Take a look at our
ThinkPads.com HOME PAGE
For those who might want to contribute to the blog, start here: Editors Alley Topic
Then contact Bill with a Private Message
ThinkPads.com HOME PAGE
For those who might want to contribute to the blog, start here: Editors Alley Topic
Then contact Bill with a Private Message
Removing / rearranging key caps
Removing / rearranging key caps
I'm interested in purchasing a Lenovo C200 model laptop. I'm also a long-time user of the DVORAK keyboard layout, though not hard-core enough to touch-type.
I'd like to ask if there is a way to safely remove individual key caps from the keyboard, and replace them in a different arrangement.
Brief experimentation at a computer store (under the watchful eye of a salesperson) suggests that the key caps cannot be removed by gently prying upward, as other laptop keyboards allow, but I'm hoping that Lenovo just uses a different mechanism.
I'd like to ask if there is a way to safely remove individual key caps from the keyboard, and replace them in a different arrangement.
Brief experimentation at a computer store (under the watchful eye of a salesperson) suggests that the key caps cannot be removed by gently prying upward, as other laptop keyboards allow, but I'm hoping that Lenovo just uses a different mechanism.
--iSKUNK!
-
- Moderator Emeritus
- Posts: 4393
- Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 9:29 pm
- Location: L.A. (home town) CA, Toronto ON.
Keys can be removed by gently prying upwards. As far as putting them in different arrangement is concerned, it is possible as long as the keys from the source to destination are equal in size and proportion, obviously you would need to remap them afterwards too.
"I've come a long, long way," she said, "and I will go as far,
With the man who takes me from my horse, and leads me to a bar."
The man who took her off her steed, and stood her to a beer,
Were a bleary-eyed Surveyor and a DRUNKEN ENGINEER.
With the man who takes me from my horse, and leads me to a bar."
The man who took her off her steed, and stood her to a beer,
Were a bleary-eyed Surveyor and a DRUNKEN ENGINEER.
Are you sure it's not the Thinkpad keyboard you're thinking of? The salesperson made the point that there is a difference in the key cap mounting mechanism between the Thinkpad- and Lenovo-branded laptop keyboards; that the former can be removed by prying up in the usual manner, but the latter worked in some other way that he did not know. That it might even be the case that the Lenovo's key caps cannot be removed at all (which would be a deal-breaker for me, hence my question here).
I did try to pull up a key cap from an N200. It went up about 1/8", and even after rocking it back and forth a bit, it would not budge. If "prying up" were the way, I believe it should have come off, and I feared that pulling it up any further would have damaged the key mechanism....
I did try to pull up a key cap from an N200. It went up about 1/8", and even after rocking it back and forth a bit, it would not budge. If "prying up" were the way, I believe it should have come off, and I feared that pulling it up any further would have damaged the key mechanism....
--iSKUNK!
-
- **SENIOR** Member
- Posts: 821
- Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2005 10:56 am
- Location: Ratingen, Germany
- Contact:
FYI according to the HMM the keyboards for the C200 are manufactured by NMB and Chicony who also manufacture TP keyboards. I find it difficult to imagine they would use other manufacturing methods for 3000 series keyboards.
If the keys are difficult to remove; that speaks of quality to me.
If the keys are difficult to remove; that speaks of quality to me.
T61p 6460-67G; 15,4 WSXGA+ W7P x64, no hairdryer.
T43p 2668-G2G, 14,1 SXGA+, XP Pro, internal hairdryer
T23 2647-9LG, 14,1 SXGA+, XP Pro, no hairdryer
T43p 2668-G2G, 14,1 SXGA+, XP Pro, internal hairdryer
T23 2647-9LG, 14,1 SXGA+, XP Pro, no hairdryer
Well, the presence/absence of the trackpoint would be one major difference, so reasonably there could be others as well.
I forgot to mention, I'd earlier spoken with Lenovo/IBM's support techs, and they didn't have *any* information on removing key caps. They didn't go so far as to say the caps are permanently attached, but that at best it's something unobvious.
I forgot to mention, I'd earlier spoken with Lenovo/IBM's support techs, and they didn't have *any* information on removing key caps. They didn't go so far as to say the caps are permanently attached, but that at best it's something unobvious.
--iSKUNK!
This isn't the same model, but you might try to contact this user and see if he was able to replace that one key. He at least will know how the keys are put on.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=48954
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=48954
Jane
2015 X1 Carbon, ThinkPad Slate, T410s, X301, X300, X200 Tablet, T60p, HP TouchPad, iPad Air 2, iPhone 5S, IdeaTab A2107A, Yoga 3 Pro
Bill Morrow's thinkpads.com Facebook group
I'm on Twitter
I do NOT respond to PM or e-mail requests for personal tech support.
