ThinkPad Design Sneak Peek
June 19, 2009
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It’s not often that we give the public a sneak peek at a forthcoming ThinkPad. Typically we’ve kept our cards pretty close to the vest on this topic. I personally like the updates we have made so much I just can’t resist breaking the rules. Here is a short video we made that shows a few of my favorite design features and the thinking that went into creating them.
David Hill
Lenovo Meet the Modder Dean Liou
Lenovo Meet the modder- Chris Blarsky Dairy 2
Lenovo Meet the modder- Chris Blarsky Dairy 1
Lenovo H320 desktop
June 19th, 2009 4:41 pm
Excellent teaser, it will be interesting to see what the keyboard feels like in actual use. Tactile feedback being all important, perhaps this will be the first “big” improvement of the ThinkPad keyboard in recent times.
June 19th, 2009 5:02 pm
Good evening,
I can’t find the good mail adress for suppert UK.IBM.com. My mail returned me. Also I write on this blog.
I absolutely wanted to commend your service help desk located mainly in Romania and thank you to Chantal, Michèle and especially Theo is realy very nice and extremely effective, not forgetting also the kindness of David in France.
Without the help of all these people and especially Theo, my computer Thinvantage LENOVO R61i is still in its box.
To explain my situation. My husband bought this computer for my birthday on Cdiscount (buy online). This computer came with a key fact wrong because it was a model year 2007 ! So, after several trials, most of my software microsoft were useless. I had no help from Cdiscount ! I got Microsoft phone who advised me to contact your company LENOVO France which then led me on your team in Romania. After faxed copy of my invoice evidencing the purchase of my computer with Cdiscount, I received very quickly from your factory at Orleans 3 DVD for the restoration, but unfortunately I encountered installation problems.
Then, I have been in contact with Theo that was really special and really guided me very efficiently. Together by phone, we managed to restore the original configuration of my computer LENOVO.
I am very satisfied with this computer and Theo recalled today to see if everything was okay and to close my case, but he reminded us that the whole team LENOVO was our service. Thank you so much !
By Cdiscount against on their team and telephone, I charge to send an email message on their forum to remind them of my dissatisfaction and I am not alone ! Should read their forum ! Cdiscount can I delete them from their client lists !
Again thank you to LENOVO and to all staff who are great.
Mr Michel and Mrs Dominique PRECHAIS
in France
June 19th, 2009 5:25 pm
Looks like you? still have the Fn key to the left of the Ctrl key. Big thumbs down!
June 19th, 2009 5:46 pm
Im in love. Please tell me the W500 series is getting that awesome new design!
June 19th, 2009 6:40 pm
Great, finnaly it will be easier to wokr in AutoCad. I don’t know about the microphone key but it sure looks liek that the panel with thinkvantage key is filled so it will not be loose anymore. Sounds very nice.
Thanks and I hope there will be more videos like that!
I for one sure will be happier to know the design decision behind ThinkPad feature !
June 19th, 2009 7:10 pm
I also don’t like the FN key to the left of Ctrl since it makes the keyboard different than desktops and a pain as you keep switching during a day. The only time I like its position is when turning on the light since you do that by touch.
I’d really like to see the useless Windows keys dumped or moved elsewhere. You must be aware of just how little they are used. Their presence means the Ctrl and Alt keys end up smaller and they are used far more.
Now make it so I can hose the keyboard out to get rid of dust and crumbs and I’d be really happy
[I send my desktop keyboards through the dishwasher upside down every year or two but they don't survive that too many times.]
It is all the little touches together that make ThinkPads so great. The labelled screws underneath make changing memory and hard drives so easy. The lack of noise is great at night.
June 19th, 2009 7:17 pm
I waited and finally got a X301 a few weeks ago and now all these changes. Are they going to be made to all the Thinkpads? Will I be able to upgrade to the new design?
June 19th, 2009 7:18 pm
Greater ESC and DEL keys? As a nvi user i welcome that change.
