HP 2540p vs Lenovo X201s Choosing a business laptop

Keyboard

Before I ordered my HP 2540p, I've read many times that its new keyboard is nothing but awesome. However, when I got my laptop, I was very disappointed.

HP 2540p keyboard:

I personally liked keyboards on all my previous HP laptops, but I certainly have no idea how can anyone like the one in HP 2540p. It looks and feels very cheap and flimsy, spacing between keys is not even, and function keys are very small and uncomfortable to use.

Furthermore, each key seems to have its own trigger point, which is extremely annoying. After a while I've got used to it, but believe me, first couple of weeks I really struggled... Well, maybe it is just me. But I would still strongly advise trying out the new HP 2540p keyboard before you go ahead and buy the laptop (if you are thinking of replacing the stock 2540p keyboard with an older and more convenient 2530p model, please look here).

On the other side, ESC key is in the right spot (contrary to the Lenovo X201) and trackpoint is much more accurate than on my previous HP 8530p.

Here's Lenovo X201s keyboard:

This is the first time I used Lenovo, and I must tell you that its keyboard is more comfortable than any laptop keyboard I tried before. Trackpoint is great (I always preferred touchpad until recently), scrolling with trackpoint is very convenient (you cannot scroll with trackpoint on HP laptops).

There are couple issues with this keyboard though:

1) ESC key is above F1. This gives more room for function keys, so they are bigger than on HP 2540p. However, I always hit F1 instead of ESC, and this is annoying. I am starting to get used to it, but keep in mind that you would probably need couple of weeks to adapt.

2) Fn instead of Left CTRL key. I never really understood why they are doing this for so long... Fortunately, you can swap Left CTRL and Fn key in BIOS, so this should not be an issue.

Keyboard light is available on both laptops, and is equally good.