Really Weird Keyboard Fault On New Dell Vostro Laptop

[carlito8]

Just wondering if anyome has come across this problem before ? Today I received one of the bargain Vostro 1510's from last week's dell offer. It arrived this morning and is very nice apart from the bottom row of keys is off by one !

Each letter is transposed once to the left.

For example if I type nbvcx I avtually get mnbvc !!!!! Weirdly only the lower set of letters is affected (including the punctuation keys....)

I've tried doing a clean install of vista with no change. I suppose I'll have to ring dell in the morning but i'm really not looking forward to explaining this one over the phone to India........

(ntw - it has just takem ,e tem ,imutes to type this da,m ,essage ! This is how what happems if I dom't shift ome key too the left for the notto, row)/

[simonmac]

hang on this sounds familiar, have a look here:

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/ne...admitted.phtml

[carlito8]

Originally Posted by simonmac

hang on this sounds familiar, have a look here:

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/ne...admitted.phtml

Cheers for that, looks like a common problem on European 1510's. I'll give them a ring in the morning and see what they say. The link below says they are sending out new keyboards or an engineer to all affected.

http://direct2dell.com/smallbusiness...-re-doing.aspx

I've seen some cock ups before but this is pretty impressive

[ColinD]

Did you buy that from the Main Dell Website last week?

Are they really shipping these with this known problem.

This hit the news on the 6th May.

Colin

[carlito8]

Bought last Friday from the Dell small business site and arrived yesterday, I called them this morning and the woman said it was a known issue but that it should not have affected new customers. She has passed my details to the team responsible for sorting this out and said someone will call me later to arrange either an engineer or posting a replacement keyboard out.

Originally I did think of asking for a new laptop but I've already put a bit of stuff on here and can't be bothered to start again. It looks like an easy swap out with the keyboard anyway (vid on the link I posted before).

[soggs]

Mine's exactly the same, I posted on the original thread but will keep an eye on this one to see how it works out. I'm waiting for a call back too but would prefer to get mine swapped than a replacement keyboard.

[carlito8]

Interesting, I thought I was the only one who had received one recently judging by the lack of complaints on **** which had a massive thread about this offer.

Will post back as soon as Dell get back in touch with me.......

[soggs]

A quick update on this one, just had a call from very helpful guy called Richard who has arranged for a replacement laptop to be shipped out and then the old one picked up once I'm happy with the new one. He's going to call back in a few days once he has a delivery date for the new laptop. I have to say I'm pretty impressed so far with the customer support, will keep you updated on whether the new one is ok though!

[carlito8]

I got a call back this afternoon and have arranged for an engineer to come out and fit the new keyboard, the guy I spoke to said it would be quicker than sending out a replacement for a self fit. No explanation of how come they are still shipping out the duff keyboards though but at least it's sorted quickly.

[soggs]

Glad you've managed to arrange a callout to replace yours. How soon are they coming out to do it? I decided to get the whole laptop replaced as I hadn't really used it, knowing my luck the second one will be the same. I would be interested to hear why they are still being shipped like this though, especially as its nearly two months since the problem was reported.

[pompeyfan]

Looks like the 1310's are sorted, as got mine Monday and it's fine.

[KennyVader]

Originally Posted by carlito8

Just wondering if anyome has come across this problem before ? Today I received one of the bargain Vostro 1510's from last week's dell offer. It arrived this morning and is very nice apart from the bottom row of keys is off by one !

Each letter is transposed once to the left.

Got my 1510 today (which was ordered in the same promo last Friday and built Saturday but since then the courier has been playing "pretend we can't find the address") and the keyboard is "normal" fortunately. Maybe they accidentally opened a box of the old dodgy keyboards and so it's just a few people affected.

It's a lovely looking machine - haven't had time to turn it on yet though.

[soggs]

Glad yours has arrived (eventually) with the right keyboard on it. Just typical that this is my first laptop and its wrong, still I've had confirmation my replacement is ready for dispatch so should have it soon, fingers crossed they opened the right box of keyboards this time!

