New Inspirons. Backspace button gets stuck.

Hey all,

I have the 1420 and just encountered an annoying problem right now. My Backspace button seems to be defective. It gets stuck or sunken in!!! And it's quite tough to get it out. It sounds funny too compared to the rest of the keys on the keyboard. It has this scratchy squeaky sound.

Am I gonna have to return this already?

 

You shouldn't need to send it in. They will probably just send a replacement keyboard.

 

I wonder if anyone else is having the same problem on the 1520 or their 1420s.

Does anyone else have this problem on their 1520 or 1420?

 

Hopefully replacing a keyboard myself is easy.

 

mine works fine on the 1420.

 

It can be a little scary for first time people, but it's a relatively easy process

 

alulabear the service manual is available from the Dell Support website. I don't think it's installed on the computer as it comes. However, it describes the process adequately.

I have not encountered any keys sticking, and I'm sitting on a 22 page, soon to be 24 page once I integrate the last of the pictures, review of the thing, so if they were going to stick I'm sure they would have

 

Jeez it's so painful to hear that squeaky sound on a brand new laptop. Shame.

 

Heh... The "L" key used to be stuck on my old Inspiron 1150. It didn't make a sound but it did tend to get stuck down when pressed, even when the machine was new or nearly new. I took out the keyboard and cleaned it by "flossing" between and under the keys with a small flathead screwdriver. That took care of the problem nicely. If you do this, just be careful not to lose any of the screws holding down the keyboard.

Edit: If it's squeaky and sticky, then maybe a tiny bit of oil would help.

 

My Enter key squeaks sometimes, but it's not that big of a deal. Sounds like you got unlucky with a crappy keyboard... but it isn't hard to replace - just get them to send you a new one.

 

Dell definitely considers the keyboard a user-replaceable part, so that says enough about what would be needed. Yes, it is a little scary at first but changing a simple part would be a great opportunity to learn just a little more about the innards of the PC and how to work within them.

Changing the keyboard should involve (roughly) the following steps:
1) Remove two screws from the bottom of the laptop that will be marked with a keyboard symbol.
2) Remove one piece of plasitc on the keyboard deck of the notebook (the part above the keyboard.
3) Pull keyboard out gently.
4) Unhook the cord the keyboard has going to the motherboard.
5) Completely remove

Then, putting the new keyboard in is the same just in reverse. Not too hard, but it does seem difficult the first time or two. Just keep one rule in mind: if you think you are applying too much force to something, you are.