Sony Vaio Z "sticky", squeaky keys & doubled type

Happened since day 1.. getting more pronounced.

 

Never had this problem, almost 2 months old Z590 CTO.
I tried what the guy did in the clip, not a single double type error. Mine was produced 09/08 (sticker on the back)

BR
Miki

 

I've had an intermittent squeaky backspace key, but no double-typing (yet), touch wood...

 

That is very odd - as itwould indicate that not all Z series laptops use the same keyboard... (in actual design, down to the micometer)

I think we would need a poll on this...

And just wondering:
Has this issue ever occured on an older Vaio?

_____________
InfyMcGirk - are you from Poland? (The "touch wood" bit...)
_____________

 

Nope, I'm from the UK.

 

Ok.
(Living there too at the moment)

Just wondering - could one of the Z owners start a poll?

 

Wow that clip scared me!

Did the same...No double error, thanks god!

I have the european Z11WN, btw.

 

I think all of you should post the date when your Z was constructed...so we can see if it affects just the first ones...or randomly all series...

 

I have had in the past FS, FZ, SZ and now Z, never ever had an issue with the keypad, to be honest never crossed my mind one could have any issues with keypad.

I admit that Z keypad is a bit "faster" than SZ for example, so you need some time to get used to it, plus spacing between keys, but again, no problems with double tap keys.

Cheers,
Miki

 

My SZ is my first Vaio (have it since summer) and the typing is bginnign o show on the keys already... anyway, it's fine.

I too wouldn't have thought this possible - but obviously it is. My best guess is a faulty design as is the speculation others in here.

 

I'm willing to do this but couldn't spot this info on any stickers underneath the laptop. Do you know where I would find out when mine was built?

 

lol mine's manufactured 10/08. I guess it affects all.

 

It' on the bottom right side, white sticker, saying MFD:09/08 (for me)

BR
Miki

 

No such sticker on my (European) Z11. Just the Vista license sticker, a serial number, service tag. No manufacturing date though.

 

i have my sqeeky key on my "W" this thing is annoying, but somtimes its not squeeking, pretty weird huh? no double typing atm since i bought the laptop

 

10/08 here sony vaio z 540ebb

 

Mine was manufactured on 08/08. The problem's been ongoing since the first week, but fortunately hasn't escalated. It happens on-and-off, causing me to believe it's a hardware issue.

I've edited my first post, put the YouTube video link in there in case other people happen upon this thread.

I'll try to start a poll... haven't done one before, hope I don't do it wrong!

 

how do you guys keep a laptop with such problem? I couldn't do it.

 

I've been to a Sony Centre today and asked some questions, NVidia and double type, I may have something for you.

The guy at the Sony Centre said he encountered the double type problem with one delivered AR (he said AR).
It got sent back and that was the end of.

Now - that AR had a "visual defect" - the member of staff said the "keys weren't flat".
i.e. keyboard was not as it should be.

Could maybe all people with a double type check their keyboards, and if anything seems malalligned - that's possibly it. In this case a repair under warranty should solve the problem.

 

keys seem aligned to me. For me double typing was most pronounced for 'c' but i noticed that it happens randomly for other keys

 

Hmm... is the c key perfectly alligned? also "hightwise"?

(Maybe use a ruler)

 

ok, did some testing and it seems that the double type appears most probably when two keys are pressed at the same time.
E.g when i tried to type cmcmcmcmcm at a slow speed double type almost never appears.
However, when i push c and m and the same time repeatedly instead of cmcmcmcm i'd get many ccmmcmcmmcc double types.

So my theory is for fast typers, that often have two keys depressed at a time when touch typing quickly will most likely run into this problem.

 

Hmm.. is that specific just to the vaio z or all laptops?

 

It seems as if its just the Z series.

 

this is why i returned my Sony vaio Z a week after i bought it... its not worth it.. having these kinds of problems.. well i rarely had this problem, but i saw some posts that it will occur when time goes on. so im getting my macbook today

 

Hmmm...Every time I start thinking about actually pulling the pin on a Z machine, this thread comes up...

I'm a reasonably fast touch-typist (80 wpm) and do a lot of writing, so faulty keyboard input would be a deal-killer for me...

I've already returned an SZ because of the erratic touchpad issue, and now the Z continues to give me pause...

I'm starting to wonder if the Vaios aren't for me...?

 

I think that may be more of a timing issue than the actual double type issue. If you type C and M at the same time, you're bound to type C before M or M before C sometime.

The double type issue occurs when you press a single key, like in the video that was posted earlier. Doesn't really matter when you press it, it just happens.

Oddly enough, the keyboard has been doing it less over the past month. I really doubt it's a case of me getting used to it, since it still pops up while I type passwords or other things. It comes and goes, but now it comes less and goes more often. Either that, or I just got numb to the amount of times I've had to double back and retype what I did just to remove a doubled or tripled letter.

 

Anyone tried to adjust the repeat timing setup in the keyboard control panel?
I noticed that mine was set to fast so I brought it down a little...

 

brainfart The finals are already beginning to screw my mind up

 

Definitely isn't the repeat delay.

 

Yeah, it isn't the key delay. I messed with that a while back and thought it fixed it, only to have it happen again in about 5 minutes.

 

I just received my Z-540 CTO today, and immediately observed the double-type issue. I'm pretty bummed about dealing with the hassle of sending the laptop back.

 

strange, its happening regardless of build date and randomly. Maybe I should try typing with one finger and observe if it is due to typing style =__= Anyone wanna try one finger typing for week? LOL

 

Been using my z570 for 4 or 5 weeks and no problems with sticking keys or double type (yet... fingers crossed). My build is 08/2008. no new drivers have been installed off sony site. bought it at the sony store.

fyi.. and not directly related to this thread.... I AM however experiencing a num lock key that just popped up on its own. One side is kind of connected and the other is tilted up. (I never use the num lock key so it must have freaked out on its own.). I'll be darned if I can figure out how to re-connect it! So I'm searching for the thread to reattach/lock down a key cap.

good luck all.

