Thinkpad Keyboard Identification

There are three suppliers for Thinkpad keyboards: NMB, ALPS, and Chicony. You can identify which one you have (or which one you want to order) either visually or by the FRU number:

You can look under the keys of the keyboard at the pad/switch color and design to identify your keyboard manufacturer. This can be done by either removing the keyboard or using a paper clip to gently lift the bottom edge of the right arrow key.

You can look up your keyboard's FRU number using your 4-digit Machine Type (ie: 2081-CTO) and Serial Number here.​

At this point, these distinctions apply only to the "traditional" Thinkpad keyboards, and not the "island-style" Thinkpad keyboards (Edge, X1x0e, X1)

Current Thinkpad Keyboards (enlarged Esc/Del keys)

Visual Key

Code:

[B]NMB[/B] = red pads
[B]ALPS[/B] = white pads
[B]Chicony[/B] = grey pads

FRU Number Listings (columns, from left to right)

Code:

[B][URL="http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?&LegacyDocID=MIGR-76711"]T420[/URL][/B] - ALPS, Chicony, NMB
[B][URL="http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/research/hints-or-tips/detail.page?&LegacyDocID=MIGR-77043"]T420s[/URL][/B] - ALPS, Chicony, NMB
[B][URL="http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=PD010629"]T520/W520[/URL][/B] - ALPS, Chicony, NMB (*)
[B][URL="http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?&LegacyDocID=MIGR-77194"]X220[/URL][/B] - NMB, ALPS, Chicony
[B][URL="http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=PD012514"]X220t[/URL][/B] - NMB, ALPS, Chicony

[B][URL="http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-74569"]T410[/URL][/B] - ALPS, Chicony, NMB
[B][URL="http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?&LegacyDocID=MIGR-72804"]T410s/T400s[/URL][/B] - ALPS, Chicony, NMB
[B][URL="http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?&LegacyDocID=MIGR-74360"]T510/W510[/URL][/B] - ALPS, Chicony, NMB

Legacy Thinkpad Keyboards (normal half-size Esc/Del keys)

Visual Key

Code:

[B]NMB[/B] = blue pads
[B]ALPS[/B] = white switches, top right to bottom left (/)
[B]Chicony[/B] = white switches, top left to bottom right (\)

For further help, see pictures at this Thinkpads Forum thread.

FRU Number Listings (columns, from left to right)

Code:

[B][URL="http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?&LegacyDocID=MIGR-70428"]T400/R400[/URL][/B] - Chicony, NMB, ALPS
[B][URL="http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-71050"]T500/W500[/URL][/B] - Chicony, NMB, ALPS
[B][URL="http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?&LegacyDocID=MIGR-70469"]R500[/URL][/B] - Chicony, NMB, ALPS
[B][URL="http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?&LegacyDocID=MIGR-70524"]X201/X201s/X200/X200s[/URL][/B] - Chicony, NMB
[B][URL="http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?&LegacyDocID=MIGR-70701"]X201t/X200t[/URL][/B] - Chicony, NMB

In earlier Thinkpads, Lenovo/IBM has labeled the columns on the Keyboard Service Parts pages, so I've left them out here. To find these listings, search:

HTML:

keyboard service parts <model name here>

A thank you to erik; without whom this page would not exist.

 

do you have any information about x201 ? thx