Hopefully the display is a bit brighter and has better viewing angles than my old Thinkpad. It just isn’t comfy enough on the porch. I don’t get why the windows keys are still there either. I bet it has something to do with Microsoft (i smell a secret deal, haha), i know a lot IT people and nobody actually uses the windows keys.
June 19th, 2009 7:32 pm
I’d love to get one of these to review
My T61 is slowly dying an agonizing death.
One thing I have to mention right out of the gate, I never use the escape key, or the delete key.
June 19th, 2009 7:35 pm
Nice video. No bullshit and non of the Apple attitude “oh isn’t this great!” and “we are so good you mere mortals can’t touch us”
I actually never use the Delete key
I use the Backspace. Nevertheless, I like the bigger key, it makes the layout more interesting. I would say, more of this. (hmmmm now that I think of it perhaps I use the Backspace because its bigger 
I also like the black Mute, the Volume control and the On/off button (on mine they are silver and I don’t like it). The Microphone mute button is also a good idea and the fact that both mute buttons have a small red light to show when its On/Down is also good.
Tolerances for the keyboard… One time I got a bread crumb under the letter D… I could not press it down, so I took it off and when I saw the mess I gradually removed all of the letters and cleaned it. Perhaps with your improvement people will not clean them that thoroughly, hehe
Looking forward to see more.
June 19th, 2009 7:41 pm
How about some kind of Lotus flower effect on the keyboard? Selfcleaning! I mean, come on, this is supposed to be the future, right? Right?
June 19th, 2009 8:32 pm
Very nice design, thin – hope we have the rubber finish back – and red trackpoint buttons have returned!
The Thinkvantage panel has been renovated. Finally! It was so creaky and plasticky, needlessly so.
Oh, and the screen bezels need to be thinned.
June 19th, 2009 10:52 pm
Ironically, the volume is too low on my laptop….
Since the Delete key is so popular, why isn’t it at the edge where it is easier to reach and find?
Wouldn’t tightened key tolerances lead to more food problems? Food/hair/skin flakes between keys, etc? Better to make it vacuumable and washable with loose tolerances.
Since we use our keyboards so much, it would be wise to view them from the viewpoint of the hands. Where are they? Typing? Using touchpad?(I prefer now to trackpoint or mouse) Resting on laptop edge? Different activities indicate different placements.
Some keys get combined, like ctrl-alt-whatever. So ctrl and alt should be next to each other, not separated.
Of course, consistency is king. Best to decide on the best layout possible, then keep it consistent across all products.
I still think it is stupid to have black keys, and then a stupid light to illuminate them! Make the switch to ivory from ebony! Then colour special keys like Delete, Escape, the embedded number pad.
On 15″ laptops there is much room at the top. Perhaps this space could hold special media keys, laptop control like sleep, hibernate, brightness, wifi, volume, screen switching, speed lock, etc., etc. – things which are used seldom. You could also have keys which users could program.
Now how about talking about inputs/outputs, like an array of microphones along the screen edges to provide directed noise-free input, switchable to the front/side to catch other speakers, antenna/microphone ears like the OLPC, directional speakers, …
tOM
June 20th, 2009 1:37 am
[...] Source SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “More teasing: David Hill previews the ThinkPad T400s”, url: “http://www.thinkpads.com/2009/06/19/more-teasing-david-hill-previews-the-thinkpad-t400s/” }); Filed under: ThinkPad T Tags: leak, lenovo, thinkpad, thinkpad t400s [...]
June 20th, 2009 2:35 am
The new ThinkPad looks really great. Maybe it will be my next one.
Btw I like Windows keys where they are. Don’t remove them. I wanted to buy external “ThinkPad keyboard with UltraNav”, but it still doesn’t have Win keys, so I can’t use it
June 20th, 2009 3:58 am
Yes, the keyboard looks good, the chassis fit and finish looks polished, also the speakers mesh top look to be the business……
Excellent machine design…
June 20th, 2009 4:00 am
Also, the windows key is positioned on the keyboard like the current Lenovo thinkpad.
