[GTALUG] Thinkpad T420 as a VM host

[Alex Volkov]

Hi William,

I used to have T42 a few years ago, and after years of abuse the
keyboard on that laptop starter to bend and rattle as I typed, that kind
of annoyed me but that was caused due to wear and tear, although your
keyboard has a different defect, I suspect it was caused by the same
reason. At this point your T43 is 10 years old.

Other than that I would consider thinkpad keyboars as good of a laptop
keyboard as it could ever be -- both for layout (function pgup/down keys
in a separate row) and key travel (it is pretty crisp).

Unlike other laptop keyboards, especially cramped netbook keyboards, I'm
able to type comfortably for extended periods of time without getting
any pain in my wrists, keys are big, far apart and I have sausage
fingers. Still it is not as good as separate keyboard, and a good
computer table/chair combo, as laptops by their design, inherently put
you in a suboptimal typing position, but it is as good as it possibly
gets for a laptop.

I tend to be pretty hard on keyboard so on average I tend to replace the
keyboard on my laptop every few years -- there are three variants. So
far I've used two types -- the only difference I've noticed is in the
design of butterfly mechanism supporting the keys. I've been been
completely contend with both.

https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/migr-76711

Replacing a keyboard on a thinkpad is a really easy thing to do,
instructions for replacing most of the things on thinkpads are available
on lenovo website.

https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/migr-76809


If you're planning to use a T420 as a desktop, I highly suggest you
getting a docking station, you can get one really cheap these days, and
it might support dual external screens.


Alex.

On 04/08/15 10:29 PM, William Park wrote:
> (I meant to reply to both the author and the list.  So, ignore any
> duplicate.)
>
> Hi Alex,
>
> If T420 can do 16GB, then I can replace my desktop with it, which has
> 16GB (DDR3-1333) right now.  But, I have question about T420 keyboard.
>
> I currently have T43, and its keyboard is difficult to type on, at least
> for me.
>     - it's stiff, so you need to "push" rather than "tap", 
>     - it doesn't spring back, fast enough or "crispy" enough, so you
>       actually notice and become aware of the keypresses.  And, that
>       interferes with my typing.
>
> Are you able to type fast and comfortably on your T420?