Notebook computers: 1983 vs. 2013

[mr_a500]

Here is my 1983 TRS-80 Model 100 and my 2013 MacBook Pro:

notebooks.JPG

Guess which one has the better keyboard?

notebooks2.JPG

Yes, that's right - the 1983 keyboard blows away the one in the 2013 MacBook Pro. The other advantage of the TRS-80: 21hrs battery life compared to 8hrs on the Mac - and batteries are easily changeable standard AA-type. (try changing the batteries on a MacBook)

(Of course, the internet isn't great on the TRS-80 and watching 1080p video is a real bitch. )

[bhtooefr]

And I can plug a USB keyboard into the Mac, giving me things that feel better than what's on a Model 100 (unless the Model 100's switches are your favorite).

I've got an Epson PX-8, which competed against the Model 100, although that thing's layout is WEIRD, and the switches are ultra-stiff (IIRC they're Cherry M8).

[mr_a500]

And I can plug a USB keyboard into the Mac, giving me things that feel better than what's on a Model 100

Well yeah - I plug a beam spring into my Mac. I just wish this Mac didn't have such a crappy built in keyboard. I'm surprised that so many reviewers rave about this keyboard, saying it's the best in a notebook. The others must be absolute shite.

[bhtooefr]

There are some downright atrocious keyboards in laptops. Most laptop manufacturers don't care, they just care about how it looks, and once you've gotten it out of the store, they're happy. The Apple keyboards aren't atrociously bad compared to some, they're nothing to write home about.

There's very few truly good laptop keyboards I've used. My favorites have probably been:

The keyboard on my ThinkPad X61 Tablet, which used a "97%" size keyboard (not 97% in the sense we use it, but in the sense of, 1 U on the X61 was 97% of 1 U on a normal keyboard), but felt nice for a scissor board
The chiclet keyboard on some low-end ThinkPad (I think the Twist?) I was playing with in a store
The Dell Latitude CPi A, for when you want a Pentium II laptop - and now because I'm talking about Dell online, I have to throw an obligatory #iwork4dell in there (by US law, even), and mention that this is just my opinion, not my company's opinion, yada yada yada
Some MSI gaming laptop that uses a SteelSeries-branded board

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I've got an Epson PX-8, which competed against the Model 100, although that thing's layout is WEIRD, and the switches are ultra-stiff (IIRC they're Cherry M8).

Hirose Cherry M8: https://plus.google.com/photos/11384566 ... 5091293569

Here's the question, then:

You are given the opportunity to design your ideal laptop and have it manufactured. There is no cap on design and manufacturing costs, but you have to use technology that is on the market today. (i.e. you can't pretend that something exists that could potentially be available if you had years to research it)

What sort of keyboard would your laptop have? What sacrifices would you be willing to put up with to achieve this design?

Would your resulting laptop be marketable to either a niche or to the general public?

[Halvar]

I'm pretty sure that I would not want to use M8 switches... They are actually awful.

Maybe Cherry ML or even good scissor switches because they make the design flatter. The main point for me is that keycaps have to be

1) 100% size keys -- 90%-size bullshit drives me nuts when using it, and
2) sculpted -- no chicklets or other design with flat key caps.