>T480 is the same as T25, so you may be able to use T25's keyboard with it
The mod is complicated and very, very expensive. But possible, if you can find one in your preferred layout, which is very doubtful at this point - they've all been snapped up by people doing what you describe.
I do use the T25 keyboard on my T480. Is it nice? Oh hell yes. Was it worth the time and expense? Absolutely not, unless you are a serious keyboard nerd and have more money than sense. Which I did, at the time.
Yeah, I looked up what people have done, and the EC alone makes it not worthwhile. And like you said, there's no availability. Ebay only shows the Japanese layout. I think the T480(s) keyboard is fine. I'm quite comfortable with the Tx30 chiclet keyboard, and 480 looks about the same. I was debating buying X1C 13, but this T480(s) may be a fun Christmas break project.
Now this I don't agree with; I have made no software changes to my T480 whatsoever, and the keyboard works more or less as expected. Some of the Fn-key shortcuts do not match the key labels (behaving instead like a stock T480) and the microphone mute button doesn't work, but otherwise everything's perfect out of the box. Speaker mute, volume keys, navigation keys all fine.
The mod is complicated and very, very expensive. But possible, if you can find one in your preferred layout, which is very doubtful at this point - they've all been snapped up by people doing what you describe.
I do use the T25 keyboard on my T480. Is it nice? Oh hell yes. Was it worth the time and expense? Absolutely not, unless you are a serious keyboard nerd and have more money than sense. Which I did, at the time.