Laptop Keyboards

Is there any modern laptop with a truly good keyboard? My hands get really sore from using these awful modern laptop keyboards. >All really shallow (meaning high impact on your fingers, harder time finding keys) >Almost all mushy (meaning uncertain actuation, adding extra strain on your muscles and nerves) >Bad layouts, missing pg up/pg down keys, everything mapped to fn, etc Modern thinkpads hurt to use, macs hurt to use, everything fuarrrking hurts. Is it a lost cause? Should I just get a T420 and be done with it? Or just get a bluetooth keyboard?

You can put the T420 keyboard into newer Thinkpads I hear Purism laptops have good keyboards, but I have never tried one

The reform laptop?

Get a T420 or X220. They have exactly the same keyboard. If you need extra hardware for intensive computation you could always offload it to a server.

>>17024 We discussed this somewhat on the IRC channel when one lainon wanted to buy a laptop with a decent keyboard. What do you mean by truly good ? What are your criteria other than the > arrows you list ? Why not use a USB / Bluetooth keyboard with a laptop if they laptop keyboards cause you that much pain ? > inb4: why are you posting an article, I am posting an article to get lainons feedback / comparison / compare and contrast with the article's recommendations and their feedback. The criteria given in the article at (https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/best-laptop-keyboards) is No bottoming out: The most important thing is to have a keyboard that makes it difficult to "bottom out" or hit the base with a lot of force while typing. Bottoming out makes your fingers sore and slows you down. Good feedback: You want the keys to feel springy but not stiff, so they pop back up quickly and offer enough resistance to prevent you from bottoming out. Deep travel: The more space between the key and its base, the less likely you are to bottom out. A typical laptop has between 1.5 and 2mm, while thinner ones have less than that. However, great feedback can make up for shallower travel. High actuation force: The harder you have to press the keys to make them actuate, or register the press, the less likely you are to hit the base hard; 60 to 70 grams of force is typical. and their list of 10 is 1. Lenovo ThinkPad T470 2. MSI GT75VR Titan Pro (Has mechancial keyboard) 3. Asus Chromebook Flip C213SA 4. HP Envy 13t 5. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 6. Alienware 17 7. Acer Spin 1 8. HP Elitebook x360 G2 9. Gigabyte Aero 15 10. Asus ZenBook 3 Deluxe Is https://www.eluktronics.com/MECH-15-G2 ? any good as far as laptop's with mechanical keyboards go ? Alternatively https://www.maingear.com/custom/notebooks/pulse15/index.php ? The image in the first picture is datamini-40. The image in the second picture is IBM 5155. The image in the third picture is Toshiba Libretto 70CT. Personally I have used Macbook keyboards, Modern Thinkpad keyboards and a variety of other keyboards and I haven't found they hurt to use, so I am curious to know what keymap you use ? what your typing usecase is ? and whether you have any existing RSI or other other ergonomic injuries to your hands ?

>>17031 >What do you mean by truly good ? Good question. My current gold standard is the "blue" style keyswitch (I don't care if it's Cherry, Chinese knockoffs are fine). Reasons: -high key travel -precise and instantaneous physical feedback (reds and browns are as bad or worse than rubber dome in this respect) -springy (so combined with the key travel, this means you have less impact on your fingers) I can type all day on these with no pain. Just tiredness. I'm not fixated on blues, I suspect there are other switch designs with the same benefits. I know there's going to be compromise when buying a laptop, but I think a laptop keyboard could at least be precise, have some key travel, and have a good click. That's a decent article, but I tried some of those at Best Buy, and they are pretty hit or miss. The Thinkpads have good key travel, but they're kind of mushy. >Personally I have used Macbook keyboards, Modern Thinkpad keyboards and a variety of other keyboards and I haven't found they hurt to use, so I am curious to know what keymap you use ? what your typing usecase is ? and whether you have any existing RSI or other other ergonomic injuries to your hands ? Yes, I already have an RSI from a soykafty job I had.

>>17033 Based on your reply, if you want your gold standard then other than custom order, you can try a rebranded Tong Fang (https://www.walmart.com/ip/OVERPOWERED-Gaming-Laptop-17-2-Year-Warranty-144Hz-Intel-i7-8750H-NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1060-Mechanical-LED-Keyboard-256-SSD-2TB-HDD-32GB-RAM-Windows-10/887474519) that uses the low profile Cherry or Cherry like switches or a similar gaming laptop with mechanical keyboard which similar low profile Cherry like switches. Lenovo Legion Y920 gets pretty good reviews regarding its keyboard, but it is a higher price point. If you need the the regular desktop profile, then you are best getting a USB mechanical keyboard that you already know and love and that doesn't cause you any pain. I don't know if the following Bluetooth keyboard is any good (I haven't used it), but it is a mechanical bluetooth keyboard Matias Laptop Pro Keyboard for Mac available from https://matias.ca/laptoppro/mac/, that may be worth looking, you can see it in the third attached image. Another more exotic option is the oldschool DOLCH PAC 586 Portable Computer, featured in the first and second images and available from http://www.fujiyuyiplc.com/index.php?unit=products&lang=en&act=view&parent=353&id=38475 (this apparently has Cherry MX Blue switches) Good luck finding what you are looking for.