UPDATE: upon closer inspection (magnifying glass), it looks like the clip mounted to the keyboard under the key cap is broken (cleanly in half) which is why I can't get the key cap to snap back in. Darn it all. and I swear I never use that key! Looks like a warranty call tomorrow.

 

has anyone noticed if it occurs with the CTO or pre configs more often??

 

OK I think I came up with a definitive answer for this. I have fully convinced myself that ALL Zs have that problem because it simply has to do with the design of the keyboard.
On my non-CTO Z590 I can make every single key double type IF I want to. All I have to do is adjust the pressure I exert on the keys such that I do not press the keys too hard or too lightly. (The pressure needs to be just enough that the keys reach the pressure point to register the type.) I realized that when I do that, the keys literally "bounce" twice on the pressure point (I guess that's how the keyboard's designed) registering two letters at once.
Now under normal usage that translates into the occasional double type and depending on the typing style of the user, some say they have the problem and some say not. It is all about how "strong" the user types on the keyboard. When I do finger-typing, I do not ever get the problem, yet when I'm typing fast, it just so happens that I sometimes push the keys a little too light and that's when the occasional double type occurs. I had to adjust my typing style so that I now push the keys more strongly than usual and normally I do not get that problem anymore. Hope that helps.
HT

 

Interesting insight, hte...

I just find the notion of having to change my typing style to accommodate the keyboard (especially to such a "premiere" line notebook) unacceptable... It seems that a well-designed keyboard should be forgiving, to some extent, of a user's idiosyncracies...

 

That's an interesting thought, but I'm not quite convinced that it's the pressure exerted on the keys that causes it just yet. I tried to experiment with changing pressure on the keys, but I can very rarely get it to happen. In other words, I'm not sure if it's the pressure that's causing it to double type, or if it's just the problem itself rearing its ugly head.

It's pretty sad to think that this could actually be a design flaw, not a manufacturing flaw.

 

Indeed. While the doubled type seems to be lessening with more use, my biggest recent gripes have been my shift key not catching and problems with the mouse buttons. Sigh. Looks like a replacement keyboard, mouse might be needed eventually.

 

I think this is pretty much a universal problem with the Z series. I went to a Sony store today and typed a few thousand words on each of three Z series, and the double type problem was present and extremely annoying on each one. The sales guys had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned it, since they could only type by hunting and pecking.

I had been expecting to buy a Z series, but I was really disappointed with its build quality and keyboard. I thought both of those attributes were excellent on the TT, so I bought one of those instead.

 

Does anyone who has an asia pacfic Z have the problem?

 

had my z27gn (asia pacific model) for a month so far no problems.
fingers crossed

 

There are problems with the touchpad whenever the machine is really busy, especially when indexing or making snapshots. A workaround is to bump up the priority of the three "Alps" processes from "Normal" to "Above normal", but this has to be done after each login.

 

Hi all

I am located in Asia- Singapore. I was planning to get VGN-Z26GN/B after xmas..but after reading this threads i am not so sure now. Is it a 'global' defects from Sony? I dont want to pay a premium price and end up getting frustrated. Double type is really not acceptable. Do the Asia's Z series suffers from the same fate?? Hope someone from the region can shed some light. Meanwhile i pop by a local Sony Style Shop and chk it this out.

Thank you.

 

As I wrote earlier: doubled keys seem to be (mostly) disappearing as a problem for me. Either I've learned to type "properly" on this laptop, or its fixed itself. The issue with the left shift key seems to happen very often now, and seems to be a problem whenever I don't press it in the center: since I often just hit the top right corner of the shift key, that's a major problem, but pressing on the lower-left corner of the key seems to help the problem a little bit.

(slightly off topic, but related to input problems): I was also having more and more problems with clicking (esp. right clicking): turns out that boosting the priority of apntex and apoint solves the problem (but needs to be done anew with every login). Does anyone know if both of these programs should actually be running simultaneously?

 

Get the Z27

(mith500 and I have one each - his appears to be fine at least as of the date of his post. Mine is okay today, but the Z2* are pretty new, so.)

 

In case anyone else has problems with the pointer not responding, here's a script that changes the priority of the processes. save as a .vbs file and put it in your startup directory and it should do the trick (substitute HIGH for ABOVE_NORMAL if need be):

Const ABOVE_NORMAL = 32768
Const HIGH = 256

strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")

Set colProcesses = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_Process Where Name = 'Apoint.exe'")
For Each objProcess in colProcesses
objProcess.SetPriority(ABOVE_NORMAL)
Next

Set colProcesses = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_Process Where Name = 'ApntEx.exe'")
For Each objProcess in colProcesses
objProcess.SetPriority(ABOVE_NORMAL)
Next

 

anyone have a wobbly key? my 'a' key tilts to the right. would sony help me out with this? thanks

 

Sticky keys can be fixed...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4421969#post4421969

See above thread the short version is this:

1) pop key off key retainer
2) remove key retainer
3) inspect key retainer (if it does not swivel freely...)
4) lubricate retainer
5) wipe away excess fluid
6) replace key retainer on keyboard
7) replace key

That should solve one problem - i don't know about double type...
There are illustrations from an external site linked to in the other thread, follow the link above if you're not sure about terms here.

 

I have had the repeating keys problem on a Sony VGN-Z540 and it is annoying. I exchanged the computer and I tested several others at the store. It's an innherent problem. I type almost 100 wpm.