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    Asus keyboards interchangeable? (UL20, UL30, UL50, UL80)

    Discussion in 'Asus' started by WhiteFireDragon, Jan 18, 2010.

  1. WhiteFireDragon

    WhiteFireDragon Notebook Evangelist

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    i have the UL20A, and i'm looking to get a silicone skin, or even a replacement keyboard on ebay. the specific one for the UL20A is not listed, so are all some of the other Asus keyboards interchangeable? they look very similar. here are pics of the notebooks in this order: UL20A, U20A, UL30A, UL80Ag, and UL50Ag. they look like they're all the same keyboards except for the UL50Ag, which is a little longer for the num pad.

    UL20A
    [​IMG]

    U20A
    [​IMG]

    UL30A
    [​IMG]

    UL80Ag
    [​IMG]

    UL50Ag
    [​IMG]
     
  2. WhiteFireDragon

    WhiteFireDragon Notebook Evangelist

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    sooo... anyone know about this? maybe i'll just email asus and ask, and i'll post the answer back here
     
  3. Stratman

    Stratman Notebook Enthusiast

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    I should think they are compatible with one another, save for the UL50 series due to its elongated keyboard which has a numeric keypad.

    I recently got myself an UL80Vt and spent over two hours at the store, comparing against the UL20A and the UL30Vt. I compared the keyboards and saw no noticeable difference in the keyboards used on the UL20, UL30 and UL80.

    It would be not economical for Asus to order (I'm assuming the keyboard is OEM from a third party manufacturer) separate versions for the UL20, UL30 and UL80. In fact, when the new U45Jc was available at the store it had the exact keyboard as the UL80Vt.

    This practice is also observed by other notebook makers like Acer to cut costs. I also own an Aspire 1825PTZ and noticed the same keyboard is used for its Aspire One and Ferrari One sub-notebooks.
     
  4. droussea

    droussea Newbie

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    @ WhiteFireDragon

    Did you finally find out if Asus keyboard are interchangeable?
    I'm definitively not sure, when looking at the specification regarding UL30 vs UL20...
    UL30 keyboard is 302mm (Soulsaber's keyboard mod from Asus Estore)
    UL20 seems to be 286mm
    Since I'm looking to change my UL20 keyboard for the backlit version I'm a little scare about ordering the UL30, U80 to do the mod from Soulsaber and then discover it won't fit at all!
     
  5. Soulsaber

    Soulsaber Notebook Evangelist

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    If you look at the official specs of the UL20, the width of the laptop is 296 mm. So the backlit keyboard will definitely NOT fit, since it's physically wider than the laptop. (fyi, the UL30 is 322 mm in width).

    The backlit keyboard you would want to get is this: KEYBOARD 284mm BACKLIGHT(US)