IBM 31P9490 Keyboard for Thinkpad (Black)

List Price: $149.00 Discount Price: $84.79

Features:

• Sold Individually

Customer Reviews:

not thinkpad quality, disappointing [Posted on 2007-09-14]
I bought it to extend my thinkpad keyboard experience, which was wonderful, to my new Toshiba TabletPC. It has about the same looking and layout as my old thinkpad laptop, which is what I expected.

However, the build quality is poor, compared to the one mounted on the thinkpad laptop and to the mac at my place. The functions keys on the top are shaky. I got a chance to detach some keypads from both the laptop and this keyboard. The plastic components suspending/mouning the keypads on this keyboard are poorly made, tend to be very soft.

These top-row keys are dull as well, not picking up every stroke. Especially bad is the "delete" key, which works only if I hit it with extra attention. I found this to be very distracting.

Also, motion components beneath the keypads seem not well lubricated, squeaking in quiet nights.

For a price around $90 and such a quality, I will hesitate to recommend it to anyone, except that you cannot live without a thinkpad keyboard.

Great Mobile Keyboard [Posted on 2007-10-09]
I bought the IBM UltraNav Travel KB to replace the USB unit made by Adesso that came from Motion Computing for my tablet. The original KB had persistent problems with the touch pad, and finally the pad died. From the web I learned that many of the Adesso KBs suffered the same issue. The IBM KB, on the other hand, is a little more expensive but worth every cent. Stronger, lighter, thinner and better! Plus it has two USB ports and a pointing stick as well as a touch pad.

Worked Great, While It Lasted! [Posted on 2007-11-08]
The product died in less than two years, and it only rarely went into the laptop bag (in other words, it wasn't handled roughly). It worked great, while it lasted, but when I plugged it into the machine this morning, the "B", "N", and "(space)" didn't respond. I discovered the keys can be popped off and replaced without damage (pop off from the top), but there was nothing out of place under the problem keys, so I concluded that it was an electronic problem...something that shouldn't crop-up in such a short time of use.

best compact keyboard available. brings thinkpad experience to the desktop. [Posted on 2008-03-04]
I own four of these keyboards, and I've given several to friends to replace their other substandard compact keyboards. I love this keyboard. I'm an avid thinkpad user, so having exactly the same keys at my desk and on the laptop is a big win for me. I also really enjoy the trackpoint, and while I still have a real mouse on the desktop, there are some things I enjoy using the trackpoint for.

The plastic case used in the travel keyboard is very lightweight and feels flimsy as a base compared to the 5 pound laptops it typically appears in. However, I find the key-feel and mechanism the same, and the lightweight base does not negatively affect usability.

Mediocre [Posted on 2008-03-05]
I bought this keyboard for my desktop after falling in love with the keyboard on my T43. The experience has been mixed. The keyboard is certainly good, and if I don't use my T43 for a while I wonder how much better the T43 keyboard could be, but once I return to the T43 keyboard, I realize the desktop version has a ways to go. Note, this evaluation ignores the rather trashy function (FX) and Ins/Home/PgUp/Del/End/PgDn keys. Those are just as bad as, or worse than, those found on free keyboards.

Beyond the keys, the trackpoint is a delight to use. Though light ,the keyboard feels pretty solid.

For those looking for an alternative, I've tried the latest thin aluminum keyboard that Apple makes, and the keys are quite nice. It's a bit different from the thinkpad keyboards, but I think if I were willing to put that much money down for another keyboard, I could easily grow to love it. However, it doesn't have a trackpoint.

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