Thinkpads Forum

Has the "slow key release design problem" been fixed in the T410/T510/W510 series "new" thinkpad keyboard yet?

Has it been acknowledged by lenovo?

I'd really like to buy a W510, but I know that it uses the new keyboard design and the USB version of that keyboard I have is broken and unusable for me as a fast typist.

Background ---

I have been using thinkpad keyboards exclusively for years. On my desktops, I use the USB Travel Keyboard with Ultranav, and my currently laptops are a W500 and an X61 Tablet. Note that all of these are the classic Thinkpad keyboard before the 2009 redesign that made it into the T410 and T510.

The "new" thinkpad keyboard is distinguished by a taller ESC key and function keys aligned with number keys (i.e. F1 aligned with 1) instead of the old one where function keys are shifted one to the left (F2 aligned with 1).

Unfortunately, the "new" keyboard has a serious design flaw where slow physical key release rate causes trouble for fast typists (60wpm+). I can't use them at all, as I experience constant multi-shifting (where more than one character of a word is capitalized), and jumbled or lost keys (because the keyboard considers both keys pressed at the same time and confuses the keystrokes). You can read about these complaints here and elsewhere..

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=84513

http://www.amazon.com/ThinkPad-USB-Keyb ... r-mr-title

They issued the BIOS patch fixing this a LONG time ago.

Colonel O'Neill wrote:They issued the BIOS patch fixing this a LONG time ago.

Does anyone here have a T410/T510 and 90wpm+ typing speed that can confirm the typing speed issue is fixed?

Since I own the USB version of this keyboard, and my background is computer engineering, I'm suspicious that a bios patch could fix this problem. The USB version of the keyboard does not involve Thinkpad BIOS at all, because I'm using it on a system from a different vendor. Do they have a fix for this?

From my testing, it appears the hardware sensor for the keys actually takes too long to release, which is what causes the double-shifting. I don't see how a software change could remedy this problem completely. It would simply be a heuristic workaround to attempt to 'correct' the hardware signals. However, if you then (for example) intended to hold shift during two keystrokes, the software "fix" would get in the way of what you intended to do.

I haven't had any keyboard problems since the BIOS update in late March 2010, but I admit I don't type at 90 wpm (and think even slower).

According to Lenovo Knowledge Base, it's supposed to be fixed:
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-a ... a-p/330895

The Lenovo Forum thread for this issue is here and includes some user responses post-BIOS patch:
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-a ... d-p/201281

davesf wrote:Since I own the USB version of this keyboard, and my background is computer engineering, I'm suspicious that a bios patch could fix this problem. The USB version of the keyboard does not involve Thinkpad BIOS at all, because I'm using it on a system from a different vendor. Do they have a fix for this?

have you tried the latest driver?   http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 73235.html

i don't have any issues typing on mine.   then again, i hunt-and-peck at a paltry 85 WPM.

I'm not sure exactly how fast I type, but it's faster than I can write by hand, and I have no problems whatsoever with the keyboard on my new T410. I'm comparing it now to my old T60 and the new keyboard feels like you have to depress the keys very slightly farther. This could be because it's new, and my T60 is a few years old. I have not had one instance yet on my new keyboard where I made a typing error unless it was my fault. Hope that helps.

My T410 has no problems typing at full speed, so it seems.

I know of a T510 with a ~100WPM user that is doing fine.