X220i keyboard flex and resulting noise

[hirst60]

I just received my new X220i and I'm pretty impressed with it so far. One thing that bothers me though is the amount of flex in the keyboard. The left side moves noticeably and therefore produces noisier (and distracting) key strikes. My PgUp key is also quite loud and hollow sounding. I know these are known issues and some users have attempted various home fixes such as rolling up scotch tape under the top right (PgUp key). I tried this and it improved it, but it seemed to increase the flex on the left side and thus made it worse over all. Other users how have loud and flexing Thinkpad keyboards (not the X220) used rubber magnetic tape on the back of the keyboard to solve their problem.

My question is: should I return it to Lenovo? Or can they send me a new keyboard?

I'm willing to do the work myself but wonder if Lenovo can fix it. Maybe they will just look at it, and deem it "normal" and return it to me unchanged.

I am a bit disappointed at the moment since it seems related to the fact that there are only two keyboard screws and they are both located in the middle. Gee, no wonder there is flex and noisy keys on the outsides! People buy Thinkpads because they are rugged and they have a good keyboard. Why they would scrimp in this way and reduce the screws to just two is puzzling.

Anyway, I would appreciate any input other users might have.

[dr_st]

I am one of the users that advocates the rubber magnetic tape mode. The advantage of it is that you can place as many pieces as you need in all the locations you need to get solid keyboard support. I've used it on a number of Thinkpads and it always reduced flex / hollow noises.

Unless the keyboard is obviously warped, a new one may not solve the problem, since it may be in the chassis, which is much harder to address. The rubber tape mode works well, gives me full control of the situation and prevents me from having my laptop shipped somewhere and someone else mess with it who I don't necessarily trust more than myself.

[hirst60]

Thanks for weighing in. The magnetic tape option sounds appealing to me since I also like to keep control of things where it makes sense. I don't know how seriously Lenovo takes issues like this so I don't want to waste a week or two having my computer shipped all over God's green earth for no good reason. That said, I haven't installed any of my programs or data on the machine yet, so if it makes sense to send it back for repair, then this would be a good time.

I don't know anything about magnetic tape though. I get why rubber makes sense, but why does the tape have to be magnetic? Why not, say, just regular black electrical tape? Or hockey tape for that matter!

FWIW, the keyboard I have is a NMB (FRU 45N2211). These are supposed to be good, although as you say there may be other reasons for the flex and bad fit.

[hirst60]

Just to follow up. Inspired by dr_st, I cut up a thin cardboard carton and placed two small pieces under the offending keys -- one under PgUp and the other larger one under the left shift and caps lock key. Presto! Much better. I am looking to replace them with something more permanent (and less of a fire hazard!). I'm not sure about the magnetic tape but will likely use some kind of tape anyway.

[dr_st]

The tape doesn't have to be magnetic. In fact what I used is not even tape per se, but just pieces of flexible rubber magne.ts It's just what I had and it seemed convenient enough (easy to cut into pieces of any size, and the right thickness too).

[hirst60]

OK, thanks. So you would suggest a thickness of 2 mm? I could use duct tape since but wonder about the effects of the adhesive heating up and possibly mucking up the insides of the machine.

[dr_st]

I don't think there's much concern in that. There is a number of stickers and some sticky tape inside the machine anyway: stickers on top of expansion cards, clear tape holding down some of the antenna wires...

[twistero]

Do duct tape come in 2mm thickness?
May I suggest shelf liners?

[hirst60]

Good point, dr_st. Adhesives should be fine.

I'm not sure how think duct tape is. It seems to be measured in mils rather than mm. Probably not thick enough though. Will look into shelf liners though. Thanks.