable, and that can make a difference in terms of how keyboards are designed (in terms of the keys themselves, not really in terms of the underlying key activation mechanism) and it may be different to what you're used to.

But the basic mouldings and parts used to activate the keys on a laptop keyboard though hasn't changed - well, at least not in the last ten years.

Also way too many people equate a totally immovable baseplate to 'quality' when in many situations it's not all that relevant/ I mean sure, there are disasters on the market which will sproing up and down to the actual detriment of typing speeds but the majority which aren't totally solid do not affect typing.

 

[skriefal]

The shape/concavity of the keycaps has changed (less concave), as has the layouts. Also an increasing number of 15-inch laptops now shoehorn in a numeric keypad, shifting the main group of keys off-center from the screen. The key throw also seems to be decreasing over time. All are negatives.

I hadn't considered the inclusion of backlighting as affecting overall quality of the keyboards. I suppose it might do so. The LEDs and circuitry certainly would add cost, and that's probably accompanied by a desire for the manufacturer to cut costs elsewhere. I don't like backlighting anyway -- it's a distraction.