Thinkpads Forum

Hi,

here's a stupid question, why ThinkPad keyboards, uses proprietary connectors ? why not the smallest usb ? same for the lcd panel, it uses LVDS .. at first I naively thought that it would be dvi/hdmi compatible interface.

There must be a good reason, I'm just curious. I was thinking about it because it could help reusing parts (panel-less base X31 digitally plugged to an external lcd screen) , or testing/swapping them.

Laptops, as a general rule, use propietary connections, since the space availible varies with the system. Since the motherboard and everything else is custom made anyway, and tolerences are so much tighter than in a desktop, they simplify everything and make a connection for their situation. Another reason is becasue not everything is wired the same - on thinkpads, the keyboard contains the powerbutton, which requires a special setup, while other computers (Like the Dell I am using now) have only the keyboard on the keyboard connector, and the power button is a part of the motherboard.