ThinkPad X1 is now my franchise keyboard

I write for a living, and the keyboard is the single most important tool I use to practice my craft. Everything else I use plays a role too, but a good keyboard is what I turn to when I need to churn stuff out with no hassles. The ThinkPad X1 I am testing has a chiclet keyboard that has surprised me with how good it is. It is in fact so good it has replaced another ThinkPad keyboard as my franchise keyboard.

The ThinkPad X1 is a surprising candidate for top keyboard honors as the chiclet style is not normally as good as regular keyboards for me. I can use the island style keys fine, but they pale in performance compared to real keys with sculpted tops and good key travel. I usually type a bit slower with chiclet keyboards, and make more errors due to the flat keytops.

Lenovo has managed to create a low profile keyboard on the X1 that keeps the best attributes of a regular keyboard while improving them. The key tops are sculpted in such a way that not only do they feel "right", they actually force you to hit the right key. This is coupled with great tactile feedback and the right amount of key travel for solid typing at great speeds. I type faster on the X1 keyboard than other models, with fewer errors.

I am not the only one who feels this way, Laptop Magazine proclaimed the ThinkPad X1 keyboard to be "the best laptop keyboard we've ever tested". They test even more keyboards than I do so that carries some weight. It mirrors my experience, and why the X1 is now the franchise keyboard I turn to when the going gets tough.

See related coverage:

• My franchise keyboard is on a laptop
• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 laptop aims to cover both productivity and entertainment

• ThinkPad X220 review: Awesome keyboard and 20 hour battery
• Lenovo’s sleek ThinkPad X1 arrives this week