Thinkpads Forum

is anyone else annoyed with the keyboard layout of the x6x series?
I've had my x60 tablet for almost a month now, but only recently started doing some word processing on it while traveling, and found the layout of the Fn, Ctrl, WinKey, Alt, and context menu key layout to be nothing but annoying

is there any reason for Lenovo not to keep their layouts more inline with other laptop makers? I'm glad they finally standardized the WinKey, but I find the currently layout to be very difficult to adapt to.

I would've much prefered if the bottom row was something like this:
[Ctrl][Fn][Alt][SPACE][Win][context menu]
as I can think of little need to provide a second set of Ctrl and Alt keys with the limited space as it is.

I hated having to put up with my previous 700m keyboard with the , . / keys all crushed together, but the x60 layout seems to make it worse

ChugokuOtaku wrote:is anyone else annoyed with the keyboard layout of the x6x series?
I've had my x60 tablet for almost a month now, but only recently started doing some word processing on it while traveling, and found the layout of the Fn, Ctrl, WinKey, Alt, and context menu key layout to be nothing but annoying
(

yes it's silly. the ctrl key should be furthest to the left. and everyone uses this key very often, Ctrl+X to cut, Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl+V to paste, Ctrl+T to open a new firefox tab, and so on. Instead of reaching down slightly with your pinky finger, you now have to swivel your entire hand, and also remember it is not the last key.

ChugokuOtaku wrote:is there any reason for Lenovo not to keep their layouts more inline with other laptop makers? I'm glad they finally standardized the WinKey, but I find the currently layout to be very difficult to adapt to.

I would've much prefered if the bottom row was something like this:
[Ctrl][Fn][Alt][SPACE][Win][context menu]
as I can think of little need to provide a second set of Ctrl and Alt keys with the limited space as it is.

Incidentally, removing the right Alt would mess with a lot of international keyboard layouts. And I find it unusual that you'd ask for dropping standard keys and moving the Windows key from its "standard" position while asking Lenovo to make their keyboard more in line with other manufacturers'.

apbudha wrote:yes it's silly. the ctrl key should be furthest to the left. and everyone uses this key very often, Ctrl+X to cut, Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl+V to paste, Ctrl+T to open a new firefox tab, and so on. Instead of reaching down slightly with your pinky finger, you now have to swivel your entire hand, and also remember it is not the last key.

Having Fn on left made sense on earlier Thinkpads, because it kept the Ctrl and Alt together and made it easier to press both at the same time. Also, the Fn-PgUp shortcut to turn the thinklight on was extremely easy to execute as these keys are on the opposing corners of the keyboard, making them very easy to find even in complete dark.

I very much like the arrangement on the keyboard of my X31, and am in turn frustrated with my work machine which has the Ctrl-Fn-Win-Alt arrangement. I always end up pressing Fn instead of Ctrl.

It's just about what you're used to. If you get a different brand laptop, you'll have to get used to the different keyboard. Thinkpads always had the Fn on extreme left, and I would figure Lenovo hasn't seen much reason to change that.

(Just be thankful it's not a Toshiba with the tilde next to the spacebar.)

Like qviri said, it's probably what you're used to. I'm used to the fn-others-spacebar layout and find it frustrating when enother laptop does it differently. I was glad that my macbook uses the same layout.

perhaps it's a matter of preference to some

I do recall that certain laptops I've used in the past had a feature that flipped the Fn and Ctrl key. I remembered it being something you can change in the BIOS

with thinkpads, are there any ways to flip the two keys in the keyboard layout? if that can be done, I can then physically swap the two keycaps

ChugokuOtaku wrote:with thinkpads, are there any ways to flip the two keys in the keyboard layout?

Not that I'm aware of.