HELP!! Keyboard on P957HR died.

After just 6 months of very light usage, the keyboard on my EUROCOM Q5 (P957HR) has gone bad. The following keys don't work:
0, =
r, y
g, k
left and right arrows
1, 3 on the numeric keypad
(there may be more)

Eurocom support says I need a new keyboard. Advance RMA, which means I pay for it (USD$140) and get the refund when I ship the bad one back. USD$100 shipping to be paid to Eurocom - I suppose I'll have to bear the cost of the return as well. Add USD$20 or so bank charges. Customs duty unknown.

Could the friendly folk here please suggest alternatives? The keyboard was not very good to begin with, it failed within six months, and I'm loath to spend this much to get another one that could be just as bad.

Is there any other keyboard that could be fitted in this? I'm willing to downgrade to monochrome backlight. Even no backlight at all. Also willing to do a spot of filing, drilling and gluing. Someone mentioned SteelSeries ...

The part number for the keyboard is 6-80-N8500-010-1

EDIT: Just heard from Eurocom support. They confirm that I will have to pay the shipping when I return the bad keyboard.

EDIT 2: Forgot to mention - I'm located in India.

 

140bucks for a keyboard


@Meaker@Sager
@Donald@HIDevolution
@GenTechPC
How much would a keyboard cost for him?

 

I'd say try to find it on ebay probably 20 bucks and do it yourself

 

I tried looking on ebay, impossible task.

 

It's a difficult keyboard to come by outside of resellers inventory at the moment. If you can source it from a seller within your region, that would be ideal.

 

According to Eurocom's terms and conditons ( link) they will replace a defective keyboard within the first year of warranty providing that you didn't break it yourself.

I found these keyboards on Aliexpress that will work with your model, but they aren't in English: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/FR-...9437988&transAbTest=ae803_1&priceBeautifyAB=0

I also found these two keyboards on Taobao which seem to be an exact match (site is in chinese):
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...SELu7&id=567566403479&ns=1&abbucket=16#detail
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...SELu7&id=567272296519&ns=1&abbucket=16#detail

more listings:
https://s.taobao.com/search?q=p950+...r&ssid=s5-e&search_type=item&sourceId=tb.item

 

What place on earth is remote enough that you have to pay $100 to ship a keyboard to the US? Eurocom should pay for the shipping of replacement keyboard to you - it's in their terms and conditions. Why do you need to return the defective keyboard to them? Can't you just make a video showing that it's defective?

 

Normal warranty shipping coverage would be for continental US only unless the seller offers an upgrade. Usually the entire machine is requested back to ensure the machine is fully repaired.

Say it was liquid damage to the connector or the person does not correctly insert it, they will blame the company.

 

No damage, no spillage ... this laptop has been treated with loving care. Sparingly used - I don't type much. My previous laptop lasted 7 years, so I do know how to look after stuff.

Thanks for helping me find alternate sources for this. Does anyone know the difference, if any, between 6-80-N8500-010-1 and 6-80-N8500-011-1 ?

This is looking the best so far:
https://www.yoycart.com/Product/567566403479/#

Also, is there any other keyboard that could be fitted in this? Is this a standard keyboard for 15.6"? If I get one from, say, Lenovo or Acer, will it even work? I'm willing to downgrade to monochrome backlight. Even no backlight at all. Also willing to do a spot of filing, drilling and gluing. I have a Dremel 4000, digital multimeter, soldering station, etc.

 

UPDATE: It is definitely a problem with the ribbon cable/ connector. If I slowly tilt the keyboard upwards (after removing the screws and popping the catches, of course) and hold it at an angle of about 35 degrees the defective keys start working again. Probably a hairline crack where there is a sharp fold in the ribbon.

 

Yup definitely sounds like a keyboard problem. I assume you're not in N. America judging by the shipping costs you have been quoted? Can you let us know where you are and then we can all suggest some options for you?

Customs duty - if it's replaced as a faulty product then you don't have to pay any tax either way, though this is up to the company to make sure that they fill in the shipping paperwork correctly.

These are the official Clevo Service Centers:

http://www.clevo.com.tw/clevo_contact.asp?lang=en

- they provide parts to lots of resellers and also do some warranty work for some resellers. I would avoid going with companies you aren't familiar with or not recommended on this forum - you need a model specifically compatible with your laptop and not run the risk of getting one from a possibly unreliable source.The Service Centers are most likely to have the correct and a new keyboard in stock and give you decent pricing. If you're in Europe, Eurocom have a relationship with a company based in the Czech Republic so I would have thought they could assist you.

If you have to pay USD100 for shipping whatever happens (warranty replacement or not) then you can get a whole new keyboard for that, as long as it's ok to replace it yourself.

 

Thanks. Sorry for forgetting to mention that I'm from India.

There are different exchange conversion rates for money going out and coming in, which will eat into whatever refund they give, if I go through Eurocom. Bank charges and PayPal charges also apply. Also, I'll be paying for shipping the defective piece back.

