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.

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: 10/10This feels like a very high quality keyboard.Solid with zero flex.Keyboard: 10/10The 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 X230Function 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 KeysTrackPoint: 8/10It may still deserve a 10/10It behaves exactly the same as a Thinkpad TrackPointSensitivity and feel is indistinguishable....NOT all whacked out and crappy like a Dell or HP trackpoint. This is a Thinkpad trackpointThe mouse buttons feel exactly the same as a T430The mouse buttons are the same size as on a T430- - My 2 Problems with this keyboard - --1I 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.-2Out 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-mouseDisplays output while holding the centrer button and moving the pointer up/downDisplays NO output at all while holding the centre button and moving side to sideInterestingly,# xinput list 10Shows "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.