please empty your brain below
Laptop-related comments/suggestions here, thanks.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 29.02.24 - 7:00 p.m. | #

My elderly broken laptop has worked well with a cheap usb keyboard plugged in.

Tony | 01.03.24 - 7:13 a.m. | #

I have this, pricey but comfortable:
Logitech ERGO K860 Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard

Harry | 01.03.24 - 7:20 a.m. | #

I had a similar problem with my laptop, although at the opposite corner of the keyboard (which would have made "opposite" very difficult!) and also used a Logitech keyboard, although I went for a plugin version (K112), which served me well until the computer started to develop other problems and had to be replaced.

Timbo | 01.03.24 - 7:41 a.m. | #

A clicky mechanical keyboard is supremely pleasurable to type with! (And long lasting as you can remove all of the keys for cleaning and dusting if you like.)

Mine is from Akko, but as I know you're not an online shopping person you could go to Currys and pick one up from Logitech for under £50. Don't be put off by the fact they're called "gaming keyboards" please, I have never gamed with mine in my life :)

Joseph Clift | 01.03.24 - 7:42 a.m. | #

This looks like a Thinkpad. If your laptop is fine otherwise, you might just replace the internal keyboard.

When you look up your laptop on the Lenovo website, there should be a "Parts" section where you can order spare parts. They also provide a hardware maintenance guide which shows how to replace the keyboard. (Taking my own Thinkpad P15 as an example, the internal keyboard would be £60. To replace it, you'd need to undo two screws and two ribbon cables.)

Joachim | 01.03.24 - 7:49 a.m. | #

eBay, new keyboard for your laptop, then a YouTube video from 5 years ago telling you how to do the operation. There are myriad resellers parting out old laptops. Mrs Wiz is on her 3rd in 12 years.

A sensible person would say 'look at YouTube first', but where's the peril in that?

Simon | Homepage | 01.03.24 - 7:51 a.m. | #

Another vote for adding a usb keyboard (possibly a mouse too) with or without wires. And probably plugging in a second (even third) screen. Game-changing.

Andrew | 01.03.24 - 7:54 a.m. | #

Thanks, ok, alternative keyboard.

That said, my laptop is now 9 years old and it’s probably time for a new one anyway.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 01.03.24 - 7:58 a.m. | #

A USB keyboard (from £10-£20 if you look in the right place) would be by far the best way to get you through to replacing your laptop.

alex f | 01.03.24 - 8:02 a.m. | #

I have a spare USB keyboard/trackpad combo left over from a job and would be happy to post you one.

tops | 01.03.24 - 8:04 a.m. | #

It’s like the Jennings book where Darbishire gets a printing set for his birthday, only to lose the E keys. In desperation, he writes ‘Dxar mothxr, plxasx sxnd mx somx morx of thx lxttxrs that comx bxtwxxn d and f’

Matt | 01.03.24 - 8:06 a.m. | #

If you were lucky enough to have a trusted local independent computer shop, you might be able to buy a second hand laptop for a very reasonable price, or get the one you have repaired, or even do both.

Malcolm of Kent | 01.03.24 - 8:30 a.m. | #

On some laptop computers you can replace the keyboard fairly easily, try doing a Google search for a keyboard for your make and model of laptop. If not a USB plug in keyboard is cheap and easy solution.
You can get an on screen keyboard to use, in Windows it is found in Settings, Accessibility, keyboard. Or on Apple system it is in the Apple menu.

John | 01.03.24 - 8:58 a.m. | #

Generic USB keyboards in good condition are £2.50 at Stratford CeX, guaranteed for two years.

Zax | Homepage | 01.03.24 - 9:20 a.m. | #

You do realise that you can remove the keys from a keyboard? Just get a small screwdriver, insert under one edge of a key and gently lever it off.

If you're concerned about doing this, have a practice on a litle-used key e.g. the one to the left of the '1' or Alt-Gr.

Vic Flange | 01.03.24 - 9:30 a.m. | #

What laptop is very much a how long is a piece of string question, and there's no right answer. One advantage of the rate of change and Moore's law is that you can get good offers on kit just a few months old. You can never have too much memory or storage, so go for as much as you can afford

In 2009, I bought a Dell precision laptop from the dell outlet). I used it every day for almost twelve years, wore through 2 keyboards (easily replaced). They're not cheap, even in the outlet, but there's a substantial discount on retail and they're impressive machines. But my usage may well be more demanding than yours

I recently bought one of these for my college bound child for their birthday. It was a £750 laptop a year ago.

Ian | 01.03.24 - 9:41 a.m. | #

Vic's right, you can lift them off. Whether you can get them back is a different question.

I'd suggest spending maybe 20% of the cost of a new laptop on parts for a 9 year old laptop is a false economy, personally

Ian | 01.03.24 - 9:43 a.m. | #

Ha! my laptop has chosen this morning for the Z, X, C and V keys to suddenly come back to life, mid-sentence.

zxcvzxcvzxcvzxcvzxcvzxcvzxcvzxcv :)

It'll never last, though.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 01.03.24 - 9:54 a.m. | #

14. Couldn't you have just plugged in an external usb keyboard? Ditto all the other keyboard related problems.

James | 01.03.24 - 10:24 a.m. | #

Just buy a Mac and you'll be golden for the next 10 years.

unctuous | 01.03.24 - 11:08 a.m. | #

Have you tried a vacuum cleaner? If it's something dry that's slipped behind the keys you can often suck it out using one of the accessory tools. Just be careful not to suck the keytops off! If it comes to buying a new laptop I've found the
Lenovo Ideapad range to be sturdy and long-lasting.

Peter | 01.03.24 - 11:35 a.m. | #

Most annoying thing I found when needing to replace my laptop last year was that it seems many of them have moved the power button next to the delete key, which seems like a disaster waiting to happen!

Cornish Cockney | 01.03.24 - 12:06 p.m. | #

Used computers are apparently the cheapest they’ve been for over three years.

George | Homepage | 01.03.24 - 12:48 p.m. | #

You could try those dust sprays which have plastic tubes like you get with wd40, allowing you to spray into the keys and dislodge any dust. Worked for me and cheaper than new keyboard

Iain chambers | Homepage | 01.03.24 - 1:36 p.m. | #

Didn't last - the keys hae stopped working again :(

diamond geezer | Homepage | 01.03.24 - 3:01 p.m. | #

I had a similar problem with my ThinkPad after I spilled some pop on the keyboard. I sprayed some WD40 under the keys, sloshed it around, and tipped the keyboard to pour out the excess. Got another couple of years out of it before replacing it.

Bob | 02.03.24 - 8:34 p.m. | #

A lot of new laptops have a keyboard tray built into them so they live through the odd crumb or spill, but it's difficult to find that on the spec sheet. My son's new Chromebook (Lenovo 500e) has one specifically because he spilled something into the old one.

Refurb is good, though you want at least Intel 8th gen or AMD Zen 2 to run Windows 11 when support for 10 dies next year. I tend to stick to Dell and Lenovo because I know what I'm getting in support terms. FWIW, Dell is better than Lenovo but it's worth paying for their Premium Support for on-site. I pay something like £3/mo for extended support on my mrs' Inspiron and it's been worth it.

I love Chromebooks, but couldn't recommend it as a primary machine. They're very much the cheap little thing that you use when you can't be bothered with the proper Mac/PC. Or as something sacrificial to take out and about instead of the primary machine.

Chz | 04.03.24 - 9:42 a.m. | #











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