Anyone's keyboard dying?

Mine's an old N550JV but it produces:

acdefghijklmopqrstuvwxy <-- my N550
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz <-- external keyboard
missing quite a few compared to an external keyboard:

Is there a quick fix, or is it done?
My old Sager laptop lasted longer and the keyboard never had issues.

 

All keyboards wear out eventually, membrane keyboards do not generally last as long as mechanical keyboards - but some are higher quality than others. It will likely need a replacement, but you can try removing the key caps and checking to be sure.

 

You can replace just the keyboard? Is the membrane like a switch that can be replaced individually?

 

The keyboard can only be replaced as a whole unit as the membrane covers the whole area.

 

Here is a useful visualization and explanation of keyboard membranes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_technology#Dome-switch_keyboard

There are some good pictures here too: https://www.careerstep.com/blog/keyboard-keyboardwhos-the-fairest-of-them-all/

Have you tried blowing some compressed air into the keyboard? Over time dust and dirt (and potato chips) will accumulate and can prevent the keys from having proper contact. Your problem could also be from a loose keyboard connector on the motherboard, which is a very fragile connection. Use great care if you want to reseat that connector, and dab a little rubbing alcohol or contact cleaner on the keyboard ribbon contacts to remove any oxidation or dust.

 

I have an external scissor switch keyboard that is still going strong after 10 years. Seems to point to shoddy Asus build quality.

 

Not compressed air but I removed the keycap and made sure it was clean inside. May get a bottle to try it out.