Customer Reviews

IBM 31P9490 Keyboard for Thinkpad (Black)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought it to extend my thinkpad keyboard experience, which was wonderful, to my new Toshiba TabletPC. It has about the same looking and layout as my old thinkpad laptop, which is what I expected.

However, the build quality is poor, compared to the one mounted on the thinkpad laptop and to the mac at my place. The functions keys on the top are shaky. I got a chance to detach some keypads from both the laptop and this keyboard. The plastic components suspending/mouning the keypads on this keyboard are poorly made, tend to be very soft.

These top-row keys are dull as well, not picking up every stroke. Especially bad is the "delete" key, which works only if I hit it with extra attention. I found this to be very distracting.

Also, motion components beneath the keypads seem not well lubricated, squeaking in quiet nights.

For a price around $90 and such a quality, I will hesitate to recommend it to anyone, except that you cannot live without a thinkpad keyboard.

I have a Thinkpad X-31 for almost four years. I use it everyday and love the touch of the keystroke everyday. The keyboard quality on the elder thinkpad model is excellent.

For this reason, when I thought of getting a new keyboard for the desktop using in my office, I thought of the IBM UltraNav USB Keyboard first. I did some research and placed my order in 30 minutes.

Once this keyboard arrived my place, I tried it immediately and it turned out to be a big disappointment to me. It is a good keyboard but not a great keyboard especially when I paid 9x dollars for it. The touch is different. Some key are loose.

On this keyboard, Keys on the corner are loose. The 'insert', 'delete', 'PgUp', 'PgDn', 'Home', and 'F5' keys are loose. And the arrow keys and 'End' key are firmer than those on my X31.

In conclusion, if you need a good keyboard with trackpoint, this is one of the two choices you have. Buy it! and don't compare it with keyboards on your thinkpads. If you want an excellent keyboards, you should get a cherry keyboard for comparable price.

Like a couple of the other reviews, the features on this keyboard are great. I love not having to take my hands off the keyboard to move the cursor.

I was expecting the keyboard to be the same (quality and feel) as my older IBM A31p and A21p, but this is certainly not the case. It might be the quality of newer Lenovo laptops (I don't know since I don't own one).

As another reviewer points out, the keys are not uniform in feel. Some of the keys require so much throw that I find my self having to hit the key multiple times (Specifically Insert/Delete/HOME/END/PgUP/PgDN). I don't have issues with the Dell Precision M70, Kensington Slim Type Keyboard or Logitech DiNovo.

Out of the box without drivers, the keyboard and input devices work in both Vista and XP.

For some strange reason, on the machine with Windows Vista, the keyboard always enables the num-lock key at the login screen. The same machine has XP SP2 and this does not occur... Could be my hardware.

Too bad the logitech dinovo doesn't have a trackpoint.

I bought this keyboard for my desktop after falling in love with the keyboard on my T43. The experience has been mixed. The keyboard is certainly good, and if I don't use my T43 for a while I wonder how much better the T43 keyboard could be, but once I return to the T43 keyboard, I realize the desktop version has a ways to go. Note, this evaluation ignores the rather trashy function (FX) and Ins/Home/PgUp/Del/End/PgDn keys. Those are just as bad as, or worse than, those found on free keyboards.

Beyond the keys, the trackpoint is a delight to use. Though light ,the keyboard feels pretty solid.

For those looking for an alternative, I've tried the latest thin aluminum keyboard that Apple makes, and the keys are quite nice. It's a bit different from the thinkpad keyboards, but I think if I were willing to put that much money down for another keyboard, I could easily grow to love it. However, it doesn't have a trackpoint.

Summary

I ordered one of these hoping that it might meet the same quality standards set by the last ThinkPad Laptop I owned, and whilst I was impressed by the features and ease of setup, I was not impressed by the quality of the item.

Features & Quality

The keyboard is a very compact size and fits a normal USB plug. Out of the box, with no additional drivers, the keyboard, trackpoint, and trackpad were all supported by my Ubuntu Feisty box.

However, the key feel quality was poor, and patchy across the keyboard, with an inconsistent feel between keys, and a generally flimsy feel. For the money, I would expect a more solid feel, much more like a real laptop.

In comparison, the keyboard on my Dell M65 is rock solid and *extremely* high quality in feel. In turn this is beaten out by the Mac Book Pro keyboard.

Like it's big brother, the full sized IBM 31P8950, this travel version sans number pad is a pure delight to work with, and for the same reasons.

Well built and sturdy while also sleek and lightweight, the key action is fast, light, uniform, and comfortable. A fast touch typist dreams of keyboards which don't fight back -- and in this IBM, typing becomes a gentle dance.

The design is both professional and attractive, and spares us the waste of large additional buttons of questionable utility. For those with space saving issues, the USB ports and option to do away with a mouse with TrackPoint and/or the touchpad are each decidedly a plus.

