I have always wanted a backlit keyboard. I tend to type in darkness and its a nice feature when I’m reaching for things I don’t trust my aim for.
But holy heck does the backlight under the up arrow regularlyshine right in my face.
Obviously while I am typing this is not really an issue, but I can’t believe no one seems to be talking about it. IT is seriously a major reason I might return the laptop. The keyboard as a whole is pretty trashy but come on.
(yes I blacked out my screen for privacy)
This is on the lowest setting. And I hope to gorb they edit the bios to turn off the power light, or at least connect it to the backlight setting or something. Yikes.
The down arrow on mine covers up the light that is displayed in your pic. Is there something wrong with your down arrow? The only way I can get mine to look like that is if I mash down the the down arrow.
@CheeseWizard If you press the down arrow it does show through much more, but without pressing it there are still a few degrees where it shines through. Which just so happens to be my most common viewing angle in the first 3 weeks of owning it.
What!? I mean know that this is a subjective thing, but it might help if you explained your reasoning for such a position. I mean the keyboard is one of the best I’ve used. I’ve owned all kinds of laptops, including Surfaces, Thinkpads (back when they were still sudo mechanical), Macbooks, etc. It is an excellent keyboard in comparison to those, but I wouldn’t call it the best. When you factor in that the keyboard is repairable and replaceable by design it makes it even better.
I honestly have not noticed or been bothered by it. Then again I rarely am using the backlight. I prefer working on a computer in a lit room. (either naturally or artificially), and prefer saving battery when out and about.
@2disbetter I don’t want this thread to turn into a keyboard pissing match so I will say this: I am coming from a decade of using 2010/11 hardware on 12.x" screens before chicklets became the only option. Everything about this laptop is a modern disgusting mess. The keyboard is literally the worst thing about it. I have avoided upgrading because I knew my delicate sensibilities would have their feelings hurt. I am also talking only of its design choices. I bought one hoping I could tolerate the change because I love what framework is doing. I might just return the laptop and get a mainboard for a mini pc at home instead.
I agree. I have only used laptops at home for the past 20 years and this is the best I have used in that time - far superior tactile feel to the Dell XPS I switched from.
I have no light bleed at all from the up arrow key on mine. Any bleed is completely obscured unless or until I depress the down arrow key. You may have a defect in yours.
Believe it or not, but I know what you mean. I feel like you would have loved 80-90s laptops EVEN more. (some Thinkpads and HP laptops (Omnibook) are what I would consider the pinnacle of design.) Sadly, what people expect today is completely in line with the Framework laptop. They really have done an excellent job.
Perhaps as the made to last and right to repair movements gain traction, your preferences can become more prevalent. Maybe keep that in mind by keeping the laptop, and using the mainboard when you are ready. having a shell to use it with is probably a good idea…
@njf when you say light bleed, I imagine the kind of bleed on screens. The shine I am showing in my picture is caused by the gap between the up and down arrow keys. All you have to do is turn the lights down, turn the backlight on, and move your head back and forward while looking at the arrow keys. The gap allows it. So if this doesn’t happen for others, maybe it is a defect. I wouldn’t charactarize it as “bleed”… but could be just a difference in word use.
It would make a nice difference if this is a defect.
I think that your final comment above is your best option. You likely will be hard pressed to come across a laptop that meets your expectations.
Separately, I’ve found this community generally to be polite and looking to help. When you jump in as you have with aggressive language and not-so-thinly implying that other users are dense for not noticing the issues that you find to be apparent, the engagement that you receive may not be what you wish it to be.
Finally, regarding backlit keyboards, they all have bleed-through, it’s the nature of the beast. With that said, the amount of light below your up-arrow key seems to be greater than I have noticed.
This issue is not all the time. It is specific angles. Maybe about 45 deg to the gap between the keys. Aside from this I have not noticed any other keys backlight shining out from under the key unless I am at absurd angles of usage.
I humbly apologize my initial post had too much personal emotion it. May the internet gods accept my offering of digital text and emotional sacrifice.
I think there are two kind of lights: (1) the reflection of the down arrow key’s LED from the side of the up arrow key; (2) the LED beneath the up arrow key. I think (1) is normal and people are saying (including me) you should only see (2) when the down arrow key is pressed. I can’t see (2) from any angle without pressing the down arrow key. So my guess is that somehow either the up key is too high or the down key is too low, feels like defect to me.
I did try to look at the keyboard at the angle from the pic. Mine just doesn’t shine like that. The down arrow very nearly covers all of the light at multiple angles.
As someone who uses the laptop a lot laying in bed, I have definitely noticed that the up arrow backlight is often the most noticeable, probably due to the thin key and the fact that it is at the bottom of the keyboard. I notice it most at much lower viewing angles, but I have my backlight off most of the time to save a little battery, and it hasn’t really bothered me too much when I do have it on. Looking at the picture you sent, and trying to recreate the angle with my own keyboard, you may have a slight defect in yours, but it is a little hard for me to tell. Hopefully support is able to help you out!
I honestly didn’t notice it till I read the thread. I’ve only had the computer a couple weeks and have not used it in bed yet. I see what you mean about the LED. The fact that there is a split-key for the up/down arrows leaves a larger gap between the keys and the frame, which lets more light bleed thru. The plastic frame around the power button also makes the LED appear brighter because there is much more material to illuminate.
It would be nice if the LEDs were individually addressable so that they could balance the intensity with software but I wouldn’t expect that to be the case. This may be something that they would need to address in a future product polishing hardware release.
@Chuck thanks for the reply. I’m glad another is also expressing the exact nature of why this is happening to me. Although I feel bad this thread keeps getting bumped given how poor a job I did describing it, insulting others, and the chance this is a defect. And I agree about the power LED. Seems a bit poor planning or judgement to not consider the keyboard deck illumination as a single issue rather than keeping them separate, but this is the nature of engineers and modular thinking. Interconnecting modules is just an extra hassle.
for clarity:
I won’t mention this again, but I think bleed is a different issue than, direct line of sight of the LEDs. What I am seeing is direct line of sight to the LED grid under the up arrow at this rough 45 degree angle.
Chuck, can you clarify what you mean by bleed? Are you seeing the LEDs directly?
