Key damaged on laptop - what to do

Firetrap

I own a 6 month old Compaq laptop. To cut a long story short, I had a bit of a mishap with the += key this evening and now it's not sitting in its place the way it used to.

I'm sure the little plastic contraption (for want of a better word) behind the key is damaged so it'll never be right and that it's only a matter of time before the whole thing comes away. I've tried pressing down on the key in the hope that it might settle back in but to no avail

I'm not sure what do do now. Will the whole keyboard have to be replaced or is it possible to buy separate keys? Will getting the thing fixed cost me a lot of money and mean several weeks away from the laptop? Is there anywhere I could get it fixed quickly and at a reasonable price. I'm not the best person in the world with my hands so I presume going anywhere near the innards of the computer would be laptop homicide.

garthv

Youd just need a replacement key....
Shouldnt be too hard to find. Maybe ring Compaq yourself and ask them to send you out a new key?

themole

you might be able to fix the key yourself.

the plasitc joke under the key holds it in place, this could have come off.
this happened to a key board i had, while it wasn't a laptop keyboard it was a small wireless one with small profile keys like on a laptop.

anyway, its was a bit tricky, but i was able to get the small plastic yoke to click back into the key. this could not be done by just pushing it in as its designed to move to cushion the bounce. i had to use a tweezers to push it into place from underneath the key while holding the key.

failing that, a replacement key

jor el

allie_e17 wrote:

I'm sure the little plastic contraption (for want of a better word) behind the key is damaged

Is the little plastic contraption attached to the key itself or to the keyboard? If it's just the key then a replacement key is all you need. If the connector under the key, on the keyboard itself, is broken then you may need to replace the whole thing.

allie_e17 wrote:

bit of a mishap

In a moment of anger you stabbed the key so hard that you nearly broke your finger, didn't you. I did this once, luckily it was a chaep keyboard so it went in the bin. Had broken a few keys, but no fingers fortunately.

Firetrap

No, it's just the key itself...Now, if I could only find a number for Compaq that would get me talking to an actual human being I'd be away with it. So much for modern technology

And no, the truth about the mishap is much more mundane. There were no stabbing motions involved, just an overzealous rubbing of cleaning cloth across the keys in a sideways motion

lomb

warranty should fix it