A List of Laptops with Backlit Keyboards

One laptop feature that’s becoming more and more important to buyers these days is having a backlit keyboard.  People are starting to realize the advantage of having a backlit keyboard due to the fact we’re using laptops in the dark more and more.  That may sound silly, but consider all the situations that might involve using a laptop in a darkened room:

• Dark lecture halls where a powerpoint presentation is being used to show slides
• Dark meeting rooms where a projector is being used
• Flying on an airplane at night or on a night train
• Watching TV on the couch at night in a darkened room while using a laptop
• Using a laptop in bed while your significant other sleeps (you know you shouldn’t be using a laptop in bed though, right?)
• You live in Norway where it’s dark all day during the winter

Ok, so that last bullet probably does not apply to most people, but you get the point.  Using a laptop for work or entertainment doesn’t stop when the sun goes down or when the lights go out, so it’s useful to be able to clearly see the keyboard still.  Some laptop designers may argue that a backlit keyboard is an expensive solution when you can simply rely on light from the screen to illuminate the keyboard, but in reality that doesn’t help much and people dim the screen to low brightness in the dark anyway.  Lenovo ThinkPads use a white LED light at the top of the screen called a ThinkLight to shine down on the keyboard for night time illumination, this offers mixed results as certain keys remain in the dark and the light is simply not as focused as a backlit keyboard light.  To see what I mean, see this image of a ThinkPad T61 with the ThinkLight on:

The center of the keyboard is pretty well illuminated, but the edges are dark and that’s generally where you have to hunt for hard to find keys you don’t use as often.  Meanwhile, if you look at the MacBook Pro strong backlit keyboard you see how incredibly clear it is and how easy it is to tell which letter or function a key is.  It also looks hot, if a gadget can be called such:

There is a premium for getting a backlit keyboard, the technology costs more than just slapping on a regular keyboard.  Generally the upgrade cost to a backlit keyboard is about $25, for example onHP.com right now upgrading the dv4t from regular keyboard to backlit costs this amount:

I think the $25 upgrade is well worth it and I wish more manufacturers did at least offer the option on more laptops.  I often hear manufacturers skip putting in a backlit keyboard due to the extra cost, consumers are most sensitive to price I know, but if the laptop is configurable give us the option to spend more on a very useful feature please!  For those people who have been searching for a comprehensive list of laptops offering a backlit keyboard, that’s what we’re here to do.  I’ll break out the laptops with keyboards that offer backlighting, either standard or as a choice, by brand.  If there are any you see missing please leave a comment

Alienware Laptops with Backlit Keyboards

• Alienware m11x (11”)
• Alienware m14x (14”)
• Alienware m17x (17”)
• Alienware m18x (18”)

Apple Laptops with Backlit Keyboards

• Apple MacBook Pro (15” & 17”)
• Apple MacBook Air (11” & 13”)

Asus Laptops with Backlit Keyboards

• Asus G Series gaming laptops (15” & 17”)

Clevo / Sager

• No current Clevo or Sager laptops have a backlit keyboard, this may change in the future

Dell Laptops with Backlit Keyboards

• Dell XPS 15 (l502x) (15”)
• Dell XPS 17 (l702x) (17”)
• Dell XPS 15z (15”)
• Dell XPS 14z (14”)
• Dell Latitude E6420 (14”)
• Dell Latitude E6520 (15”)
• Dell Latitude E6220 (12”)
• Dell Latitude E6320 (13”)
• Dell Vostro 3350 (13”)
• Dell Vostro 3450 (14”)
• Dell Vostro 3550 (15”)
• Dell Vostro 3750 (17”)
• Dell Vostro V131 (13”)

HP Laptops with Backlit Keyboards

• HP Pavilion dv4t (14”)
• HP Envy 14 (14”)
• HP Envy 15 (15”)
• HP Envy 17 (17”)
• HP Folio 13 (13”)
• HP ProBook 5330m (13”)

Lenovo Laptops with Backlit Keyboards

• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 (13”)

Sony Laptops with Backlit Keyboards

• Sony VAIO Z (13”)
• Sony VAIO S (13”)
• Sony VAIO F (16”)

Toshiba Laptops with Backlit Keyboards

• Toshiba Portege Z830 / Z835 (13”)
• Toshiba Satellite P750 (15.6”)
• Toshiba Satellite P740 (14”)
• Toshiba Satellite P770 (17”)
• Toshiba Qosmio X770 (17”)

As new laptop models are added we’ll update this list, hopefully it continues to grow.