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Ask Slashdot: Which Laptop Has The Best Keyboard?
Slashdot reader Rock21k is thinking of replacing an old laptop. But...
All newer laptops seem to have wide spacing between the keyboard keys, which I hate... At one time, this used to be for consumer laptops but most major companies have done it for business laptops as well... Probably over time I might get used to it, but definitely not the first choice. I understand I can use an external keyboard but that defeats the purpose of a laptop!
Do you also hate wide spacing between keyboard keys? Which brand do you find least annoying? Leave your best answers in the comments. Which laptop has the best keyboard?
All the latest Apple laptops have bad keyboards, really. Bad to use, bad engineering, lots of problems.
The last good Apple laptop keyboards are on the 2015 MacBook Pro (still available) and the MacBook Air.
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Wide spaced keys are closer to a desktop keyboard layout.
Manufacturers consider this a feature, not a problem.
The smaller the laptop, the tighter the key spacing. If you want tight keys, you need to look at a small screen.
Most wireless keyboards have tight key spacing. You might look at those.
IBM ThinkPad 701c "butterfly" keyboard
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Studies made in þe olde typewriter era have shown that having a wider surface on top of the keys leads to more unintentional key presses.
The standard surface width is 1/2" or 12 mm, and with standard width (what is usually meant when talking about "key spacing") being 3/4".
I think that what Rock21k is actually referring to is what is called "island keys" or "chiclet" keys.
I don't think that whether the keys' skirts are angled or go straight down matters that much. The problems are rather that chiclet keyboard tend to have flatter surfaces but more often entirely flat, wider surfaces and less key travel than other keyboards.
MacBook "Pro"'s keyboards with its ultra-flat "butterfly" scissor mechanism is especially bad.
Also, some popular chiclet laptop keyboards (such as MS Surface "Type Cover") have very low surface friction, so fingers slip more often.
Low surface friction wouldn't have been so detrimental to keyboard feel if the keys had been dished and had more space between them.
Older keyboard keys tended to be made of plastic, such as ABS or PBT which has good surface feel even when glossy but backlit keys tend to be painted with a slippery paint layer with laser-ablated legends.
"We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
I second this. I hated the new MBP keyboard style. And I forced myself to get used to it since I do all of my development on OSX (now Mac OS), and with the new keyboards, the writing is on the wall. Penalty for the walled garden I suppose.
However, after using it for about a week almost exclusively, going back to the 2012 MBP I used to have is TERRIBLE! I couldnâ(TM)t believe how confounded my expectations were. I also ran through a typing test, and Iâ(TM)m faster on the new MBP vs the old one. When I returned to my office from onsite at a client, I headed strait for the nearest Apple store to pick up one of the new keyboards so it feels consistent. I donâ(TM)t know why, but the change is hated, even when itâ(TM)s significanty better, and I donâ(TM)t understand why. When I upgraded from one resolution to the next over the years, each time I felt better for it immediately. Iâ(TM)m not sure why the keyboard progression doesnâ(TM)t âoefeelâ the same way. My typing speed and accuracy is higher, my fingers are fast getting used to shortcuts on the touch-bar, and yet, I hated moving to it, and saw it as a necessary evil! Why do we get used to resolution and dimension changes easier than keyboard mechanical changes?
Gotta be those classic Thinkpads with the best keyboards
Although, I'd love to use a laptop with a built-in IBM model M buckling spring "clicky" keyboard - just to annoy everyone in the coffee shop.
Pity we'll probably never see one.
READY.
PRINT ""+-0
I am FAR more productive with a ThinkPad X220 or T420 than I am with more modern laptops, because I can touch-type without ever looking at the keyboard. This is achieved by having various key sizes and spacings, which tell me exactly where on the "map" I am at any given moment. Lenovo shit the bed by switching to the 6-row keyboard with equally-spaced function keys and non-discoverable special characters, but they may be now going back to the old-and-awesome 7 row classic keyboard. The T25 is a fist step, here's hoping all their new models will have it.
Of course, if you're a donk that needs looking at his keyboard every 5-10 seconds, then you won't understand what's all the fuss about. I notice that those same donks need shit like backlit keys, because without them they are utterly lost while typing in the dark. And spend lots of time looking dimwitted.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
Easy, it's muscle memory...using something every day makes you able to move on it without thinking, and that kind of training makes you faster. Also, your test with the previous keyboard does not mean the newer is better, just that you learned the new one (forgetting the old). For a good comparison you'd need to take back data of an old typing speed test taken on your last day with your old keyboard and match it against the one you just did.
If only the keyboard had a proper apostrophe character!
I have a rugged Thinkpad 12" around that's still one of the most comfortable laptop keyboards i've ever used.
Of all the keyboards I've used in recent times, The Dell XPS series has the most comfortable keyboard and the most positive key engagement. As to the key spacing, it is a chicklet keyboard, in keeping with the current fashion. But that's where the similarities with most other brands end. Dell seems to have gone through quite a bit of effort to make the keyboard nice. It's the closest thing I've felt to typing on a proper keyboard.