June 20th, 2009 4:03 am
People wants white key??? and at the same time talking about food problems…. hum, maybe the visible dirty finger smudges on the keyboard would appeal to certain people…….
June 20th, 2009 4:33 am
It’s a fine ThinkPad.
I never understood the Fn/Ctrl problem. I switch between a desktop and my T60 quite often and I’ve yet to experience a mistype of one of these keys. And it’s easy to turn the ThinkLight on too.
People also want you to remove the Windows keys, please don’t. I use the left Windows key to open the Vista’s start menu so I can hit it and immediately start typing in its search box.
Bottom line is, if you would introduce any change to these keys, I’m sure you would hear a possibly even more people telling you how bad this move was.
June 20th, 2009 10:42 am
Why T400s and not X400?
June 20th, 2009 1:08 pm
Keyboard design makes perfect sense, but I am even more excited by what seems to be a timely refresh of the form design. Is it a bit Braun-ish? That would be beautiful!
June 20th, 2009 1:21 pm
Thanks for the heads up on T400. I look forward to the new T400s. I was about to go with another manufacturer after plus 15 years with IBM and Lenovo Thinkpads.
June 20th, 2009 2:24 pm
I have the same question as informatik. Unless the whole T line gets trimmed down in thickness then it looks more in the lines of the X series.
Back to the keyboard subject. I’m glad I participated in the keyboard poll. I use esc and del a lot and they look a lot more comfortable. More important is it’s position next to F1 instead of on top.
I use the windows key a lot, there’s a lot of shortcuts that you can do like Win+E for explorer and such (even more in windows 7).
June 21st, 2009 12:34 am
Seems like good reasons for the slight change in keyboard layout; that puts my mind at ease.
I really would rather you NOT flip the Fn and Ctrl keys if for no other reason than that is the layout ThinkPads have always had and I’m used to it. However, a simple BIOS option to flip the meaning of the keys could be useful for people that don’t like this style (I did this on a HP notebook to match the ThinkPad style).
And to the above comment about white keyboards – “Black is Beautiful”. Don’t mess with it.
June 21st, 2009 1:20 am
wow..this is indeed an innovation to the design of ThinkPad and hopefully it will be implemented to every ThinkPad line.
Can’t wait to have a look at it closely
Well done Lenovo!
June 21st, 2009 2:07 am
Yes. Fn and Ctr keys are identical in shape and size. They can be physically swapped by users. If there’s an option in BIOS that can electronically swap them. It’d be GREAT!
June 21st, 2009 4:13 am
this is cool and everything. now how about designing a thinkpad with a panel that is not sub-par?
June 21st, 2009 6:14 am
Insert key is moved at a non wanted location: I use insert as much as delete with ctrl insert / shift insert shortcut.
also the space between Fx keys have been reduced, which doesn’t help to find them.
What I really want is to see windows keys moved at the place you moved insert, and keep everything as it was on a t4x
fn key location is a non issue, I feel it is at the right location (don’t get in the way, it is at a place I would only hit intentionnaly, rather than between ctrl and alt which are the most used keys to navigate)
June 21st, 2009 6:32 am
Looks great!
But I would also switch the Fn key and the Ctrl key… That’s the only thing I *hate* on thinkpad!
June 21st, 2009 6:45 am
I wonder whether there is something wrong with my typing habits as it seems to me that Esc and Delete are the keys I almost never use. So the new changes in this regard are pretty irrelevant to me. As for the new ThinkPad in general it seems to be the right step for Lenovo.
June 21st, 2009 7:07 am
IMHO moving the ‘insert’ key, and making the original position occupied by ‘delete’ key isn’t really a good idea, making us who used to traditional ThinkPad’s really uncomfortable since we have to spend a hard time to get used to the new keyboard layout …
Is there a choice for ‘traditional’ keyboard for order/replacement?
