It could be argued that the keyboard is the most fragile exposed
part of a laptop computer after the screen. This would especially
be the case when it's the keyboard that starts having problems.
The keyboard on a laptop is composed of smaller and more fragile
parts than a desktop computer's keyboard, and on a heavily used
laptop, it can be damaged easily. Unlike the keys of a typical
keyboard, which can usually be removed and reinserted without a
problem, laptop keyboard keys often end up broken if they are
removed.
I found this out over four years ago with my tangerine iBook; a key popped off while I
was typing, and it never went back on. Apple had to replace the
entire keyboard.
Thankfully, what seems to be more common is dust and dirt
getting inside the keyboard and causing it to malfunction. In a
standard computer keyboard, it's easy to clean, since the keys can
be removed. However, on a laptop keyboard, it's almost impossible
to clean well. I've had two keyboard problems of this sort in the
past, and both were resolved by cleaning.
How do you do it?
The best way, if you can, is to remove the keyboard.
Unfortunately, this can't be done easily on the newer PowerBooks,
but it's not difficult on the older ones. Compressed air works
quite well to get loose dirt and dust out of the keyboard, and, if
you need to, a toothpick or other small object can fit in between
the keys and help loosen whatever might be there.
I had problems with the keyboard not typing the correct letters
on my 15" PowerBook G4. This was fixed by removing the keyboard and
cleaning it with compressed air. I recently had the same problems
with my 12" PowerBook G4, and while removing the keyboard wasn't an
option, I was still able to get some of the dust and dirt out. In
both cases, that fixed the keyboards.
But what if your laptop keyboard is really and truly dead?
While this doesn't seem to happen too often, it's not an
impossibility.
There are a couple of options to remedy the situation. You can
either buy a replacement original keyboard, which can be expensive
- especially from a Macintosh dealer - or, you can purchase
something like the TouchStream
MacNTouch keyboard. This is a replacement for all titanium
and aluminium PowerBooks, as well as white 12" iBooks. It features
a built in touchpad and the ability to use the smooth surface of
the keyboard to resize windows using two hands.
The best feature that I see in this keyboard, however, is that
it is a smooth surface and uses no mechanical parts. It won't
collect anything like as much dirt and dust as the stock PowerBook
keyboards do. The only disadvantage to this solution is that it
uses one USB port.
I prefer some feedback when I'm typing, and I don't think the
TouchStream would quite do it for me. However, it does have its
advantages, so it may be worth considering if your keyboard should
be on its way out.
Otherwise, there's always eBay.
