Vortex 3: Keyboard's key problem

[Dotnetwizard]

Could you tell me how did you disconnected the keyboard from the motherboard?

It's actually quite easy as I successfully swapped out a faulty keyboard for a replacement that PCS sent to me.

All you need to do is remove the plastic strip between the keyboard and speakers (it's not screwed down) by carefully prising up the left & right edges. Once removed you will see the screws in the lugs holding down the keyboard (I think there are about 5?!) so grab a small cross-head screw driver and unscrew all screws and put them somewhere for safe keeping. Now, carefully lift up the two middle lugs and gently pull the keyboard towards the screen, and you should see two ribbon cables under the screen, both held in place by two locking clips. Prise away these clips very carefully to release the ribbon cables and the keyboard will come free.

Hope this makes sense?

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility if you damage your computer in the process of removing the keyboard so only proceed if you feel comfortable in doing so.

 

[Luxas]

Thank you for the replay. The point where I got stuck was with those clips. As I saw on yt and read somewhere that you shuld lift them up (but in reality you have to slide backward the dark part of the mechanizm) but just looking at it I knew it wouldn't work. Luckily my brother was keen on that one. So I got it yesterday. Now I'm enjoying new keyboard. And WOW. The TAB works ;p

ps. 1+ for the help mate

 

[Dotnetwizard]

After getting my Vortex 3 keyboard replaced the problem of missed keys still perists

As a programmer I am finding the keyboard to be a cosmic fail on such an expensive laptop and I have emailed PCS about this. I have now had two keyboards fail on me and it's getting ridiculous now!

Has anybody, who has had their keyboard replaced, sorted out their problems?

 

[Mattt]

I had mine sent back to PCS, they told me they had to replace the motherboard in order to fix the backlight issues - and tested the keyboard and it worked.

The keyboard is now better than it was, but I still occasionally miss a,w,s keys.

 

[Luxas]

The truth is that keyboard sucks in general. The designer should be hanged by the balls.

Dotnetwizard: if you are a programmer try getting MSI SteelSeries keyboard (it fits vortex 3 chasis) however the labels of Fn keys are slightly different

 

[Dotnetwizard]

As this is my second keyboard and the missing keystrokes problem still persists, so either the keyboard is a duff one, or there is a problem with the keyboard controller on the motherboard?

Even pressing the keys a little harder still does not cause the keystroke to register, even the first keystroke does not always register.

 

[Katarnus]

The truth is that keyboard sucks in general. The designer should be hanged by the balls.

Dotnetwizard: if you are a programmer try getting MSI SteelSeries keyboard (it fits vortex 3 chasis) however the labels of Fn keys are slightly different

where can you buy one of these steelseries keyboards? maybe PCS should offer them no?

 

[ObserverJLin]

where can you buy one of these steelseries keyboards? maybe PCS should offer them no?

The keyboard can be ordered from http://www.rkcomputer.net/rkcnotebooks/index.php?l=product_detail&p=366
Check out this link where there is a discussion about Steelseries keyboard on Clevp P150EM & P170EM. http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...s-chiclet-backlit-keyboard-p150em-p170em.html
XoticPC in USA has already done it. Check out the vid. http://youtu.be/bDVkO2qhXME

It would be an appealing upgrade if PCS offered it too.

 

[Katarnus]

The keyboard can be ordered from http://www.rkcomputer.net/rkcnotebooks/index.php?l=product_detail&p=366
Check out this link where there is a discussion about Steelseries keyboard on Clevp P150EM & P170EM. http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...s-chiclet-backlit-keyboard-p150em-p170em.html
XoticPC in USA has already done it. Check out the vid. http://youtu.be/bDVkO2qhXME

It would be an appealing upgrade if PCS offered it too.

Thanks for the link however the website only seems to have delivery options to the US or Canada. I really want the 17.3" Vortex III however the problems with the keyboard are stopping me from ordering. The Vortex III LE has a chiclet keyboard which seems to be better, although not backlit. I wonder if PCS replace the standard backlit one on the 17inch with this LE version keyboard. Im assuming they are the same size?

 

[Nivation]

I've been having problems with the keyboard. I really wish it had something similar to the optimus II keyboard (my previous laptop) - you don't miss it till its gone. =]

 

[QuickstepKing]

I wonder if you can connect a steel series on the Vortex III LE, which doesn't have backlighting but has the stock chiclet keyboard...and then turn on backlighting...hmmm

 

[mdwh]

I too find the Vortex 3 keyboard awful - there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the fitting of the keys as in the OP, but others have said, many keys are unresponsive. I found that Tab only worked if I hit it hard (particularly annoying, as I'm a programmer), and some keys like g and h are often missed if I touch them towards the low end of the key.

One thing I have found is that if I hit or press the key very hard, it helps. The tab key problem is now fixed by this. For the other keys, it helps, but only seems to be a temporary fix. Discovering this has made it a lot more usable than before, but it's still a bit crap to have to fix a key like this every so often.

It's a shame on an otherwise excellent laptop. I don't know if this is due to limitations with having a backlit keyboard - personally I'd much rather have a working keyboard than fancy backlighting. Consider that on my 10" Samsung netbook, with its tiny keyboard, it's still a much better keyboard that I can type much better on.

