Laptop Keyboards (Final Version)

I don't spend a lot of time thinking about laptop keyboards. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about laptops in general. I own one, but it's old, I got it for free, and I don't use it often. The keyboard on it is adequate. I press the keys then letters, numbers, or symbols appear on the screen, assuming there's something running on the computer which reacts when you press keys.

I recently went through the torturous process of helping my sister choose a laptop at Fry's Electronics for the second time. This time, her demands weren't quite as strange. I didn't hear anything about not getting a laptop with a keyboard that didn't have spaces between the keys. I still wasn't looking forward to it. What could it be this time? It has to be yellow with red polka dots? It must have an illuminated logo on the back? No, this time she had a wacky request regarding the buttons on or near the touch pad. They couldn't be one button. Only two separate pieces of plastic would do. It actually doesn't matter but I wouldn't be mentioning this if it was a rational demand. The freedom I had in keyboard choice meant I needed to do a little research. I walked around and poked some keys on all of the different types of keyboards.

The keyboard in the image above is the type on my laptop. It works but I prefer taller keys that move farther when they are pressed as would be found on most desktop keyboards. That would make for a very thick laptop so I can understand why nobody does it. A lot of recent desktop keyboards have shorter, flatter keys just like these types of keyboards. I guess it's supposed to be more "modern" or maybe people were complaining about their keyboards being thicker than their monitors. They could be cheaper to produce.

This is known as the Chiclet keyboard since it resembles pieces of Chiclets gum. Squares with rounded corners, not candy coated and chewy. It's not far off from the Apple keyboard I am typing on right now in CT 235 at PCC Sylvania. It has slightly more rounded corners than the laptop version. The issue with Apple products is that they tend to emphasize rounded corners and shiny things over functionality. The issue with many other companies is that they tend to be influenced by or copy whatever Apple does. My sister's concern about spaces between the keys isn't an issue for me. I have no idea what her problem with that is. What I don't like about the Apple keyboard is how it feels like I'm jamming my fingers into a sheet of metal over and over. There's no cushion in the key movement. The laptop ones are a bit softer. I don't think I'd find my wrist in pain after using them but they're far from optimal.

I don't get this one. I don't know why it exists. It's easily the worst of the bunch. Imagine typing on a cheap calculator except it costs several hundred dollars and you have to do much more than enter equations for a little while. I had to make another trip to Fry's to spend more time with this type of keyboard since I couldn't endure it the first time. It feels closer to the Chiclet keyboard than the "classic" laptop keyboard. Some say it is a Chiclet keyboard since the keys have large gaps between them.

I can't remember what type of keyboard the first computer my sister chose has. I think it was the Chiclet type. The Fry's employee disappeared for quite a while to look for the laptop or whatever it is Fry's employees do when they're supposed to be looking for something. It may be their only chance to take a break from the exhausting task of reading laptop spec sheets to customers. I wandered around for several minutes, covering most of the massive store, and eventually returned to see that the same Fry's guy was doing something else and there was no boxed laptop in the hands of either present family member. After standing around for quite a while, another employee returned from the depths of the store with a computer.

All was well until we arrived at home and started using the laptop. The keyboard was peeling off. There was glue holding the keyboard on and the glue was not functioning properly. This made no sense to me. Why was the keyboard designed like this? Why was the glue on a supposedly new computer not strong enough to do its job?

The next day, my sister returned the first laptop and bought a different one. The new one came in one piece. It didn't have any ridiculous issues such as the battery flaking away like a Butterfinger bar or the sound coming out upside down. My sister was relieved that she didn't have to return another laptop. I was relieved that I didn't have to go shopping with her again. This storm has blown over and I probably won't ever do this much thinking about laptop keyboards again any time soon.