Lenovo Group Limited Lenovo ThinkPad Compact USB Keyboard with TrackPoint - US English,Black

Overall, a wonderful feeling keyboard with some minor quirks. I got this keyboard mainly because the keyboard on my lenovo laptop was extremely shallow (felt reasonably ok, but I'm a guy that bangs on his keys, I need at least 2mm of travel) and because of that, I was making constant errors--my backspace key was starting to feel spongy after only about a year's worth of usage. I've always had a fondness for thinkpads mainly because of their keyboards and their trackpoint, and thus, even though this bad boy was a bit on the pricey side, I bit the bullet and bought this. It's the price you pay if you want a trackpoint. Yes, at this price you could buy a good used mechanical keyboard, but if you're like me and love trackpoints and find that they speed up your workflow, well you don't have much choice--but even then, this is no compromise. Let me start with my complaints about the keyboard: 1) default drivers are more or less useless: I can't fine tune the sensitivity of the trackpoint (its a bit on the high effort side for me, more than I'm used to on an old thinkpad keyboard I had). 2) can't get the middle mouse button to work normally. This one I can't figure out. Normally (on thinkpads) you press the middle mouse button, and it will either scroll lock or open a link in a new tab. If you hold the mouse button, it will allow you to scroll with the trackpoint. I can't get it to function like this. I can only get the middle mouse button to do scroll lock and open in new tab.I have to be doing something wrong. 3) Layout is a bit odd --I guess if you're familiar with the new thinkpad keyboard layout, its more than acceptable, but for those of us not, it can be odd. On old thinkpad keyboards, right next to the arrow keys, there were previous page and next page buttons. They have been replaced with PgUp and PgDn keys. I would prefer if they were the prev/next page buttons. Not a deal breaker, but annoying for me. 4) mouse buttons are bit mushy feeling; not horrible, but could be better. Oh well. 5) could use a palm rest. Not a deal breaker, easily fixed, but I would like a real palmrest. Now the good: The good far outweighs the bad for me: 1) the feel: why I bought this thing in the first place. The best way I can describe it is very Thinkpad-like. Very authoritative. When you press on a key, it feels like you are pressing on something larger than a key. Every keystroke feels like you're launching a nuke. It feels important, you feel in charge. There is this "in charge" feeling I get with this keyboard and in every thinkpad keyboard. When you press on a key, it is extremely tactile. You feel a strong bump, and this bump can be felt throughout the key's fairly long (at least by today's standards) key travel. Effort feels linearlike, without being linear. Difficult to describe properly. It just feels "right". This might sound like it'd make for tiring typing but not at all: It is extremely comfortable and actuation force is light. You can hammer on keys nonstop and it feels comfortable. Keys are light enough to make typing easy, but not so light that you accidentally hit the wrong keys. 2) pleasant experience typing on it: I find that compared to my lenovo's keyboard, this thinkpad keyboard lets me type at least 15 wpm faster. I am also more accurate typer because I can feel every keystroke because there is just such good feedback. The keys are super comfortable. Nicely spaced out, and concave. Very easy to type on. I make very few errors now because the keys are just so good. Keys are also quiet, very silent despite their long key travel. This is good if you work in an office type environment. But the sound isn't too bad, sounds better than most scissor switch keyboards. 3) looks nice; feels reasonably well built. It does flex in certain locations, but only if you press really hard. I can't notice it flexing when I'm typing, and I bang hard on my keys. keys feel durable, like they will withstand years of abuse. Overall, very happy with my new keyboard. Highly recommend despite the high price. But if you don't like trackpoints, then maybe look for a different, cheaper keyboard. But if you like the trackpoint, then this keyboard is worth every dollar.

If you are buying this, there can really only be one reason. The trackpoint. I've been using a lenovo Thinkpad for a # of years now, and now I an avid user of trackpoint. I've gone without it in the past, but using mice now just feels sub optimal, even if they're quality mice. I got this for my desktop setup, and am very happy that I did. This thing is the exact same size and spacing of my last thinkpad keyboard(mine was a T450). I think they're standard across many models. If you are used to that, then this will feel very familiar. The pros and cons are virtually exactly the same. I'll list them explicitly just for sake of others and (hopefully) Lenovo's product development team. Pros: * The quality of the keyboard is solid * The Trackpoint works exactly as it should Cons * The awkward placement of the page down and page up keys directly to the left and right of the up arrow key(which are all smaller than the letter keys, only adding to how difficult they are to use, and get in the way of normal navigation when using the arrow keys) * no num pad option even available Other than that, there is only one slight differences that is completely neutral. The keys have just a bit of more of a force to press and a bit louder with each key press(different sound too, more clicky). For a keyboard it is still very quiet and I find the noise satisfying. Overall though, my laptop keyboard had less press and quieter which I prefer that, but again, this is very minor. All in all, if you want something like your Thinkpad keyboard, this is that spot on. I do wish there was more options for Trackpoint keyboard, but I've already developed muscle memory to get around the quirks of the laptop keyboard, so this is works for me. If you find yourselves likewise, I highly recommend. (that is until Lenovo or someone else makes something more ergonomic w/ the Trackpoint. For which I am patiently waiting) NOTE: I saw some reviews saying you can't adjust Trackpoint speed. You can, you just need the software, the instructions that come with it point you to the website for the download.