My partner has the Optimus, and that looks like a much nicer keyboard. I'd also previously tried a friend's Vortex 2, which I remember as being fine (I don't think that was a backlit?), so I was a bit disappointed with the Vortex 3's keyboard.

 

[hargil]

this is the only thing that has held me back from my purchase.

in all other respects the vortex looks perfect and pcs's customer service sounds excellent but the keyboard is the main interface to the unit....

still pondering....

 

[AZ PL]

this is the only thing that has held me back from my purchase.

in all other respects the vortex looks perfect and pcs's customer service sounds excellent but the keyboard is the main interface to the unit....

still pondering....

+1



Do you still having problem with keyboard?
Is it getting better after a while?

 

[bormom]

To be fair, it IS a bit of a pain, but I hope it is just a matter of gettting used to. These are the things that I whish were different in order of most to least annoying:

1. The size of the enter key - it shold have been bigger. Instead of the standard two rows hight, you get a single row height button. I keep pressing the # button above it
2. The amount of pressure you need to apply when pressing the touchpad buttons. You really gotta push hard and it slows you down. Where possible I use tap-to-click but when you want to drag multiple items it can be a bit of a pain.
3. The responsiveness of he keys.
4. The fact that there is no middle button on the touchpad (that's just me being picky, but I quite like how easy it makes opening links in new background tabs).

Having said that, it is still a great laptop (provided you get the right screen) , and I am willing to look past its annoyances, as it lets me have a smooth Crysis 2 gameplay @1920x1080p ULTRA (all settingss but motion blur - I just hate that) with the Nvidia 680M.

 

[thebre]

Ah, not fun to see others having the exact same problem as I have just experienced.

I bought my vortex III last week and the tab key was extremely unresponsive, registering perhaps one in 10 or 20 clicks whilst the rest of the keys seemed to be fine. I would have thought PCS are able to test this before going out especially given I had to wait 20 days for the laptop to arrive in the first place due to missing and low stock of various components.

I sent the laptop back yesterday to have the keyboard replaced as 1) after spending some £1300 I am not prepared to accept anything less than perfect on arrival. I don't see it 'as a pain that hopefully I get used to'. I see it as an deficient product that needs repairing. The pain is that I have to now wait longer before using something I bought a month ago.

Hopefully after the keyboard is replaced I can come back to the forums and let you all know that the issue has been fixed. I didn't realise the issue was so widespread so a bit worried that a lot of the keyboard stock is bad.

I tried hitting it multiple times and holding it down for several minutes on advice from the PCS technical support to no avail, so I sent it back.

 

[Garner]

Oh thank god it isn't just me... I'm having to hammer the keys on my <2 month old Vortex III. To begin with I thought it was just me but I now routinely leave out letters when typing. It constantly feels like it doesn't respond to input. I'm pressing the keys hard all the time but it still doesn't register them all.

For a £1300 laptop that its just unacceptable :|

Anyone else also having an issue with the Bluetooth? Works fine when it boots up, you put it to sleep and when it comes back you get Bluetooth for 30 seconds or so and then anything connected gets disconnected. Turning the devices off/on has no effect, turning bluetooth itself off/on also has no effect. Only way I've found to get it working again is to reboot. Makes using a BT mouse slightly problematic...

 

[Garner]

Oh thank god it isn't just me... I'm having to hammer the keys on my <2 month old Vortex III. To begin with I thought it was just me but I now routinely leave out letters when typing. It constantly feels like it doesn't respond to input. I'm pressing the keys hard all the time but it still doesn't register them all.

For a £1300 laptop that its just unacceptable :|

Anyone else also having an issue with the Bluetooth? Works fine when it boots up, you put it to sleep and when it comes back you get Bluetooth for 30 seconds or so and then anything connected gets disconnected. Turning the devices off/on has no effect, turning bluetooth itself off/on also has no effect. Only way I've found to get it working again is to reboot. Makes using a BT mouse slightly problematic...

PCS technical team to the rescue
Its early days but a quick phone call and the guy got me to unclip the top of the laptop, unscrew the keyboard, remove the two ribbon cables holding the keyboard in, check for damage and the reseat after giving the two cable ends a wipe. Just in case a connection wasn't quite being made. Suggest calling them before you rip yours apart tho - its just what was suggested to me

Figured I'd give it a go... quicker than sending it all back!
Anyways, here I am, typing away with no problems at all. As I said above, early days but if you don't hear from me again... I'm sorted! Its done this forum post just fine, first time since I've bought it that its managed something this long (well... more than a sentence) without missing a key press. Will see how it handles when I resume coding with it later

 

[cheshirecat765]

A lot of people are having problems with their keyboard on the Vortex III but mine is superb, it's got a fast response and feels really nice to use really. Maybe it's a bad batch? I dunno

 

[HonestFlames]

I had the 'key not sitting correctly' with my Dell laptop. A good, firm push and a slight wiggle and it clicked back in correctly and worked perfectly ever more. The key caps on laptops are much easier to dislodge, compared to your average desktop keyboard.

Useful thread though. I'm going to be checking this as soon as I receive my order.