Although this is a full size board for the character keys, the layout and size of the lesser-used keys (insert, delete, home, end, page up/down, cursors, etc) are somewhat offbeat, and will feel small and misplaced to an experienced touch typist. In particular, if you normally use Ctrl key shortcuts by touch, you'll find yourself often hitting either the cursor keys on the right or the function-shift on the left. These issues are simply a matter of acclimation which we probably face with all new keyboards.

A nice touch to the package is a well made, top loading case with a fold-over top, magnetic clasp, and a pull-out strap similar to the ribbon found in the battery compartment of radios for quick removal of tightly places AA cells. The case is not the junk one becomes accustomed to in case-included packages.

This keyboard is perhaps not for everyone. People uncomfortable with a laptop keyboard will be equally ill at ease here. I would strongly encourage anyone considering this purchase to read all the Amazon reviews for the IBM USB Keyboard with UltraNav (31P8950) to gain greater insight into this product -- the two keyboards are virtually identical, except for the omission of a keypad on this, the travel version.

But for a discriminating touch typist who uses only the best, I'm unable to believe you would be disappointed. To my mind, the IBM UltraNavs simply have no equal.

I've been using the keyboard for over two weeks now and I am glad I purchased it. I'm using it primarily as a keyboard for my desktop Mac -- not as a travel keyboard. The pros are:
1. Small footprint -- I have limited desk space, so having a small keyboard was critical.
2. ThinkPad feel -- I use a ThinkPad for work and love the feel of the keyboard. This keyboard has that same feel.
3. A TrackPoint for the desktop -- I love having mouse control without having to take my hands off of home row.

The cons are:
1. No Mac drivers. It works, but you don't get all of the keyboard's functionality when its attached to a Mac.

Overall, it lived up to my expectations for the keyboard and I would buy it again.

I am a fan of keyboards with a short keystroke, and this one fits the bill. I am using it on my desktop, and it's nice to have the same keyboard as my thinkpad. The touchpad and trackpoint work well although I also use a mouse. The only complaint I have is that the USB cable is too short to reach my tower under the desk, so I had to put an extension on it. The keyboard comes with a nice soft case. I just wish I could find something to use it for, because this keyboard never leaves my desk.

I have used this keyboard infrequently for about 3 months. Recently, a problem developed. Every 5 minutes or so, both mouse devices will stop working, and then start again in a few seconds. The key quality is cheap and uneven, as some have mentioned, but not horrible. The trackpoint is prone to drift, and often is unusable due to the drift. Since that was my main reason for buying this keyboard, I am very frustrated. The keyboard is supposed to have a one year warranty, so I thought I'd try to talk to Lenovo/IBM about it.

I first talked to a generic claim handler, who requested that I fax my receipt to them. I did so. I got a call back within a few hours from someone else saying that they did not have a warranty for the item referenced in my receipt. Strangely, the part number advertised on Amazon (which matches the part number on the box) does not match the part number on the keyboard. When I realized this, I called the representative back to tell them the number printed on the keyboard. I left 2 voicemails trying to get in touch with her prior to the 48-hour deadline until she closed the case. She left a voicemail for me about 3 hours prior to that deadline (Sunday), without referencing either of my voicemails. I called that representative back today, and was informed that this product was not covered under any warranty - despite what Lenovo's own product page says. I called the general service center again, and was referred pretty quickly to a local service center. I called the service center. They told me that they were a software provider, and not a hardware provider, so they couldn't help me. I again called the general service center. When I told them my reference number to try to get through the initial information faster, they informed me that my case had been closed due to a lack of response (on my part). I have just completed my 5th conversation with an IBM or Lenovo rep, and my issues are still unresolved.

Anyone who finds this trail as frustrating as I do should avoid this product (and Lenovo/IBM, who are proving to be incredibly inept at customer service) at all costs.

This doesn't feel quite a solid as the genuine article. That said, the ThinkPad keyboards are the best I've used, at least until their spring mechanisms start falling apart. To put that in perspective, I often wear through the black color on the palm rests to the underlying colored plastic; I always wear out the letters on top of the keys. So genuine ThinkPad quality is a pretty high standard.

I'm quite satisfied with this keyboard. I've paired this with the Targus AWE26US laptop stand (Targus AWE26US Ergonomic M-stand for Notebook Computers), which raises the laptop screen to an better height for me. The stand has a hook for storing a keyboard, and since this keyboard has integrated pointing devices, the pair make a nice, neat solution to the problem of the laptop form factor's poor ergonomics.

The layout of this keyboard looks very much like the T4x Thinkpad series; it might even be possible to pop the keyboard unit out of this and pop a surplus "genuine" Thinkpad keyboard into it. I haven't taken this one apart to see because I'm reasonably happy with this unit, but I'll probably look into it.