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Ask HN : best laptop keyboard

3 points by rahulgarg ↗ HN
Extremely frustrated with my HP laptop keyboard. Briefly used a gateway laptop and even the gateway had a better keyboard. Any suggestions on a laptop with a good keyboard?

Thinkpads supposedly have the best laptop keyboards. Any others?

10 comments

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senthil_rajasek
The one on my (little over a year old) macbook pro. Its the best.

Sadly, the 'delicate' mouse button broke and the Geniuses (no pun intended) at my local apple store can't locate my extended warranty.

rahulgarg
Thanks for the tip. Will checkout macbook pros at a local store.
gtani
i actually like the macbook/MB Air KB (i think they're similar if not the smae) better than MBP. But the fullsize Apple wired keyboard is light and durable enough to carry around in a backpack with you, and the keys have the feel of the macbook KB.

Keyboard fix: call Apple. Lots of times employees in Apple stores are too busy to spend the time it would take to properly diagnose a problem .

non-apple product: in the US, hit big box stores, Costco, Office Max, best buy, pound on the keys, look at displays carefully. You have to spend time with a laptop to discern if the KB, display, heat, fan noise, etc are all tolerable in your workspaces. Those are my top deal-killers (always carry a couple mice around with me, never use trackpads, ) Some places (Costco, target) have 90-day return policies

brk
I've been very satisfied my the MBP keyboard also. I even found that I got used to the MB keyboard quite easily (I have 1 of each).
icey
I've used Macbook, Dell and Thinkpad keyboards extensively. The Thinkpad is my favorite by a long shot.
sh1mmer
Macbook Pros have excellent keyboard and Apple of course now sell the one from the Macbook as a separate desk keyboard which is also excellent.
rahulgarg
Is this one portable? I do use an external keyboard when I can but mine is too big to carry.
sh1mmer
Well obviously the one built into the computer is ;)

The other one is thin but not really portable. It's just nice to get the same feel on a desktop keyboard, it has nice feedback. I'm so over model M keyboards now. sigh

cujo
I like both my macbook pro and thinkpad keyboards, but the thinkpad keyboard feels nicer to me. The keys seem to have a bit more travel and is just feels good.

Both are solid though and I don't mind the mbp one. I just prefer the thinkpad one.

alnayyir
My Dell Inspiron 600m has a keyboard that I would consider better than passable by my standards, but I'm supremely finicky about my keyboards. I'd give it a 7/10 for feel.

I'm unusually fast on it for a laptop keyboard as well, it seems well-laid out.