Photo of BIOS keyboard config screen of ThinkPad Edge 13

Continuing on the trend of keyboards, my diligent readers reminded me I hadn’t commented on the Fn-Ctrl key swapping that was supposed to be built into the new models, despite having published my full ThinkPad T410 review.

I am here to report that all is well and as it should be on the ThinkPad Edge 13, which I am in the process of reviewing. You can see the BIOS menu for keyboard options in the photo above. Flipping the switch to “Enabled” and pressing F10 to save & exit will have you non-ThinkPad traditionalists in all of your Ctrl-Fn glory. Everything worked as expected, but I didn’t leave that option enabled for too long, being rather used to the Fn-Ctrl layout.

Another tidbit I noticed when exploring the BIOS, which you may have noticed above as well. The Edge 13 keyboard has supplanted the top row keys with system functions like volume and screen brightness, with the traditional F1-F12 keys relegated to secondary role and requiring a Fn-key combo.

Thankfully, Lenovo’s engineers saw fit to include an option to swap this function as well. This adds a few points back to the Edge in my book, having used this keyboard layout before on the HP Envy 13 and Envy 15, being that I use the F-row keys quite a bit as a touch typist.

For you T/R/W 400-500 series owners, you could always go out on a limb with a hacked BOIS to get your swapped keys.

We found out last November that Lenovo would support switching the controversial Fn & Ctrl keys (not physically of course), but only for the new models announced since then. Thankfully, an enterprising customer has taken it upon themselves to hack the last generation T4oo & T500 BIOS to allow this same key swap.

User “middleton” on Lenovo’s official forum is supplying a modified BIOS for ThinkPad T400, T500, R400, R500 & W500 systems that allows the user to swap the mapping of the Fn and Ctrl keys, of course with a very strong “at your own risk” warning label. He isn’t new to this process either, having created this same patch for the IdeaPad Y550 and Y450 laptops.

A couple people have responded noting it works perfectly, but of course proceed with caution. Also consider that future BIOS updates from Lenovo will undo this feature and you will have to choose between feature/bug updates, or having your keys swapped.

To Lenovo’s credit, rather than denouncing the hard working Russian and banning his files, they chose to cite the obvious concerns with using an unofficial BIOS. Beyond what I mentioned here, you also need to be clear that if the machine is “bricked” or otherwise needs repair due to this “hacking” process, Lenovo’s warranty will not cover that repair.

Hit the source link to grab the files and try it for yourself. Let us know how it goes in the comments

Source: [Lenovo Forums]

Lenovo shook another tradition with the launch of its newest ThinkPads, changing the revered keyboard in a major way with a new “chiclet” design. This is understandably a cause for concern among those who liked the keyboard the way it was.

Lenovo’s engineers have addressed some details of the new keyboard on their blog, Yamato Thinking. Apparently this type of keyboard is also called an island or isolation style keyboard, the latter of which is Lenovo’s preferred term. They go over the differences in the ThinkPad keyboard design compared to a certain fruit-shaped competitor, and how these differences are supposed to make for a better typing experience. Hit the link at the end for all the details.

The keys used in isolation keyboards by our competitors are completely square, but in order to maintain the integrity of this design with other ThinkPads, we selected keys with a curve in the front. This was based on the concept of making it appear as though your original ThinkPad keyboard was sprouting up right in front of you. Our designers were very strict about staying true to the ThinkPad tradition.

Source: [Yamato Thinking]