We do have a reseller in India whom I have contacted and asked for an estimated/ budgetary price. They only do massive desktop replacement beasts, so they don't have the parts in their own stock. Their next shipment of spares is scheduled for the end of this year and they have kindly agreed to include my keyboard in that shipment, if I'm still interested at that time.

 

I had a P650RG and now P950HR (same as you) from PC Specialist in UK. My P650 had keyboard issues a few times, and I was able to order replacement keyboard from them for like 17 GBP delivered. Very easy to swap out yourself. Maybe you can try contact PC Specialist and see if you can buy a keyboard from them, they may not if you didn't get the laptop from them, but it's worth a shot.

Edit: nvm just saw that you are from India ... this may not work for you then.

 

Its fairly easy to swap out at least.

 

I haven't read all the posts but, have you tried disconnecting and reconnecting the ribbon cable? I had this problem before on my old D900F, and this fixed it.

 

Yes, I've done that. Haven't tried cutting off a couple of mm off the edge of the ribbon so that the connector pins sit in a different spot on the tracks, but I'll try that too - don't think it will help, though; the breaks are most likely at the place where the ribbon has a sharp fold - seems the assembler was a touch over-enthusiastic. Space under the keyboard is tight, otherwise I could have tried soldering jumper wires across the break - you scrape off the plastic on either side of the break to expose the track, then solder a piece of thin wire to 'jump' the break.

 

Funny. Same issue with a Sager-Clevo NP 955ER. Never toucher the laptop inside, and F,B,H, . and Ent key on the numbpad are not working. Maybe can anyone help. My keyboard part is CMV15F23USJ430D (Part # 6-80-n8500-011-1). Sager wont answer me. I'm willing to buy it just to get rid of the machine.

 

You said in another thread someone from the team did get back to you but you did not specify why a solution could not be reached.

 

Where did you buy from, exactly? If I'm not mistaken, we've received an inquiry from you and we've been asking for some basic info to get the ball rolling. Another rep should have sent another email this afternoon to reiterate things.

 

Those exact keys randomly stop working for me sometimes too, I believe it's heat related. I find that spamming those keys repeatedly brings them back to life.

 

My laptop's motherboard died, so it had to be sent back to Eurocom for repair. They will replace the keyboard too at the same time. It was not economical to send it back just for the keyboard, but since it is going back in any case, there is no extra cost for me.

 

Have you lifted the keyboard to see if the connector flat cable has been sharply folded? I think that crease is creating a weak spot in the cable and the contacts randomly stop working.

 

Yeah it seems fine. Like I said the issue only happens under excess heat, pretty sure it is a design flaw with the keyboard hardware itself.

 

The new keyboard has started giving trouble again, just as I had feared. GRRR!!!!

 

Bought a new keyboard from AliExpress. About $60. Seems to be working fine. Fingers crossed for how long it lasts.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33004364628.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.5de04c4d7kbgNL

 

It's likely from the same source.

 

Yeah, bummer. Hence my 'fingers crossed' remark.
It is from a different batch, though. I'm hoping this batch doesn't suffer from premature death syndrome.

 

Unlikely to be the same batch.

 

The issue has occurred on my 2nd keyboard. Let me know if your latest batch has the problem fixed... although in my history it's usually been fine for a few months before the problem even occurs the first time, and then it just gets worse as time progresses.

 

My thoughts exactly. If this one dies too, I'll update this thread. For now - fingers crossed.

I'm rather surprised that out of all the keyboards out there we haven't been able to find a compatible keyboard with the connectors in the same place. I'm even willing to forgo backlighting.

 

My second keyboard also started showing this issue a couple months ago; it was only the "G" key and the left/right arrows, and CTRL. I would spam all these keys and it would come back to life. Then yesterday out of nowhere, half the keyboard just died. Enter, backspace, A, D, O, a whole bunch. No amount of spamming even helped. Third one on its way... can only hope they fixed whatever the problem is, but I'm not holding my breath. Probably should just buy them in bulk for quick swapping every 3 months

 

Bummer.

Amazing how Clevo can get away with something like this. Very shrewd on their part to adopt this reseller strategy. Now the negative feedback and complaints are spread over several different resellers, and it is their reputations that are taking the hit while Clevo is sitting pretty. I imagine things would have been different with a global brand, like how Samsung dealt with the issue of faulty batteries in some of their their phones. Here each of us is cursing the reseller they bought it from - EUROCOM in my case.

 

I replied in another thread, but I've had the same issues on a P950HR. I'm on my third keyboard, and it has the same problems.

Here is a link to Clevo. I think this is their main site, other than the Taiwanese manufacturing site.
https://clevo-computer.com/en/laptops-configurator/?p=3

Light 'em up!

 

Thats a re-seller that is using the Clevo name, Clevo DOES NOT SELL to end costumers, only to other retailers/stores.

 

OK. Here's the Taiwanese site.

https://www.clevo.com.tw/index-en.asp#