The Thinkpad keyboard is a significant asset. It's the primary thing that keeps me a customer (though the high build quality is also a factor).
I can deal with a change in the mechanics (oh how I miss the 300 series but I adapted to that change) but mess with the layout and I'm gone. Probably to a Mac running Linux (though trackpoint might just keep me on Thinkpad/Sony/Dell for now).
Edit addendum: If I were to go through the pain of adapting to a new laptop keyboard layout (maybe even abandoning the trackpoint), whose ought I to choose and why? I'm assuming that ${vendor} support a big enough range that mere technology features aren't relevant :-)