June 21st, 2009 10:03 am
That’s great attention to details for the new keyboard design. Thanks and congrats!
June 21st, 2009 12:18 pm
I’m not all that happy with the keyboard changes and have a really hard time understanding why Lenovo is wasting scarce resources on tinkering with their signature feature – the keyboard. It’s legendary for its previous excellence. Why try to ruin that by moving keys around, by tampering with its feel, by trying to be new and different?
Why change keys that no one was complaining about? Incremental improvements like developing a BIOS option to switch the Fn and Cntl keys or an alternate single key numlock activation would be welcome. We actually do see numerous requests for those in all the forums and communities. Requests to scramble the standard layout are few and far between.
Changes to the keyboard layout are like moving basic controls in a car (thanks to erik for that comparison). You wouldn’t mess with the steering wheel or the gas and brake pedal. The comparable notebook components are the screen and the keyboard. It’s how we interact with the system. Shifting the position of keys that millions of people use automatically because their fingers “know” where those keys are is non-productive. Even the comments on all the surveys here have overwhelmingly told you to leave the keyboard layout alone.
What’s next – a 6-row keyboard and glossy screens all around? At that point, the ThinkPad will be completely gone.
It’s very simple – do not fix things that aren’t broken.
June 21st, 2009 12:35 pm
You also moved the insert key. It often happens on cheaper Logitech and other keyboards where they combined Insert and Delete into one key that I hit Delete incidentally. This is why my own personal computers have been Thinkpads for the past 3 years, no stupid keyboard reshuffling, my almost new X61t has same layout as my A21p.
June 21st, 2009 12:38 pm
I’m amazed at the statement that the Escape key is used more than any other key except the Delete. Then again, all I do is word proc. and email/web, so I rarely use the Escape key and always (alas) use the Delete.
I’m all for a bigger Delete, and I’m also all for eliminating the Windows key, which I literally never use. But that’s me.
June 21st, 2009 2:06 pm
From the video: “Delete and Escape are the two most frequently used keys on a keyboard.”
More than Backspace?
More than Spacebar?
More than Shift?
More than Enter?
More than “E”?
Are you *sure* about that?
June 21st, 2009 2:10 pm
Mister, do you also know how frequent those Windows Keys are used? No?
I know: barely.
So we just remove them.
June 21st, 2009 2:35 pm
+1 to Michael Geary
June 21st, 2009 3:12 pm
lophiomys wrote: “Mister, do you also know how frequent those Windows Keys are used? No? I know: barely. So we just remove them.”
Speak for yourself guy.
I had this debate a while ago with someone at the company I work with. He claimed the WIN key was useless, and he never used it. So I wrote a small program to see how many times he and I used each of the keys on the keyboard.
I use the WIN key an average of 32 times in one day (most often WIN-E, WIN-L, WIN-D and WIN-F). He used it an average of 18. On average, I used DEL 21 times per day, BACKSPACE 78 times per day and ESC 119 times per day. I never used the ‘Windows Menu’ button that brings up the context menu for a selected item for the entire week I was running the tracking software.
So please don’t just spout nonsense without having actually looked into the subject at hand, or suggest that useful keys be removed just because you aren’t using them — or rather because you *think* you aren’t using them.
June 21st, 2009 4:14 pm
I find your video to be a fascinating glimpse into another world David. Like David and Jane, on MY planet the delete and escape keys are among the least used, not the most frequent.
+1 to Jane’s thoughts on this matter. To my way of thinking you’re arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
(Typed and sent in its entirety without once resorting to the use of either the delete or escape key!)
June 21st, 2009 4:16 pm
Sorry, I meant like MICHAEL and Jane.
June 21st, 2009 5:14 pm
I know plenty of power users that use the Windows key. I use it everyday, in many different ways.
Win+F brings up search.
Win+L locks the screen.
Win+Pause brings up system properties.
Win+E opens Windows explorer.