I was hopeful but was concerned that the TrackPoint would not function as well as a real Thinkpad. I was also thinking that the key feedback would be unsatisfying, but... I love this keyboard. Just like the last good keyboard every made. The Thinkpad keyboard from the X230/T430/T530. . Now that Lenovo had finally killed the Thinkpad keyboard I am considering buying 2-3 more of these... a life time supply. Build Quality: 10/10 This feels like a very high quality keyboard. Solid with zero flex. Keyboard: 10/10 The key travel is the same as my X230 and I have no complaints about it. Key Feedback is excellent. Perhaps slightly better then my X230 but probably the same as a brand new X230 Function Keys i.e. F1 F2 F3.... These keys do represent a distinct row of keys. Under Archlinux, by default the evdev driver interprets these keys as Function Keys i.e. F1 F2 as opposed to Media Keys TrackPoint: 8/10 It may still deserve a 10/10 It behaves exactly the same as a Thinkpad TrackPoint Sensitivity and feel is indistinguishable.... NOT all whacked out and crappy like a Dell or HP trackpoint. This is a Thinkpad trackpoint The mouse buttons feel exactly the same as a T430 The mouse buttons are the same size as on a T430 - - My 2 Problems with this keyboard - - -1 I have yet to have found a way to remap the "Fn" and "LeftCtrl" keys. I'm sure there is a way to do it. I need to search more in /usr/share/X11/xkb/*/* But xev shows no output for the "Fn" key and this is normal. It's output is filtered by the driver, because it is not meant to be a Modifier Key ... on that level. It is suppose to be interpreted by the driver and the driver should only deliver the scancodes for the "Fn" modified key. -2 Out of the box, Horizontal Scrolling with the TrackPoint dose not work at all # cat /dev/input/by-id/usb-Lenovo_ThinkPad_Compact_USB_Keyboard_with_TrackPoint-if01-event-mouse Displays output while holding the centrer button and moving the pointer up/down Displays NO output at all while holding the centre button and moving side to side Interestingly, # xinput list 10 Shows "Scroll info for Valuator 2" ... "type: 2 (horizontal)" which indicates that holding the middle button should enable Horizontal scrolling by default. Below that it shows "Scroll info for Valuator 3" ... "type: 1 (vertical)" and Valuator 4 as vertical as well as being marked ( preferred ). When I cat the the USB device directly. The output confirms this. The USB device shows output while moving the TrackPoint Left/Right and different output while holding the Middle mouse button. However, it shows NO Output while holding the middle mouse button and moving the TrackPoint Up/Down. xinput also shows this keyboard with 22 button-maps. It also shows these Button Labels in the 6 and 7 positions (which is where they should be) "Button Horiz Wheel Left" "Button Horiz Wheel Right" My Conclusion is that I need to modify the evdev driver. I do not think this is a hardware problem and all it's problems can be solved in the driver.

I bought this keyboard as a way to trial the new style of keyboard that Lenovo has been putting into their laptops without the expenditure of buying a whole new laptop! As users of this keyboard likely already know, this is basically the legendary ThinkPad keyboard, with a bezel/case attached to it and a USB cable plugged in, letting you have that awesome laptop feel wherever you want to plug it in. However, the big seller is that since this is a normal ThinkPad keyboard, it has IBM/Lenovo's amazing Trackpoint tech, which is the best in the business. That's the main reason these are my go-to items when I need a small/portable keyboard. The keyboard feels great. The keys are better than i'd expected, after hating MacBook keyboards for awhile, it's good to see that Lenovo didn't just rush right out and build a 'me-too' when it came to the chiclet keys, they actually made sure to bring the legacy of the Thinkpad keyboard along with it. It's easy to type on, a good size, portable, has a detachable micro USB cable (great for making it even smaller and for swapping out to better/longer/different cable), Feet, with switchable height, and three trackpoint buttons. While i'm not a big fan of the newer layout moving the pgup/dn buttons to near the arrow keys and doing away with the forward/back buttons I love so much, the keyboard works, and works well. I do have to mention that my keyboard does seem to have a bit of a warp to it, though that doesn't matter much in use. The trackpoint out of the box, was horrible. It had many issues with upward motions.. sometimes it would stick, sometimes work fine, other times stop working entirely no matter how far you pushed it. I just recently discovered a fix to this, when I lost the trackpoint cap that came with it, and replaced it with one of the 'classic' eraserhead style ones. The domed, rough tip fixed those problems right up. I'd advise switching to that from the included 'large/flat' cap, as it really helps out with more precise motion and seems to fix that issue. It could be that I just received a problem unit (hence the warped frame) and I'm unique in my problems, but I just want to provide a review of exactly what I've received. All in all, it's a good unit, and does it's job well.

