Thinkpads in general are pretty great for "get down to business" use. They're nothing flashy, they don't have to build to a consumer market that demands "thin, light, strong, cheap, beautiful". Lenovo/IBM seems to understand that when someone is using a Thinkpad, they're doing so because there's real, hard work going on. They might be boring to look at with a thickness and weight straight out of 2001, but they get the job done. Standardized hardware without the rush to adopt the latest and greatest flash really helps with the Linux compatibility. Dell Latitude is a close second in that market.

Best thing about every Thinkpad I've used at work is, the Insert/Home/PgUp

Delete/End/PgDn

Always in that order, always in that configuration. I don't want to have to use Fn keys to access things that a consumer might not use, but a power user needs constantly. Only complaint on my current T500 is the lack of a number pad.

They actually moved to double-sized Delete (and Escape) key on their more recent models. I love it, much easier to hit.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/i/z5/rv/2011/04/thinkpad_x220_2.jpg

it's a pleasure to hit them! but they are moving to island-style keyboards: http://www.wired.com/reviews/2012/06/lenovo-thinkpad-x230/

(btw i binded caps lock to ESC with `xmodmap -e 'clear Lock' -e 'keycode 0x42 = Escape'`, much better for VIM)

I guess I can go either way on the chiclet keyboard. But why would they go back to the tiny delete key?

Switch to chicklet keys and I might as well get a MBP. The whole point of Thinkpads is that IBM/Lenovo & CO leave the design alone.