Win+R opens the Run dialog window. From there you can type in calc to open the calculator, notepad to take a quick note
Plenty of more shortcuts that I didn’t mention. Maybe you Windows users who don’t use it, should learn to use your available tools more efficiently.
June 21st, 2009 5:42 pm
Esc: This improvement is great. It took me couple of days or weeks to get used to ThinkPads having F1 on position where Esc normally is on desktop keyboards. This design takes the best of older Thinkpads and desktop layouts.
Del: Not too happy about that. I use both Ins and Del keys very often (all right, I’m a programmer, so I find Ins to be more useful than if I were writing normal texts) and mainly, they were in the same block as on desktop keyboards. Now, Del is still all right, but Ins moved to quite unintuitive position.
Small space between keys: Great!
Mute: Great, I’d definitely make use of it often. I especially like LED indicators.
Fn & Ctrl: I got used to it, it has pros and cons, but why don’t you implement switch in BIOS setup (like e.g. Compaq Evo laptops have)?
Win keys: I wouldn’t remove them. They are not necessary and I know very few people actually using them for popping up menu, but me, as a person who likes having keyboard shortcuts for all frequently done things, I like it because it means additional modifier.
June 21st, 2009 6:28 pm
I sure don’t like having the best keyboard on laptops “improved.” Scares me to death. The new machine does interest me. I’m on my 6th Thinkpad.
June 21st, 2009 10:18 pm
The new keyboard is just great!
June 21st, 2009 11:02 pm
-1 to Michael Geary
DEL and ESC have a large number of *navigation* functions which are used by most laptop users on a fairly frequent basis, even if they dont actually “type” much text the rest of the keyboard.
June 22nd, 2009 12:26 am
Disclaimer: Im a Tech reviewer hence I am very used to different keyboard changes.
The disclaimer is important. I thought the Fn key is in a very good location; I haven’t had any problems switching between laptops; some other laptops also have the Fn key at the corner; others have it between Ctrl & Alt; some others even have it top right where the PrtSc & ScrLck is.
I have always love tactile keyboard as im a hard typist so i would love that feedback to ensure that ive really typed that particular letter.
Will comment more once the T400 reaches my hands.
June 22nd, 2009 12:59 am
I guess that puts me at zero.
To be honest, I was reacting to David’s comment in the video, “Do you know how many times you use the Delete key? We do.” combined with the claim that Esc and Del are used more than any other keys.
My first reaction was, “No, David, you do NOT know how many times *I* use the Delete key.”
My second reaction was to feel a little creeped out. Are you logging my keystrokes?!?
No, of course you’re not. Which proves my point that you *don’t* know how often I use the Delete key.
My third reaction was “Don’t be silly. I’ve never counted keys, but I certainly use all of the keys I mentioned in my previous comment *much* more often than I use the Delete key.”
My fourth reaction was, “OK, I’ll put my money where my mouth is. It would be pretty simple to modify my JKLmouse [1] code – or maybe write an AutoHotKey script – to count keystrokes and report the most-used keys.” But I don’t have time for that this week.
David, I assume you’re using some tool like that to count key frequency? I would be really interested to see the results of these studies. In my personal use of my ThinkPads, the idea that the Escape and Delete keys are the most common is so far-fetched that I’m curious to know who these people are that use them so often.
Software Tools, I don’t disagree that Esc and Del are fairly frequently used, but do you really think that if you averaged out key use among all ThinkPad users, that those two keys would really be the two most frequent?
Case in point: In typing this one little comment, I’ve hit the Spacebar 343 times and typed the letter “E” 209 times. I’ve used the Esc and Del keys exactly zero times each, and I am certain that it will be quite some time before I use either of those keys more than 343 times.
[1] JKLmouse: http://www.jklmouse.com/ – an automatic keyboard mouse (like MouseKeys) for your ThinkPad.