2015 X1 Carbon, ThinkPad Slate, T410s, X301, X300, X200 Tablet, T60p, HP TouchPad, iPad Air 2, iPhone 5S, IdeaTab A2107A, Yoga 3 Pro
Bill Morrow's thinkpads.com Facebook group
I'm on Twitter
I do NOT respond to PM or e-mail requests for personal tech support.
I had an informative little chat with Matt. This was what he had to say:
Thanks, everyone, for your help.
The fragility of the key mechanism [when removing a keycap] is enough discouragement for me---this is no IBM Model M keyboard. (The day they build a buckling-spring keyboard into a Thinkpad, I'll be all over that.) The Lenovo line still has a lot to recommend it, however, and perhaps a ready-made set of key-stickers is a reasonable way of "rearranging" the keys. I've had bad experiences with stickers on top of keys (peeling, tackiness, etc.) but hope that these are of a better cut.Keycaps can be removed by simply pulling them off. On most keyboards I've dealt with, there is very little danger of damaging the keycap when doing that. But, I have a reasonably strong impression that the keycaps on the Lenovo 300 laptop are significantly more delicate than most others. The little plastic tabs on the underside of the Lenovo keyscaps that hold the keycap onto its support bracket break really easily. So, if you were intending to replace them sometime, but broke some while removing them, later replacement wouldn't be possible. Also, if the caps you want to use instead of the originals also have delicate attachment tabs. they might break when you try to install them. Have you thought of keeping the original keys, and writing up a set of stickers to put over the original keys - you could write whatever symbols you wanted on those stickers.
Thanks, everyone, for your help.
--iSKUNK!
Thanks for coming back and posting what you found out here!
Jane
2015 X1 Carbon, ThinkPad Slate, T410s, X301, X300, X200 Tablet, T60p, HP TouchPad, iPad Air 2, iPhone 5S, IdeaTab A2107A, Yoga 3 Pro
Bill Morrow's thinkpads.com Facebook group
I'm on Twitter
I do NOT respond to PM or e-mail requests for personal tech support.
2015 X1 Carbon, ThinkPad Slate, T410s, X301, X300, X200 Tablet, T60p, HP TouchPad, iPad Air 2, iPhone 5S, IdeaTab A2107A, Yoga 3 Pro
Bill Morrow's thinkpads.com Facebook group
I'm on Twitter
I do NOT respond to PM or e-mail requests for personal tech support.
I've got an N100 myself. I didn't have any trouble removing or replacing keys myself. Unfortunately, when I tried to put them back in a dvorak layout, I found some of the physical mounts for the keys are upside down relative to the others, so there's relatively little useful re-arrangement of keys possible.
Atrus, that's good to know. I also just now stumbled across this post, stating the same for a Thinkpad T30.
I was originally worried that some gratuitous design quirk would be a problem, and lo and behold, that manages to be the case after all....
I was originally worried that some gratuitous design quirk would be a problem, and lo and behold, that manages to be the case after all....
--iSKUNK!
How does one remap the keys in BIOS to avoid OS-dependant problems ? As I am living in France, the most annoying thing on computers is to hit the "A" key and sometimes see a "Q" on screen if the dirty magic remapping command had not been issued, which I have observed on all kinds of systems since the beginning (Amiga, Mac, MS-DOS PC in the 90's). Or maybe I should stick to US keyboards like when I used Sun and SGI workstations.
Are there any tools to disassemble BIOS, edit the scan code tables and write back the correct checksum ?
Are there any tools to disassemble BIOS, edit the scan code tables and write back the correct checksum ?
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
-
Win 10 update broke my backlight/Fn Key (X240)
by DavidGould » Sat Dec 09, 2023 11:28 am » in ThinkPad X230-X280 / X390 Series - 2 Replies
- 1848 Views
-
Last post by DavidGould
Tue Dec 12, 2023 4:17 pm
-
-
-
Thinkpad X220 Tablet Step-By-Step Windows 11 with all Fn key
by nomad1977 » Sat Dec 23, 2023 5:32 pm » in ThinkPad X200/X201/X220 and X300/X301 Series - 3 Replies
- 4733 Views
-
Last post by dr_st
Sun Dec 24, 2023 5:01 pm
-
-
-
You can no longer install Windows 10 with a 7/8 key
by mikemex » Fri Feb 02, 2024 11:14 pm » in Windows 10/11/etc. - 1 Replies
- 573 Views
-
Last post by RealBlackStuff
Sat Feb 03, 2024 1:14 am
-
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 35 guests