I've never owned a Thinkpad brand laptop. I'm poor and these things are really expensive. But this keyboard is definitely a pleasure to type on, with a satisfying action, quiet keystrikes, and smooth travel with a tactile "bump" that gives typing on it a premium feel. All the keys are aligned nicely, and while there's a slight learning curve before you can touch type at full speed without bumping into the touchpoint mouse, you should be reaching your personal full speed within one day of routine use. Speaking of, the touchpoint is conveniently placed for easy access while using the keyboard. I often don't even need to move my wrists to switch between typing and mousing. You probably aren't going to be playing any FPS games on this mouse though. If you damage or lose the rubber touchpoint cap, it's very easy to replace, and replacements are readily available here on Amazon. Just pull the old one off and push the new one on. Unfortunately the scroll button is kind of strange to use and can behave oddly in different programs or situations. As for value added features and function keys, I like how the keyboard, just sitting there on your desk, has immediate access to your F-keys and cursor movement keys (home, end, pageup, pagedown, Insert, Delete). While I respect the purpose of having function hotkeys, I'm an old-timer who finds more routine value in F-keys than media keys. If you disagree with that sentiment, Fn-Esc enables "Fn Lock" and switches to favoring the hotkeys first. The materials the keyboard is made from are solid, and while you will eventually wear the texturing and letters off the keys with heavy use, I don't doubt for one minute that it'll still work. The detachable micro-B USB cord is definitely a nice plus, as is the "Ready" light just above the port. I find the light useful for troubleshooting, as it doesn't illuminate until the driver is communicating with the keyboard.

I work from home and have a desktop set up. I use both the track point and the mouse. This is a great keyboard for those that like the feel of the keyboard that comes on the Lenovo ThinkPad. The keys feel the same and the track point works as it should. It feels the same as the one that comes on the laptop. I wish it was a bit heavier so that it did not move as easily on the desk. It will work without installing any drivers. Installing the drivers adds a little customization to the mouse section. I do wish there was a was to change the FN and Crtl keys like you can in the software of the laptops. Minor issue. I highly recommend this keyboard if you like the ones that come on the Thinkpad.

My work laptops have all been thinkpads / Lenovo. I currently use the x1 carbon 5th generation. It sounds silly but my productivity is severely impacted when I use any other keyboard because I use a lot of key based short cuts so the placement of the “control” and “alt” button matter I had the Bluetooth version and it is awful. It disconnects all the time so save your money and buy the USB version. The overall quality is pretty good but I don’t think it would hold up well to being constantly thrown in a laptop bag and I do prefer my x1s carbons keyboard. However as I don’t plan on moving this from my desk ever it works great with my docking station. I wish the keys could be backlit and that the female micro usb Connector was more robust as I worry it will degrade lover time. That being said, if you are like me and require a Lenovo keyboard layout this is a great accessory for your desk.

It really bothers me to have to write this, but people deserve to know. The trackpoint on this keyboard is great, the keyboard ergonomics are great, but the designers made the worst possible decision where it came to the connector on this thing. Micro-USB is a VERY fragile connector, and the designers chose to use micro-usb to connect this thing. While it may be ubiquitous for charging, it is absolutely the worst available choice for a connector that sees any degree of flex or tension. I've been using this keyboard daily since 3/13/20 (about 6 weeks) and the micro-usb connector is already trashed. It's loosened up to the point where I have to juggle the cable juuuuust right in order to have any connection. Doubling down on the bad design decisions, there's a green LED right above the port which you can look at to see whether or not the laptop's connected via USB or not. The problem is that you can't actually see this light when you're using the keyboard, only when you're already down there fighting with the cable for the fifth time in the last 10 minutes. Sorry Lenovo, this design was a lemon. Your QA people should feel ashamed, and whatever mechanical genius thought micro-usb was an appropriate connector for what is OTHERWISE one of the best keyboards I've had the pleasure to use, should be fired. This keyboard is otherwise a work of art, but it's absolutely ruined by the fact you can't maintain a connection to it. This keyboard should not have had a connector on the keyboard itself at all. It should've been a wire going in, properly secured internally. Using a separate USB cable may allow for flexibility in length, but so does an extension cable. I would have been ok with a short 3' cable, and using an extension cable if I needed anything longer. If there HAD to be a connector on this keyboard, literally ANY other USB connector would have been a better choice, even mini-usb. USB-C would've been my recommendation for this form factor, if there just HAD to be a port on the laptop.