This laptop has a unique, odd-looking keyboard that will divide opinions

TBao may not be the most familiar brand name to many people, but this Chinese vendor is trying pretty hard to differentiate itself from the army of smaller identikit laptop vendors that operate in South East Asia.

One of its latest products is the TBOOK5 Pro laptop, and it looks to stand out from the crowd with one very unique selling point (editor’s note: the laptop now costs $470 with coupon code O3AC1635DC0F4000)

The keys on its keyboard have rounded edges that give it a rather peculiar look. The marketing department at TBao calls it “retro punk”, claiming that it has a “realistic knocking and light rebound, so that it has a retro charm in both appearance and trial feel”. 

(Image credit: tbao)

Steampunk appeal?

At $489.00 at the time of writing, the TBOOK5 Pro is quite expensive for what it offers in terms of components; there’s an Intel Celeron 3867U paired with a dedicated Geforce 940MX GPU with 2GB video memory, a full HD display, a full metal body, a backlit keboard and a fingerprint reader.

This makes it as expensive as outrageously stunning Inspiron 14 5000 (5481) from Dell, which also has 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD with Windows 10 and a 14-inch display.

Its keyboard remains its main attraction and we can’t wait to see other rivals come up with similar designs although, truth be told, it is very unlikely that any of them will replicate the touch and feel of a true mechanical keyboard.