Black keyboards are ugly

Well, most are anyways. Computer parts should never be black and that's one reason why I was drawn to the grey/metal finish of the Inspiron. However, I've never seen one in person and most pictures I've found were either too small or poorly taken.

So I was wondering to all who are familiar with it, does the grey/metal finish on the Inspiron really just look like flat, cheaply spray painted crap? Or does it look anywhere nearly as good as this?:



The HP Pavilion dv5t.

 

On the old inspirons it looked nice, but the new series, it just looks like cheaply spray painted crap.
Oh, the keyboard isn't too bad though. There's one on my XPS M1330, which I'm on now. It looks pretty nice I think.

 

it does not look like that HP, it looks like painted plastic

 

hummm disappointing, but thanks for the info guys

 

Yeah unfortunately you won't be getting that kind of finish. They are pretty cheap looking.

 

Just stop by your local Best Buy store and check it out. The exterior just feels extremely cheap and like others have mentioned its like "cheaply spray painted". Also check out the screen wobble while you're at it. They are hideous.

 

I wouldn't say hideous, but whatever.

 

Fine. They have the worst screen wobble out of all the laptops sold in Best Buy.

 

I've never had a problem with a screen wobble in all of my Dell laptops.

 

I am specifically referring to all the inspiron 15xx models currently being sold at Best Buy, especially the 1525. If you are referring to the XPS, that's a totally different story since their build quality is in another league with the inspirons.

Check this link and visit your local best buy to see for yourself.

 

I'd much rather have a black keyboard than any other color.....especially silver.

All silver keyboards start out as grey plastic and after enough use, the silver paint/coating will eventually wear off and you'll end up with grey keys.

At least with a black keyboard, all of the keys are made from black plastic so the worst that will happen is you'll see wear marks from use, however the keys will remain entirely black.

 

I will next time I'm near one. Unfortunately Best Buy isn't as ubiquitous in Canada as it is in the US.

I am actually one of the few fans of the design of the Inspiron line. But finish and build quality do worry me.

Black is kind of boring and the only appliances outside of a business environment that should be that colour are stereos and TV's. Losing weight and not sweating when you type, washing your hands, not eating by the keyboard, buying from a manufacturer that uses quality paint & finish and replacing your notebook before obsolescence are all solutions to silver colour wear. The best colour is the matte white on Apple keyboards.

 

Maybe a Staples or Future Shop then.

I don't think they're bad looking at all. I have a 1720 and I don't think it is cheap looking. It seems quite durable. The 1420, 1520, and 1720 are a bit on the heavy side though. I'm not really familiar with the 1525.

 

Those places are close by but to be honest I never normally looked there before because I assumed I could get better prices/configs from small places or on the web. So, I never knew they carried Dell products.

Like I said I like the look too, but the horror stories on the forum have me thinking twice. I'll check it out in person and see.

 

Rubbish! Black is a very sleek color which is universal for electronics. At my desk right now I have a Black Epson printer, Black Samsung SyncMaster 245s, Black MacBook, and Black speakers. Doesn't look "boring" at all.

You lost ALL credibility with that line. What an absolutely ignorant comment!! Essentially you're saying that large people shouldn't have silver keyboards because they'll sweat all over them. Again.....more RUBBISH!!

 

yeah black is ok for traditional electronics and maybe servers that are kept out of general view but it's a boring colour that only fits stereo equipment and TV's. when computers first came out they were all traditionally varying shades of beige which was boring in its own right but not as offensively so as black is. when manufacturers started using black exclusively for desktops about 10 years ago to make them look more everyday as if it were some sort of extension to you hi-fi system it looked awful. especially Dell's and HP's lines.

I said nothing of the sort, fat people can buy whatever colour keyboard they want. Fat people tend to sweat, when they eat, think, type or whatever. they just have to be prepared and bear in mind that the salt from their perspiration will corrode any paint over time and that perhaps they should wear gloves or mittens when they use the computer to extend the life of their keyboards. i don't see why you took such offense at that unless...

 

Black is perfectly fine for notebook keyboards if the rest of the laptop matches the color scheme. Former IBM/Now Lenovo Thinkpads still look better than many other laptops out there. Black may be less flashy, but those posting about minimized visible keyboard wear and stains are absolutely correct. Washing your hands before using the laptop each time isn't always practical, especially when standard friction wear will always be present.

Black colored objects also tend to migrating heat pretty well. Unfortunately it goes both ways -- while black radiates heat very well, it also absorbs it faster. Of course this only applies to the surface of the object, but every little bit of heat dissipation helps

 

i agree about the IBM/Lenovo designs, those were/are nice. nice enough that Dell is borrowing their current hinge design for the studio notebooks. anyways that's the point, while i find black bland, things dont necessarily have to be flashy either. HP, Lenovo and Acer all seem to incorporate black well and make it look good. for some reason when dell does it, it makes me gag, especially in the upcoming inspiron.

 

Black can be a very attractive color as long as they use the right materials. eg. the black standard dvd cases look boring, but a black glossy finish on a piano looks very sleek.

As for the comment on fat people, I actually know quite a few guys on the heavy side whom barley breaks a sweat. while I (kinda skinny i guess), can sweat protrusively while walking outdoors for more than 10 minutes. I think it mainly depends on genetics more than anything else.

 

You're entitled to think that Black looks worse than beige.....however I think you're completely off your rocker with that opinion. Black looks much better than "varying shades of beige".....there's no competition.

Hate to tell you pumpkin......EVERYONE SWEATS!!!! Not just larger people can sweat from typing "or whatever". I know several skinny people that sweat buckets while at the same time, larger people doing the exact same activity, barely break a sweat.

Obviously you just aren't mature enough to understand why your comment was so incredibly ignorant........nevermind the one you just made above insinuating that I'm fat. Grow up, or atleast keep your ignorant comments to yourself.

 

I agree.


And black and white are the best colors for keyboard.

 

geeez!

i only said that because you were getting mad at me and taking it rather personally. ok i'm sorry for calling you fat and sorry that other people are fat. and everyone sweats, even pretty and skinny people. there, better?

 

Nope, because you don't even know what you're apologizing for. I only took it personally because a) your comments were extremely rude and ignorant, b) I have several friends who range between below and above ideal weights....all of whom would also be very offended by your comments.

Then you say you're sorry that other people are fat. You just don't get it do you?? You really should just stop talking now.....you're only digging your hole deeper.

I've said my piece.

 

I think black keyboards are overused. Why not use other dark colors like navy blue or burgundy? As long as the color is built into the plastic it's not going to wear off. It would be nice if you could have a choice of keyboard color to go along with a choice of lid color.

 

i like white. apple does it really well on their desktop and macbooks,

yes!

i agree on both accounts, i'd love a dark blue or even a chrome one with the key characters indented in black like on a bell pay phone keypad.

i also agree black is overused which is why i'm fatigued with it, there's almost nothing you can do with it and everything to make it look worse.

 

Guys, please stay on topic and respect each other. No need for name calling at all.

 

I agree. One of the biggest reasons I chose the M1530 was cause of the silver keyboard.