Thoughts on Laptop Keyboards

On the Geekhack forums, there is alot of talk about which keyboard has the best keystroke response.  Some, like myself, swear by the buckling spring technology of the IBM Model M keyboard.  Others perfer the more varied ALPS and Cherry keyswitches, which come in seemingly endless varieties.  Both function very similarly, a key stem pushes down on a spring until the pressure on the spring shifts the switch underneath, causing the electrical connection that tells the keyboard controller that the key has been pressed. 

Laptop/notebook keyboards do not use mechanical switches as described above.  They either use pure rubber dome or scissor switches.  In my opinion, scissor switches are preferable to rubber dome any day, but they do not come close to the feel of a buckling spring or Cherry/Alps switch.  Cherry in fact makes a switch, the Cherry ML, with a low profile suitable for laptop keyboards.  Cherry makes a numeric keypad for laptops which use the switches and it looks like it would be an excellent addition to a numeric kepad-less laptop.  I am not aware of any laptop that uses these switches in its keyboard.

When it comes to the numeric keypad, I cannot live without one.  One reason is that many older, DOS games (Sierra AGI & SCI games for example), used the numeric keypad to let the player control his character in eight directions.  The Inverted-T arrow keys only allow movement in four directions.  A joystick does the same thing, but who wants to plug a joystick into a laptop all the time?  Another, more important reason,
is number entry.  My job requires fairly frequent number entry.  Entering lots of numbers, especially when you are not a ten-figured typist, is far easier when you are using a numeric keypad.

My chief issue with laptops which have numeric keypads is that the keys on the keypad are smaller than the main keys on the keyboard.  This makes the keypad more difficult to use, especially for a person with large fingers.  I also take issue with keypads that are not level with the rest of the keyboard and kepyads that shrink the "0 Ins", Enter, or +, -, *, / keys or change their position from the normal layout as given in the Model M.  The 101 keypad is designed for all five fingers of the right hand, anyone who wishes to change it should give it more careful thought than what I see in laptops with them that do not follow the ordinary layout.  The only change I have ever seen that has merit is what Northgate did with most of their Omnikey keyboards, they cut the + key in half and put a standalone = key. 

Let me turn from the keypad, which is arguably unnecessary for the smaller laptop (you can use a USB numeric keypad if you really need one), to more blatant laptop keyboard sins.  First, why is the function key row shortened?  Admittedly the "Print Screen Sys Rq", Scroll Lock and "Pause Break" are vestigal leftovers from the DOS days.  Macintoshes have never used them to my knowledge, on their older keyboard they were designed F13, F14, F15.  They can be programmed through software in Windows to perform useful functions.  But the Esc key is still very useful, while the "~`", far less used, is often full-sized.  Function keys are important and the first keys people tend to use when setting functions in a program.  I do not want to have to wish for long fingernails (being a guy) just to hit the function keys.  While I know that size counts in laptops, I have never read a convincing reason not to full-size these keys. 

On the Model M, the main keyboard area is set up in a 15x5 matrix of keys.  Some keys (Shifts, Ctrls, Alts, Caps Lock, Tab, Backspace, Enter, Spacebar, "| \") are larger than the standard alphanumeric key size, but none are smaller.  Except for the Enter and + key on the numeric keypad, all other keys are the standard size.  The cursor control keys (a.k.a. arrow keys) should be the same size as all the other keys, but rarely are on a laptop.  Ironically, IBM is to blame here, with their Thinkpads having half-size cursor control keys.  Whatever the justification then, there is no point now.  Since everybody must have the arrow keys in the inverted-T style, desigers struggle with how to implement that.  Many do half keys and try to fit all the keys on the Spacebar row.  Some increase the size of the Spacebar row a little to accomodate the keys, but I believe this looks ugly.  Some have the Right, Left & Down keys go a bit below the Spacebar row, but the keys are still smaller.  Since horizontal size is at a premium, I think the best way I have seen is to shorten the R. Shift and put the Up key next to it and below the Enter key.  Typists generally would appreciate that, since the pinky tends to travel to the left side of the key.  Such keyboards tend to have the Home, Page Up, Page Down and End keys go down the keyboard, but the Ins and Del keys are short. 

I have little use for the new keys of the 104 keyboard.  I prefer a wider spacebar to these things.  The Windows keys tend to have no use outside of Microsoft products.  The Macintosh uses Option keys in the same place as the Windows keys, but since I have never used Macs I cannot comment on their functionality.  The same function of pressing either Windows key can also be had with Ctrl Esc. If I had need of them in combination, I would program a function key to mimic the functionality.  The Menu key is not a key I would imagine many people or programs use, and Shift F10 performs the same function in Windows.  I have seen laptop and even some smaller desktop keyboards that omit one Windows key and or the Menu key. 

Of course, the 101-key layout is not perfect.  Its few flaws can be summarized here: http://www.pcguide.com/ref/kb/layout/stdEnh101-c.html  However, it is the standard and designs that stray too far from it have no chance of succeeding in the marketplace. 

I know that, even with a widescreen, there is not enough horizontal space for a full-sized keyboard.  However, in addition to the screen, the upper half of the laptop should also have speakers on the sides.  A webcam should be on top.  The extra room would give more room for a keyboard with a numeric keypad and a full-size Esc row.

I find it rather silly to have a Fn key in a laptop with a full-sized keyboard with numeric keypad.  If you have a keyboard with a numeric keypad, you will have editing and cursor control keys available.  This was the way IBM did it with its PC, PC/XT & PC AT.  IBM also made a Model M SpaceSaver keyboard, which started the trend of using the letters as a keypad.  IBM put the Num Lock key on the Scroll Lock key and used the Shift key to determine the Num Lock/Scroll Lock key's function.  As for the other functions, I would have separate, non keyboard buttons used.  These function are not vital in any way to the machine. 

As far as current laptop keyboards, I would recommend three as the least worst. 

The Sony Vaio F series has a surprisingly excellent layout for a laptop.  Sony did not skimp on the numberpad.  However, the cursor control and editing keys are half-sized.  Sony's previous flagship laptop, the AW, had an even better keyboard layout, with full-sized cursor control and editing keys (save for Ins and Del) at the expense of the R. Shift key.

The Dell Alienware m17x has a very good keyboard, but the key surface area is a bit smaller than other keyboards.  The cursor keys are only slightly smaller than the rest of the keys.  Dell, there is no reason you cannot add the extra millimeter or two.  The Dell Precision M6500 also uses the same design, but is much more expensive.

The Lenovo Thinkpad W700, which is currently unavailable because it is being revamped with Intel Core processors, is the only Lenovo with a numeric keypad.  Like all Thinkpads, the Fn key is in an annoying place to the left of the L. Ctrl key.  It should always be to the right of the L. Ctrl.  Unusual in these times, it has a pointing stick (TrackPoint) in addition to the touchpad.