Are there several keyboard makers for T60s ?

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jagged · #1 Post by **jagged** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 5:38 am

I got my new T60 a few days ago (2623D6U) and after some observation, I notice that the keyboard feel is quite different from my older T60 (20074UH).

I like keyboard on the older T60 cuz the key depth is slightly shorter when pressed and the sound is like "clicking" vs my newer T60's "clanking" sound. Keyboard texture is also slighter rougher on the newer T60.

So I'm curious, are there several makers for Thinkpad T60 keyboards? I had the impression that everything has to be the same. I'm not saying that my new T60 sucks but maybe I had high expections since I was so impressed with my first Thinkpad.

#2 Post by **RonS** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:02 am

Yes - there are at least two manufacturers of keyboards for the T60. Do a search in the T60 forum using the words

nmb thai chicony

BudC · #3 Post by **BudC** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:48 am

To find out what kind of keyboard you have, go here.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... sLookup.vm

If you remember the serial number of your previous T60, you might also find out what keyboard that one had.

hoya · #4 Post by **hoya** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 9:58 am

I had the same reaction on my two T60's. the first had an NMB keyboard, which has more key depth and a different kind of sound that is more annoying.

my new T60 has a Chicony keyboard that I am crazy about. very short key depth, much faster typing speeds, and a crisp sound.

as an aside, my first T60 had a TMD panel which I couldn't stand. my new T60 has a Hydis panel that is far superior in every respect.

codek · #5 Post by **codek** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 5:31 pm

BudC wrote:To find out what kind of keyboard you have, go here.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... sLookup.vm

If you remember the serial number of your previous T60, you might also find out what keyboard that one had.

1953d6u(like)
39T7148 39T7178 KEYBOARD FRU YES
2623d6u(do not like)
39T0988 39T7118 KEYBOARD FRU YES

ok so what does this mean? what companies makes em?

irfan · #6 Post by **irfan** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 6:01 pm

check this to find out which keyboard you have http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-61374

The fist one you have is CHICONY. The second one is ALPS.

I myself have NMB. I like this keyboard. The travel distance is longer than CHICONY and it has a nice feedback. Also, I need to push the keys harder than the CHICONY.

rockefella · #7 Post by **rockefella** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 9:17 pm

I have the ALPS keyboard, and frankly, I'm not crazy about it. My old keyboard was an NMB and it was preferable IMHO. But we're talking about hair-splitting here as far as I'm concerned. I still think these keyboards are far superior to anything else out there.

codek · #8 Post by **codek** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 9:19 pm

irfan wrote:check this to find out which keyboard you have http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-61374

The fist one you have is CHICONY. The second one is ALPS.

I myself have NMB. I like this keyboard. The travel distance is longer than CHICONY and it has a nice feedback. Also, I need to push the keys harder than the CHICONY.

I like the chicony. Can i switch them up and will it still work?

jagged · #9 Post by **jagged** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 10:25 am

Just got my new T60 (200764U) today and I checked the keyboard specs using the parts lookup link provided above.

Turns out that the keyboard I like in my very first T60 had NMB and the one that I didn't like had Chicony. Good thing this new T60 came with NMB as well. I guess keyboard preference is kinda subjective

#10 Post by **archer6** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:13 pm

jagged wrote:I guess keyboard preference is kinda subjective

Yes, it certainly is subjective. In addition I find that it's also quite dynamic. For example on my earlier T4x ThinkPads I preferred the NMB. Upon placing the order for my T60 through Lenovo, I was give the serial number. While waiting for it to arrive I performed a parts lookup and found to my delight that it would have an NMB keyboard. Concurrently I had placed an order for an X60s. That parts lookup also revealed a NMB was the keyboard it would have.

Upon taking delivery of these two my experience regarding keyboards was very different. With the T60 the keyboard felt so different than my prior NMB keyboards. Somewhat softer almost mushy, quiet and somewhat vaque. It was not faulty, just different. The X60s felt just like I was used to with NMB keyboards. Firm, responsive, just a great keyboard.

So, after 3 months of usage, I remainded unhappy with the keyboard on the T60. I called in and found that the only keyboard that was readily available for me to purchase was the Chicony. Not having any experience with these I ordered one. It was a simple job to remove the NMB and install the Chicony, and the difference was quite pleasing. I'm sitting here writing his on the Chicony equipped T60 and I find that it's very responsive. This is especially beneficial as I type really fast (my handwriting has turned illegible...

) and this keyboard has a nice substantial feel to it. A pleasant surprizing result.

bri · #11 Post by **bri** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:42 pm

codek & archer -
I'm surprised you guys like the Chicony on the T60. My original was Chicony and I ordered a NMB because it started getting annoying. The feel was great, but some keys seem like catch onto something if you hit them off center. Maybe I'm just weird when I hit keys. The NMB is much smoother but somewhat vague like archer mentioned. Perhaps these NMB boards are not "Thai" made in Thailand?

#12 Post by **archer6** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:50 pm

bri wrote:codek & archer -
I'm surprised you guys like the Chicony on the T60. My original was Chicony and I ordered a NMB because it started getting annoying. The feel was great, but some keys seem like catch onto something if you hit them off center. Maybe I'm just weird when I hit keys. The NMB is much smoother but somewhat vague like archer mentioned. Perhaps these NMB boards are not "Thai" made in Thailand?

I think that it's possible that you simply got a faulty Chicony, as the off center catching should not exist on any brand. Keyboard preference is such a personal issue that I'm glad they are using different suppliers which give us a choice...

laundromatt · #13 Post by **laundromatt** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:52 pm

hoya wrote: as an aside, my first T60 had a TMD panel which I couldn't stand. my new T60 has a Hydis panel that is far superior in every respect.