June 22nd, 2009 1:44 am
First impression:
i) They have the same team and the general focus on having your Thinkpad be a reliable device that allows you to do things other than fiddle with the computer
ii) It’s not clear how many of the changes will turn out to be improvements, and how many are just changes. Re food/keyboard… stuff will get in there eventually, we need a way to get it out. Maybe subtle changes to how the key tops snap on/off so you can remove a few and let dirt out.
iii) Personally I would pay a few ounces and more than a few dollars to a notebook that will survive a fall from desk or table height while running, without assuming a carpet will cushion the fall. There may be a carpet at my office, cube, workstation, or client site and there may not be. I believe some thinkpads can handle this already, but it should be available as something tested and proven.
June 22nd, 2009 3:42 am
Michael Geary +10
This was exaclty my first reaction. It seems to me that I much more use the “A”, “G” or whatever you care to mention than Esc. Not to talk about Del which is almost never used on my system. So I am too curious about David’s statement here.
June 22nd, 2009 5:07 am
Having put some thought into it, I think that this time Lenovo provided a very elegant solution to a recognized problem of escape being above f1. Well done for that, not sure if the “del” key actually needed changing, but irrespective of how often the “del” key is used, “insert” is certainly rarely used by anyone these days.
Now the only thing left is to remove the window and content menu keys. Excellent laptop all around, if the screen is not the usual rubbish you put into thinkpads lately it will definitely replace my underpowered x301.
June 22nd, 2009 11:50 am
[...] Lenovoblogs] Share [...]
June 22nd, 2009 1:18 pm
With my complaints about the video out of the way
I should comment on the keyboard design itself.
I have to admit that I have on occasion hit F1 when I was reaching for Esc, so the larger Esc key may actually be an improvement. Not so sure about the Del key; I would have to try it out.
My main concern is simply having different keyboards on different ThinkPads. My usual work setup consists of two ThinkPads next to each other, along with a third USB ThinkPad keyboard connected to my Mac Mini. An external display sits above that keyboard, and I can switch that display between the Mac and one of the ThinkPads.
So I have three ThinkPad keyboards in a row, and all three keyboards are nearly identical – except for the unfortunate omission of the Windows key on the USB keyboard. (It’s ironic that when when you use a ThinkPad keyboard to run a Mac, that’s when you *really* need the Windows key, to replace the missing Option key.)
Having different keyboard layouts would make it more confusing to switch back and forth. I suppose as I replace machines they would eventually all get back in sync – if you stop tinkering with the layout.
No doubt I’m unusual in using multiple ThinkPads – most people probably use only a single machine and will get used to whatever you give them.
June 22nd, 2009 3:33 pm
Please fix the Fn & Ctrl key locations. It confuses things when using an external keyboard. I would consider a Thinkpad external keyboard but it lacks the Windows key.
June 22nd, 2009 4:42 pm
well..i’m too would like to see windows button on it
anyway, this is not the finished product yet isn’t it? I’m pretty sure it would be on that ThinkPad when it’s finished
June 22nd, 2009 4:45 pm
one more thing, I am myself like the new keyboard layout..still retain the legendary keyboard, but with some few modifications to make it better..
and all those new buttons are sexy to me..make ThinkPad looks sexier in black
June 22nd, 2009 5:13 pm
That ALT key looked awfully small, and the small F1-F12 keys also bother me. Those are keys for which you really don’t want to hit the wrong one by mistake.
Also, the “key” point for a healthy keyboard is: you must be able to clean and sterilize it easily. A healthy keyboard is certainly NOT one which you can’t even spray-clean, please keep that in mind: lint and bacteria get *everywhere*, you need to be able to clean them up, trying to keep them out is a lost cause without IP66 enclosures with ingress air filtering.
If I could _easily_ wash the thinkpad keyboard with distilled water and isopropanol and then dry-blow it, it would be a lot more healthy device. That would require parts that don’t get damaged by the chemicals (anodized stainless steel and plastic with proper finish perhaps), and a keyboard that is easy to remove and attach, which will not develop issues when it is being removed for the 100th time…
LED feedback for mute, plus the new MIC mutting are very good ideas (as long as you kept their control program in the embedded/slave controller).
