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ThinkLight was a
The HP EliteBook series notebooks contain a similar keyboard light called HP Night Light. Unlike the ThinkLight, it is activated by a physical button next to the Night Light, rather than a keyboard shortcut. Third-parties offered external LED-based illumination solutions for the
IBM UK ThinkPad DesignsThinkLight
on ThinkWiki — section listing ThinkPad models that feature the ThinkLight {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibm Thinkpad Thinklight Thinklight Computer-related introductions in 2005
ThinkLight was a keyboard
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Mus ...
light present on many older ThinkPad
ThinkPad is a line of business-oriented laptop and Tablet computer, tablet computers produced since 1992. It was originally designed, created and manufactured by the American IBM, International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation. IBM Acquisit ...
families of notebook computers
A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a clamshell form factor with a flat-panel screen on the inside of the upper lid and an alpha ...
.
The series was originally designed by IBM, and then developed and produced by Lenovo
Lenovo Group Limited, trading as Lenovo ( , zh, c=联想, p=Liánxiǎng), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, servers, conv ...
since 2005. The ThinkLight has been replaced by a backlight keyboard on later generations of ThinkPads, and Lenovo has discontinued the ThinkLight in 2013.
Description
A white or amberLED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...
(depending on model) is located on the top edge of the display, illuminating the keyboard to allow use in low-light conditions. It is activated with the key combination ''Fn-PgUp'' (the bottom left and top right keys of the keyboard). Later ThinkPads use the combination ''Fn-Space'' instead. Lenovo later started to include backlit keyboards, and some models included both the ThinkLight and a backlit keyboard. For those models, the ''Fn-Space'' shortcut is also used in conjunction to control a backlit keyboard (if the laptop has it). The on-screen display of ThinkPad computers will display a light on and a light off indicator. The ThinkLight can be activated when the monitor is on or off but not while the computer is off.
Some ThinkPads, like the Z and R series (though not all - some R61 and R32 models still have the white light) feature an amber LED due to the lower cost, while other models, like the T series, use a white LED (which is generally preferred).
The G series and SL series omit the ThinkLight.
A few ThinkPads (17" W700 and W701) have featured the ThinkLight with dual white LEDs.
Alternatives
The HP EliteBook series notebooks contain a similar keyboard light called HP Night Light. Unlike the ThinkLight, it is activated by a physical button next to the Night Light, rather than a keyboard shortcut. Third-parties offered external LED-based illumination solutions for the HP 200LX
The HP 200LX Palmtop PC (F1060A, F1061A, F1216A), also known as project ''Felix'', is a personal digital assistant introduced by Hewlett-Packard in August 1994. It was often called a Palmtop PC, and it was notable that it was, with some ...
series of DOS
DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...
palmtop
A handheld computer, also called a palmtop computer, is a term that has variously been used to describe a small-sized personal computer (PC) typically built around a clamshell design, clamshell form factor and a laptop-like Computer keyboard, keyb ...
computers in the late 1990s.
The Dell
Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...
Latitude ATG series laptops have also contained a pair of red LEDs which are controlled in a very similar way to the IBM ThinkLight and also serve to illuminate the keyboard.
Some computer manufacturers have opted for backlit keyboards instead of illuminating the keyboard from above; but some ThinkPads included both the ThinkLight and a backlit keyboard (for example, T530, T430 and X230 models).
See also
* Selective yellowReferences
External links
IBM UK ThinkPad Designs
on ThinkWiki — section listing ThinkPad models that feature the ThinkLight {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibm Thinkpad Thinklight Thinklight Computer-related introductions in 2005