Maybe to you. I prefer the TMD panel on my T60, and consider it to be crisper and more vibrant than the other displays.

Just throwing that out there, so that people won't automatically assume that TMDs are bad. It's best to always see and compare for yourself.

bri · #14 Post by **bri** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 2:14 pm

archer6 wrote: I think that it's possible that you simply got a faulty Chicony, as the off center catching should not exist on any brand. Keyboard preference is such a personal issue that I'm glad they are using different suppliers which give us a choice...

oh man... I guess that means I'm going to have to get my hands on some more keyboards to experiment then... not sure if this NMB is the end-all...

laundromatt · #15 Post by **laundromatt** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:09 pm

archer6 wrote:
bri wrote:The feel was great, but some keys seem like catch onto something if you hit them off center. quote]

I think that it's possible that you simply got a faulty Chicony, as the off center catching should not exist on any brand.

Seconded. I'd get it checked out to see if it's broken.

ramian · #16 Post by **ramian** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:22 pm

I concur with archer6 that the Chicony keyboard on the T60 is great for touch typing. I had a NMD on my T42 and loved it. While I've never tried out the NMD for the T60 (although I'd still love to for the sake of comparison), I think nothing can come close to the usability of the Chicony on the T60. I've compared my Chicony to an ALPS on a display model, and the Chicony feels superior in every way (key travel, nice clicking sound, not mushy, etc).

Based on comments I've read here and elsewhere, I'm beginning to think that the NMD keyboards on the T60 are not made in Thailand like the famed Thai NMD keyboards on the T4x series.

While I am glad that they used different suppliers, it doesn't really give us users a choice. We can't choose which keyboard we will get when we order the Thiknpad, we can't change our mind once we get it, and we can't request for another manufacturer's keyboard even when the current one is damaged.

#17 Post by **archer6** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 1:01 pm

ramian wrote: it doesn't really give us users a choice. We can't choose which keyboard we will get when we order the Thiknpad.

You are correct, however what I was referring to when I said we have a choice, is that 1) The keyboard is user replaceable, quite easily. 2) At that point you have a choice as to which keyboard you order from the parts department. 3) They are very inexpensive (I paid about $40 for my Chicony, w/free shipping).

Since the reason for replacement is not a faulty or poor quality keyboard, but simply a replacement based on consumer preference, I do not feel this to be an unfair situation. An example is my first T4x model which had a keyboard that I did not like. That said however, it was light years better than any Dell, Sony, Toshiba, HP keyboard I have used. In addition, it was _not defective_ just not to my liking, as I tend to be picky about keyboards. I have a lot of time on that T4x keyboard and it functions just fine. Just not as "nice" as the other ThinkPad keyboards I have.

Finally, what truly puts it into persective for me is what we are discussing here are fine points regarding personal preferences. The owners of the new MacBook and MacBook Pro models would be thrilled to have such "minor issues". Those notebooks have massive problems, as we have all read about. Heating, case expansion, battery failures, significant overheating, case discoloration and on and on...

Me? ... A very happy ThinkPad owner and loyalist...

ramian · #18 Post by **ramian** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 3:31 am

@archer6,
I agree with all your points, except the part about how "inexpensive" they are. While you're paying US$40, I'd have to pay S$95 and that's if I actually go down to the warehouse and get it myself. They'll probably add another S$35 for shipping. That's a whole lot for a keyboard I'm not even 100% sure I'd even like.

What makes it even more inaccessible is that Lenovo Singapore has told me that they might never be bringing in the NMD keyboard here; the only keyboard which is available for separate purchase is the Chicony, which I already have.

Back on topic...
I love the Chicony keyboard on my T60 as much as I did the NMD on my T42; both of which were/are better than the ALPS on my T30. While they both feel different, they are still wonderful keyboards, much better than almost any other laptop manufacturers'. However, I must say that the keyboard on my old (and dead) Fujitsu E7010 was pretty good; a lot quieter than my current Chicony, and had pretty good key travel. I also liked the keyboard layout as compared to the standard Thinkpad keyboards (with the Home/End/PgUp/PgDown as a vertical column on the right of the keyboard next to the backspace, slash, Enter, shift keys).

#19 Post by **archer6** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 9:59 am

ramian wrote:@archer6,
I agree with all your points, except the part about how "inexpensive" they are. While you're paying US$40, I'd have to pay S$95 and that's if I actually go down to the warehouse and get it myself. They'll probably add another S$35 for shipping. That's a whole lot for a keyboard I'm not even 100% sure I'd even like.

What makes it even more inaccessible is that Lenovo Singapore has told me that they might never be bringing in the NMD keyboard here; the only keyboard which is available for separate purchase is the Chicony, which I already have.

Point well taken....

I must pay closer attention to the location of our various members, and how that impacts us. Especially since we are all subject to the differences in computers & parts availablility and pricing depending on where we live.

FlexOink · #20 Post by **FlexOink** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 6:31 am

I just wanted to drop my 2 cents here. I very recently ordered the T60p from Germany, which has a german keyboard. I wanted the International one, so I ordered it from IBM Netherlands.

When I checked both models' FRU numbers, I noticed my german keyboard was a NMB, of which everyone speaks so positive, and the US/international one is an ALPS.

I must say I didnt like the NMB at all, as opposed to what others think of this keyboard. The keys were loud, sounded mechanical, and you had to press harder.

The ALPS has a more 'organic' feel, the keys are softer and produce a nicer typing sound. I have the feeling the trackpad is a bit more resistent when pushed tho.

The advice I would give people is, just try the keyboard your T60(p) comes with, if you dont like it order a different one for $35, but dont freak out if your machine doesnt have the holy NMB.

Are there several keyboard makers for T60s ?

Are there several keyboard makers for T60s ?

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