Help any PC experts on here?

[s10am]

Hiya
yesterday with no warning some of the keys on my laptop stopped working Im using my partners right now but i like my own and want to get it up and running again A couple of weeks ago some condensation from my glass dripped onto the keyboard and i quickly mopped it up and thought id got away with it? Well yesterday it was that area plus a few others that have stopped working Caps Lock,X,C,V,M,@,: the rest still work Thing is in this day and age im wary to take it to a shop to repair in case they are dodgy and im a bit of a skinflint so i searched online found out how you remove the keyboard and copied down the relevant part numbers and they are only around £20 new Thing is i know ill be dissapointed if i spend out on a new keyboard and its internal like the circuitry that controls the keyboard? is there any way i can determine its the actual keyboard and not the circuitry that controls it? Ive use the Windows "On Screen Keyboard" and all the letter work on that i dont mind spending out on a new keyboard if its gunna work,any ideas for determining its definately the keyboard? What doesnt help is i keep reading of others having replaced keyboards with a brand new one only to find the new one does exactly the same

Help
Jodie

[Akuji]

You would have to be pretty unlucky for a new keyboard to do the same if everything else is working on the laptop apart from a few keys on the old keyboard. Try ebay there usually cheaper for replacement laptop keyboards, I have replaced a few keyboards on different laptops that had drinks spilt on them never had one that the problem didn't go away once the keyboard was replaced if the laptop was in working order after the spillage.

[Chungster]

It's a lappy....doh

[ZephyR]

I regard myself as being pretty competent at electronics etc. but when I tried to open up my son's laptop (after it was more or less dead) I got in to an awful mess and ended up damaging some very fine connections inside, including around the keyboard. I also found clear instructinos on line So be wary - you could break the whole laptop.

Why not buy a remote keyboard - USB or blue-tooth, should only be about £20-30 and you don't risk screwing up your laptop.

Edit : Just seen this .... http://www.ebuyer.com/product/104608

[Deft]

It can depend on the laptop, but generally replacing the keyboard is not too bad. They normally are physically held into the case by a few clips and then a standard ribbon cable underneath does the proper electrical connection. Definitely getting inside to other parts of a laptop can be very very painful, but just keyboard you might be o.k. if you are feeling reasonably confident!

[Akuji]

usual procedure is unclip the plastic above the keyboard where the power button etc is located there usually 2 clips on each side. then once that lifts up there a couple of screws to undue that hold the keyboard down, this is the delicate bit, the keyboard will lift up when its slide towards the screen but there is a fine ribbon connector that plugs into the laptop from the keyboard, make sure u slide this connector out before u remove the keyboard, and then just reverse the procedure to put everything back.

[s10am]

Hi Guyz
just got in and been reading all my replies thank you all ever so much I had got to the stage of working out how you remove the strip that covers the screws that hold the keyboard in then removed the screws and moved the keyboard out on its ribbon cable but chickened out regarding taking the cable out of its connector

I was a little worried as to how i opened the connector? Do i pull the white bit backward or the black bits forward?
well it turned out to be the latter and i figured why not just do it?

I figured that i couldnt break the keyboard further so id practise taking it out and putting it back in
So i Removed the keyboard located the connector gritted my teeth and tried sliding the connector the way i though it went,i was right and the cable popped out

i then popped it back in and locked it,and it still worked as it did before Yahh!!! well no extra keys had stopped working but alas it didnt fix the broken ones either but remember all i did was remove the Broken Keyboard and replace it for practise

So all i have to do now is get a new one and hope it works?
I guess my main question was what was the likelyhood of it not being the keyboard and me wasting my money replacing it?

but as everything else works im guessing it is just the keyboard??

Only Other Question i have is my Laptop is a Toshiba Satellite L300-217 i cant find a keyboard for a L300-217 but lots that say just L300 series i guess they are all the same? the pictures look the same im guessing the -217 just denotes the processor,memory,spec etc but the basic L300 share the same basic keyboard etc whatever the spec?

Mine is black but they also did them in silver im guessing the silver keyboard is the same except for the colour?
im thinking of getting a silver keyboard to give my Lappy a unique look

Again thanks for the advice if anybody can answer my other questions and also give their opinion to the likelyhood is it indeed just the keyboard gone id be grateful

Thanks Jodie:)

[Akuji]

I would imagine that if everything else on your laptop works apart from the keys it will just be the keyboard, also hers a eBay link for the keyboard for your exact laptop model.

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=l300-217+keyboard" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TigerClaw]

on most toshiba's you should see a brown/white lever, where the ribbon cable is plugged into. you need to lift this and it will release the cable, it should just slide out with not alot of force.



when you put the new one in, it should just slide in (make sure you put it in the right way, the cable should normally lie flat, once its back in the motherboard connector just push the brown/white lever back down again, this should hold the ribbon back in place. power up the laptop and check to see if all is connected up ok. if so then just screw it all back together.

the problem your describing does sound like maybe the keyboard connectors have got some form of "lime-scale" on them probably from the water, this could be stopping the buttons from making contact with the board underneath.

you can do 3 things, either spend £20 on getting a new laptop and hope it works, or pay someone like PC world techguys to take a look, but they charge alot (something like £70), or buy a USB keyboard and use that instead (you can get some roll up ones that i use when i work on servers.)

[s10am]

Thank You for all the advice i have now had the keyboard out and back in with no problems ok the broken keys still dont work but no extra faults so i have proved im up to the job

that was just a dry run with the old keyboard so its just a case of ordering a new one and installing it

So thanks TigerClaw and Akuji the keyboards akuji linked to are great i hate using my card online or paypal so i can just ring the order through

Fingers crossed then that it was only the keyboard and i can fix it then i can stop using my partners pootah and username LOL!

im also thinking of upgrading my Ram if the keyboard solves it as ive just found it will only cost £30 to change my 1gb ram card to 2gb which means ill then have 4gb

ill keep you all posted

and thank you all again for your help,im lost without my own lappy

Jodie

[TigerClaw]

be careful when upgrading laptop RAM, some ram is not always compatible with each laptop. maybe go into a computer/laptop repair shop and see if they can help you out. ( im saying use a non-branded store as they are more than likely to help you for free, they may even fit the ram for you if you buy it from them.