As for the black buttons, they were gorgeous on the T4x, I never got it why they went white in the first place, it is nice to have them back to black
The red+blue striping are also classic winners…
PS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.....arison.JPG — on the right of the picture, we can see what I’d be giving up to get any new Lenovo thinkpad currently available: a nearly perfect T4x keyboard layout, and a proper IPS display.
June 22nd, 2009 5:36 pm
I like the enlarged Esc and Del keys. The Esc key is important for vi users, and a large Del key is a strong statement against Apple, who keep forgetting this key completely. About Fn vs. Ctrl, I couldn’t care less. I swap Ctrl with CapsLock. I both make little use of Fn and of CapsLock, but much use of Ctrl (in the CapsLock position). I also use the Windows keys a lot (on Linux!): I made the “Win” key a modifier for program startup and window switching shortcuts, and I made the “Menu” key a “Compose” key.
June 22nd, 2009 10:39 pm
WOW… Awesome machine! You really hit a home run with this one… The X300/X301 was really the best machine I have ever had and I have been very happy with it… This machine fixes a few things I thought would make the lap top even better. This is an awesome machine and I can wait to get my hands on it. This will be a big hit within our shop. Nice device!
June 23rd, 2009 8:46 am
The screen seems to be the usual rubbish according to all the reviews and pictures. Should really get used to it by now.
June 23rd, 2009 10:18 am
[...] Users spend a lot of time on their keyboards, and a comfortable, easy to use keyboard plays a big role in their overall satisfaction with their PC. Knowing this, Lenovo spends a lot of time perfecting the design of its keyboard. Lenovo found the average user hits the Delete and the Escape key 700 times each a week. To help improve the typing experience, Lenovo made these buttons larger. With many people eating lunch at their desks, Lenovo tightened up the spaces between the keys to help avoid crumbs that would otherwise fall below the keyboard. Improvements were also made to the touchpad in order to help keep the laptop thin. The new touchpad lays flush with the palm rest and has a new, textured feel that allows users to feel the touchpad’s location without looking down. And with multitouch technology on the touchpad, users can easily scroll, pinch and zoom through documents. Lenovo designer, David Hill, discusses many of these improvements in a video on his blog. [...]
June 23rd, 2009 11:04 am
The rest seems to be excellent though, now make it available in UK.
June 23rd, 2009 1:42 pm
Why did you put the battery under the palmrest where you can’t put an extended? I always liked having the flexibility to use a larger battery that sticks out the back if you wanted.
June 24th, 2009 9:02 am
Michael,
I agree with you that the EXC and DEL keys are not used as much or as often as many oothers, however, please consider their typical location on the keyboard and how a touch typist (or any typist) is required to ‘reach’ for these keys. If you ar etyping quickly, and extend your smaller finger, it is a much more natural ‘hit’ when the key is larger, and easier to land your finge ron. I believe this was the inspiration behind enlarging these tw okeys as opposed to any others, and I hope those that use multiple programs will notice the benefit.
June 24th, 2009 2:01 pm
[...] View Results « ThinkPad Design Sneak Peek [...]
June 25th, 2009 3:22 am
@Nik B.
I do speek for myself and I know exactly what I’m speaking about: Under Linux I NEVER use the Windows keys. Even when occasionlally still under Windows OS, I only hit them by accident, getting really annoyed because it is a lot of work to restore the focus to the right place.
In general I’m very reluctant to any change to the traditional keyboard layout of Thinkpads.
June 25th, 2009 6:53 am
LED display is really good on ThinkPads, what is the resolution?
July 1st, 2009 4:58 am
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July 3rd, 2009 11:57 pm
get color see see
July 9th, 2009 10:18 pm
Is it true that you have removed the Caps Lock key? If so, that means the T400s is dead for me. I am using it all the time, since my keyboard layout uses the caps lock key as a modifier just like shift, to reach all sorts of symbols such as ( and ?.
