P/N 1396812
Type
Model M3-based Laptop Keyboard Assembly
OEM
IBM, Lexmark
Switches
IBM buckling rubber sleeves (M3/M4 rod-actuated variant)
Earliest Appearance
1991 Q2
Original Keycaps
PBT with dye-sublimated legends
Casing Colour
Beige/Off White
Branding
None
Connection
Integrated
Form Factor
Tenkeyless (compacted)
Layout/Language
Belgian
Data Last Updated
2021-10-06
More about this type of keyboard...
The IBM Personal System/2 L40SX was an early laptop that featured IBM's first buckling sleeves keyboard assembly, which represented the first step of a major divergence in the Model M family that broke the largely buckling springs-based paradigm. Whilst not specifically designated a Model M, the L40SX's numeric keypad option with the same switches and the discrete Model M4 keyboards that used the same assemblies were designated members of the Model M family, and this was the origin for both. The 1992-launched IBM CL57SX also possessed the same buckling sleeves keyboard assembly, albeit in black and had an overlayed numeric keypad layer much like the SSK.