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My New CNY Toy is..

.. a ThinkPad USB desktop keyboard! This is something I have been wanting to buy for a long, long time. I think the 'lust' started about 4-5 years ago but I didn't act on it until 2 months ago when my friend, Mr Fly, asked me about this and convinced me to buy together. It's not easy to buy this baby in Malaysia. I had to call Lenovo, who gave me a number so I can call their Malaysia reseller ThunderMatch. They asked for payment in advance and then would load the order. We had to wait TWO (2) months for it to arrive.. I received it yesterday! Just in time for CNY!

I have been using a ThinkPad* for 13 years! And the feel of the keyboard is unmatched by any other keyboard or notebooks. Of course, the TrackPoint (the red 'nipple' pointer) is second to none. So don't you think that I should be getting a ThinkPad keyboard for my home desktop? The convenience of the TrackPoint and the feel of the excellent keyboard is worth the more expensive price that I am paying!

There are two types of USB ThinkPad keyboard. One is just called USB ThinkPad keyboard, which I owned and is shown in the picture above, the other is called a USB ThinkPad Traveller keyboard. The one I own has the numpad but it is still shorter than the normal keyboard. If you compared to a normal desktop keyboard, you would notice that between the Enter and the numpad, the arrow keys and the "Insert", "Home" keys are missing from this ThinkPad keyboard. Thus, the shorter footprint. They are not so much missing as being relocated to the top and bottom of the keyboard - just like how it is in a ThinkPad notebook.

The Traveller keyboard which my friend bought is exactly the same size as a ThinkPad keyboard. It doesn't have a numpad and the cables are shorter. It's meant for engineers to bring along as they travel.

I chose the non-Traveller version because I feel that as a desktop keyboard, I need the numpad. Besides, some games use the numpad.

Both keyboards comes with two USB ports - so I could plug in my USB drive or camera to the keyboard without having to reach to the PC to install.

Most of the functions keys work, except the Fn Home and Fn End which adjust LCD brightness. There's an additional Fn "NumLk" in my keyboard which launches the Calculator.. cool!

I'm a happy gamer today!

* Let's see, I started using a ThinkPad 755, then 760, then T20, T40 and now a T60. Excellent machines - if I were to buy a notebook out of my own pocket, it will be a ThinkPad!

Update - April 2009: I begin to appreciate getting the full keyboard instead of the Traveller ones. There are games that needed the numpad.. eg Grand Theft Auto 4 when you pilot a helicopter.. so it was a good decision.

Oh.. I saw this video in YouTube:
(yes, it came in that ugly plain brown packaging)
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  1. Bahija1/29/2009 12:03:00 AM

    Aiiiii, u better be fast, no more thinkpad more ,ideapad liow, kan :( , i hv bought mine :) , heee, u are right, I was very sad to not use Thinkpad when I was about to leave In-Kei. Luckily Angel Biz Card friend helped me get a good deal...

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