Shopping for a new Laptop: Suggestions on Manufacturers? HP or Dell?

Jesse Williams said:

Update: I tried one more time to turn on my Laptop, and now it is working again. When I powered it up, it said something about the CMOS needing to be reset which requires a reboot. So I rebooted it, and it powered up and all is working now. But now, it is just the keyboard that is going to need repair. Because the keys are sticking.

When I built my desktop four years ago I bought a keyboard and mouse combo. They shared the same USB dongle. The mouse worked fine but the keyboard was unresponsive most of the time. I sometimes had to hit a key 10 times to get it to respond

I tried a couple things. I moved the dongle from a USB 3.0 port in the front to a USB 2.0 port in the back. I also moved most of my WiFi device to 5GHz. I did this because I read that there was potential interference at 2.4GHz. I also read that some people had problems with USB dongles plugged into USB 3.0.

I still don't know which of the things I did made the difference. Whatever I did the keyboard works a lot better now.

Is your keyboard using a wireless USB dongle? If it is you might try a USB 2.0 port to see if that makes a difference.

Hi,
No more drinking beer/ soda/ coffee/... near the computer lol

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
No more drinking beer/ soda/ coffee/... near the computer lol

I admit over the years I have had a few sticky keys from incidents with spilled soda. This time my problem was with a new keyboard. No soda in sight. It was definitely RF interference of some sort.

We will have to wait for the OP to respond to see what kind of keyboard he has to make sure the keyboard is really broken.

margrave55 said:

I generally advise against the home/small business laptops ... or any laptop that lists for under $1000. They tend to be junk.
When you buy junk it breaks ... and then you buy junk again ... and it breaks.
But with the over-$1000 business laptops you get better construction and longer life.

I was going to suggest Lenovo. Mine is 7 years old and works perfectly. Can't say the same for the Dells and HPs that I've owned.

But for $150 you can't get anything ... not if you buy new.
If you buy cheap you're just throwing your money away.

Likely depends on the use. If used for gaming or activities that maximize the system, perhaps life will be shortened Some purchase more computer than they need for the status. But there are quality computers under $1K.

I am typing this on a 8 yr old Toshiba (i3, 2348, 4gb RAM) that sold for $550. Trouble free with the exception of replacing the keyboard and AV adapter.

Jesse Williams said:

Update: I tried one more time to turn on my Laptop, and now it is working again. When I powered it up, it said something about the CMOS needing to be reset which requires a reboot. So I rebooted it, and it powered up and all is working now. But now, it is just the keyboard that is going to need repair. Because the keys are sticking.

If the CMOS warning pops up again, remove the battery and put back. Other info available on the 'net.

I had success in purchasing keyboards on EBay. Just check the seller's rep and return policy and insure it is correct for your system.

The problem with mine with what happened to it, is the fact that my niece poured Milk on the keyboard. Now, it smells like rotten Milk. But I am going to order a new keyboard from eBay. I found one for $20.

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MisterEd said:

I admit over the years I have had a few sticky keys from incidents with spilled soda. This time my problem was with a new keyboard. No soda in sight. It was definitely RF interference of some sort.

We will have to wait for the OP to respond to see what kind of keyboard he has to make sure the keyboard is really broken.

OEM HP 255 G7 Laptop 15.6" Palmrest Touchpad Keyboard AP29M000420 AM29M000100 | eBay