July 10th, 2009 6:32 am
kadajawi, We have not removed the caps lock key. I mentioned in a interview that it was at times frustrating to users who accidently press it. The key is still there.
August 23rd, 2009 1:03 pm
My company has started offering 400s ThinkPads to us road warriors, and the design is truly gorgeous. After having spent a few hours with one, however, I went back to my ancient T42 because of one almost silly issue: the display.
I deal with vertical documents, mostly Microsoft Word and web pages. The loss of precious vertical screen real estate was more than I could bear. On my work desktop, I have a widescreen monitor in portrait mode, which is great (but probably impossible to do mechanically on a laptop). As a result, the 1400×1050 4:3 aspect ratio on the T42’s and the 1600×1200 on T60’s was great.
Is there any chance Lenovo would make a new T series Thinkpad with a new 4:3 aspect ratio Thinkpad (ideally with a high-quality screen — does anyone else remember FlexView?) I’d be in laptop heaven.
September 16th, 2009 6:24 am
[...] Design Matters Users spend a lot of time on their keyboards, and a comfortable, easy to use keyboard plays a big role in their overall satisfaction with their PC. Knowing this, Lenovo spends a lot of time perfecting the design of its keyboard. Lenovo found the average user hits the Delete and the Escape key 700 times each a week. To help improve the typing experience, Lenovo made these buttons larger. With many people eating lunch at their desks, Lenovo tightened up the spaces between the keys to help avoid crumbs that would otherwise fall below the keyboard. Improvements were also made to the touchpad in order to help keep the laptop thin. The new touchpad lays flush with the palm rest and has a new, textured feel that allows users to feel the touchpad’s location without looking down. And with multitouch technology on the touchpad, users can easily scroll, pinch and zoom through documents. Lenovo designer, David Hill, discusses many of these improvements in a video on his blog. [...]
November 3rd, 2009 11:54 am
I don’t like what you did to the INS/DEL keys.
Why destroy the classic layout I’m used to?
November 23rd, 2009 8:11 am
[...] Cum multe persoane servesc pranzul la birou, Lenovo a mic?orat spa?iile dintre taste, pentru a evita blocarea acestora în cazul în care se scapa ceva intre ele. Imbun?t??iri au fost facute ?i touchpad-ului pentru a men?ine dimensiunile mici ale laptopului. Touchpad-ul are o nou? textur? ?i permite utilizatorului s? simt? loca?ia acestuia f?r? s? se uite în jos. De asemenea, datorit? tehnologiei Multi Touch, utilizatorii se bucura de o mai mare accesibilitate a documentelor de pe laptop. Designerul Lenovo, David Hill, a discutat despre aceste imbun?t??iri intr-un videoclip de pe blogul s?u. [...]
November 24th, 2009 6:31 am
I don’t like the new keyboard layout. You’ve broken the first rule of a good keyboard: “Thou Shalt Not Mangle The Home Key Cluster”.
@Mark Laral: +1 for FlexView.
December 20th, 2009 9:49 pm
I really hope the delete key mod is not permanent. The insert key is vital, I’ve returned countless keyboards for not having the standard Insert-Home-pgup Delete-end-pgdwn
Keep the delete and insert the same!
February 25th, 2010 3:25 pm
[...] Cum multe persoane servesc pranzul la birou, Lenovo a mic?orat spa?iile dintre taste, pentru a evita blocarea acestora în cazul în care se scapa ceva intre ele. Imbun?t??iri au fost facute ?i touchpad-ului pentru a men?ine dimensiunile mici ale laptopului. Touchpad-ul are o nou? textur? ?i permite utilizatorului s? simt? loca?ia acestuia f?r? s? se uite în jos. De asemenea, datorit? tehnologiei Multi Touch, utilizatorii se bucura de o mai mare accesibilitate a documentelor de pe laptop. Designerul Lenovo, David Hill, a discutat despre aceste imbun?t??iri intr-un videoclip de pe blogul s?u. [...]