Thinkpads Forum

Does anyone know which one of these keyboards is NMB?

45N2071 Chicony?
45N2141 Alps?
45N2211 NMB?

I might be wrong on all of them, I'm basing this on what one guy reported as the color of his keypad support underneath the keys. He stated that ****71 and *****41 were both white. I'm assuming the *****11 is the NMB keyboard?

My keyboard has terrible flex. If I hit the enter key all the keys right of the "L" key move down.

I doubt that the keyboard type has much to do with the flex. It is more a question of support. Maybe the keyboard was not properly seated.

I reseated the keyboard five or ten times. I'm not sure why you don't think it's an issue with the type of keyboard?

In any event I'm wondering if anyone has been able to figure out which FRU relates to which manufacturer?

Because my experience suggests that flex of the kind you describe is most likely caused by lack of support. It could be that the particular keyboard is defective or warped.

I would also like to figure out the FRU-manufacturer connection. Seems like Lenovo has been hiding it deliberately? Why?

If you reseated the keyboard, have you noticed any stickers on the back of it that may suggest the manufacturer identity?

You can probably improve the support greatly, by sticking a small piece of rubber, or something equivalent under the keyboard, in the area where you experience flex. It helped me with my 15" T60 keyboard (which is NMB).

I should have thought of this at home when I could pop my keyboard off but until then..

I suddenly remembered that you can find out who the Manufacturer of a part is by looking at the UL certification logo. Close to this logo you will find a number that starts with E-followed by numbers. Go to this site http://database.ul.com/cgi-bin/XYV/t.../gfilenbr.html and fill in the E and numbers only.

I pulled this off the notebook review forums. I'll look up my keyboard tonight and post the manufacturer. Perhaps if we can get a few people to do this we can figure out which keyboard belongs to which manufacturer.

http://thinkpadblog.blog96.fc2.com/blog-entry-1196.html

ALPS製:P/N 45N2036 FRU 45N2071
NMB製：P/N 45N2176 FRU 45N2211
CHICONY製:P/N 45N2106 FRU 45N2071

Not sure which keyboard my W510 has but it is the best I have ever used on a ThinkPad. No bounce anywhere on it.

So which is the better/best one? I'm looking for one for a W510 that's solid like the T61s.

The main differences I find is with how the keys buckle once pressed in slightly. You'll notice the NMB keys will suck in, depess firmly to make contact ever so sllightly more then the Alps or so I've read the Chicony keyboards. Because of this it's extremely hard to miss a character once a key has been depressed to the point where it buckles.

I've read and can confirm that the middle mouse button does seem to have better feedback on the NMB as well.

I'd say that the better feedback is from the harder rubber domes used on the NMB over the slightly softer domes on the Chicony and Alps keyboards.

NMB keyboards for the T510's, T520's, W510's, and W520 model Lenovo's can be distinguished by the red colored rubber domes under the keys, Alps keyboards have white semitransparent keys.

You do have to depress the keys on the NMB keyboards with slightly more pressure, but once depressed you know your getting a character registered, while the Alps and assuming the Chicony keyboards have a softer typing experience, because of this sometimes you will miss a key if the softer rubber dome failes to buckle fully for you to register a key.

I own all three different W510 keyboard brands and here are my impressions.

The Chicony keyboards feel kind of clumsy, and the keys require too little force to be pushed down.
The overall quality is poor, and the lettering has a tendency to fall off the keys in little flakes.
Trackpoint keys are decent.
Avoid this one.

The NMB requires a bit more force and has a very good feel, pretty much like what you'd be used to from previous NMB keyboards, but still it requires less force to push down the keys then on previous NMB models.
The quality varies from poor (crooked keys, cheap finish, lettering wears off) to good (the LiteOn branded ones are really good, found on Thinkpad USB keyboard with Trackpoint), but not up to previous NMB standards, the keys are more wobbly then the other models though.
Trackpoint keys are very good.
Very good keyboard, but not durable.

The Alps requires most force of all the models I have tried, and has a more solid feel then the NMB, barely any wobble.
The quality and finish is good, and the lettering doesn't wear off.
Not as good key travel as the NMB, but clearly better then the Chicony.
Trackpoint a lot like really old ThinkPad models, not very clicky, silent.
I prefer this one overall.

I bought an NMB which fits in the R61 14W and the W500. It has a much better
feel to it than the other keyboards of that generation.

Having gotten such a boost, I thought that I'd get one for my T420 to replace a Chicony.
Unfortunately, at least in my case, the difference was much less pronounced in the
newer generation of keyboards (which are still very good, IMHO.)