Thinkpads Forum

A friend has an X240, and I had a chance to compare it side-by-side with my X220.

Much has been said about the changes to the layout (mostly negative), but not much detail has been given to the fact that the keyboard footprint, and thus the keys, are smaller.

I think this image captures it best:
http://i.imgur.com/tksz9nR.jpg

X220/X230 and X240 are the same width, but on the former, the keyboard takes up all the width of the notebook, whereas on the latter, there is a fairly wide bezel on both sides.

Most of the shrink was done to the right column of keys (Enter, Backspace, etc.), but the keys themselves are also just a little bit smaller (the above picture does not show this, since the images are not completely to scale).

This takes us back to the pre-widescreen X series and their "almost full-size" keyboards. They were always a bit more awkward to type on than the full-size ones on T/R. I haven't had actual experience with this X240 keyboard, but I have to wonder if it is the same.

The reason why the keyboard is smaller is because the X240 is much thinner than the X220/X230. If you take a close look at the sides you will notice that Ethernet and the VGA port already use the entire height of the base cover. On older models the keyboard used to be on top of the ports, allowing it to use the entire surface of the laptop. Now however, in order to keep the machine thin and retain the ports, the keyboard has to be able to fit next to the ports, so they had to shrink it.

dr_st wrote:This takes us back to the pre-widescreen X series and their "almost full-size" keyboards. They were always a bit more awkward to type on than the full-size ones on T/R.

What a pity. When Lenovo was phasing out tall screens in favor of wide ones about 8 years ago, people on this forum had lots of passionate debates about aspect ratios. The strongest argument for going widescreen was that it allowed 12-inch ultraportables to have full-sized keyboards, and even the staunchest 4:3 supporters conceded on this point. But with the X240, Lenovo has stopped taking advantage of the extra width, just to make the laptop look a little bit nicer. Now, if this thickness reduction had made the laptop much lighter, then it might still be worthwhile, but the X240's starting weight is still 2.84 lbs, not a whole lot less than the X230's 2.96 lbs.

Definitely not a step in the right direction.

I loved my X60s, but going back to typing on it after the X200s was painful. My current X230 is the finest typing experience I've had on a laptop. More than anything I welcomed 16:9 for the full keyboard...

I think this particular sacrifice was reasonable. I love my X61s keyboard, and have no problem switching back to it, my pinky is real precise with the shrunken backspace and enter keys.

The destruction of the earlier highly functional keyboard layout to copy apple's minimalist style, and the loss of dedicated trackpoint buttons in favor of the real nice big touchpad is much more important to me.

I'm not looking forward to replacing my X200.

The somewhat smaller buttons may not be a big deal...
I don't use the right alt or Ctrl buttons much, if I do I smash them all with one finger normally.

But the backspace key looks like it might be the right size.
My X61T is bothersome due to backspace, but its reasonable with that 4:3 form factor.

I'll never know until I try it out...

Actually I prefer smaller X31 keyboard size over full size X220 one. The X220 one is too bulky for me. I still consider the X31 keyboard the best notebook keyboard I have ever had. The real issue of X240 keyboard is the layout design flaw with End key http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=112273

As an aside, I have spent two weeks in Japan so I had an opportunity to see notebook market over there. Lenovo is marginal there, there were mostly IdeaPad B series and Miix tablets only. I found X240s just in single shop. Compared to Panasonic, Fujitsu, Sony and NEC business machines everywhere ... X240s was not a big deal While CF-SX3 is sexy