One of the benefits touted in the redesigned keyboard featured in the ThinkPad T400s was the reduced key spacing to limit the collection of crumbs and other debris under the keys.

If you’ve had your notebook for more than a few months, you can likely see some junk building up in there. My several year old desktop keyboard (a Lenovo/IBM model with integrated fingerprint reader) looks positively horrifying. This is what the new key spacing is intended to prevent, and from the looks of my loaner T400s, it works very well. It also adds something to the visual appeal of the keyboard; I can’t explain it…almost like the tighter fit of body panels on a high end car maybe? Either way, it looks like a good move on Lenovo’s part and you can now get some more insight into the change from Lenovo’s VP of Corporate Identity & Design, David Hill.

I mentioned in the T400s sneak peek video that we had tightened up the tolerances between the keys to improve the overall system appearance and reduce the likelyhood of crumbs, or other debris, from slipping into the keyboard scissor mechanisms. We did not do this at the expense of changing the key pitch or altering  the contoured portion of the key that you feel.

Read our ThinkPad T400s review or find the best price on one

Source: [Design Matters]