Apart from that it is a great machine, you certainly won't be disappointed once you power it up

[derren]

Yes also got one on order. My advice to everybody for years is do not buy from dell, however brother wanted a machine for approx £300 and this was best offer and therefore I went ahead and got one for him. Had problems with order and customer support was terrible. However they have rectified that with 2 phone calls so now waiting for the laptop and I hope it does not have this problem.

[Art Vanderlay]

My 1510 (well, my one for my parents) arrived today with the wrong keyboard too

I think I will ask for a whole new laptop, as they don't need it for a month or so yet so I am in no hurry. Depends I suppose on whether an engineer could come at the weekend to replace the keyboard, as that is easier for me than having to sort out the couriers as I am not at home during the week.

[KennyVader]

Hmm, well, I mentioned in the sub-£400 thread that I have got my Vostro 1510 now, and it's mostly fantastic, and I'm lucky enough to have the "correct" keyboard with all the letters where they should be.

But the backslash "\" is still in the wrong place, and as someone in IT that needs to use "\" all the time, it's totally doing my head in! on this Vostro, "\" is over on the right next to the right shift. On any UK keyboard, "\" should be on the left between the left shift and Z.

The problem seems to be that Dell have cut a corner and gone with the US/Canada "physical" keyboard layout which DOES have a large left shift key. They then printed/programmed the keyboards with shift\ZXC as is normal for UK keyboards, but the large shift key meant everything got displaced one key to the right, hence the letters were in the wrong place. Their fix has been to move "\" so that now the keys go shiftZXC, but this leaves "\" in the wrong place. What they should have done was change the keyboard physical layout to make the left shift key the width it should have been all along.

Can appreciate that many people won't be bothered by the "\" key being in the wrong place but for a touch-typist working in IT it's a right pain. Going to see if I can find a documented specification for a UK keyboard that says where "\" should be and then see if I can get Dell to fix it (I don't hold out much hope!).

[Art Vanderlay]

I think I would feel the same as you if I was using it as an IT professional. As my parents will not, the misplaced backslash will not bother them

IIRC we had a small Toshiba pass through our office the other day that also had the backslash in a weird place, so I don't think it is just Dell.

Anyway, I am used to hunting around for non-Alpha keys, as I switch between Macs and PCs quite a lot - trying to work out where the keys are on a virtualised or RDP connected PC on a Mac can be a challenge sometimes

[KennyVader]

Found this on the Dell website

http://direct2dell.com/smallbusiness...-re-doing.aspx

I'm not the only one still unhappy at the backslash key now being in the wrong place. There is even a guy pointing out that the British Standard that's been broken.

Judging from the comments there, the problem was mostly dealt with by the end of May, a few people still waiting for their replacements into the first week of June. Then around 18 June the flurry of comments suggests Dell have accidentally (?) shipped loads with the wrong keyboard again

The woman from Dell is trying to claim that several manufacturers have started using the large left shift key configuration and has attempted to back up her claims with some links to images of laptops from Toshiba etc, firstly her claims do not seem to be backed up by what is actually in store, just pics of laptops that could well be US models; secondly even if other manufacturers have ignored the relevant British Standard doesn't make it OK for Dell to do the same.

It's a huge shame because in all other respects this is a fantastic laptop, but the \ being wrong is a big problem for me, again I appreciate it probably isn't for most people though.

[jpig]

argh/// just got ,ime delibered mow amd a, typing this message on it/ mot a great start to ,y dell bostro life/

(concentration on now - surely they can fix this with a bios patch alone?) Although i admit for touch typing the keyboard is a nightmare.)

[derren]

Posted here - rather than in the other threads about this.

Dear Customer,

RE: Your recent order of a Dell Vostro 1310 / 1510

A limited number of Dell Vostro 1310 and 1510 laptops in the UK were sent out with a non-standard keyboard layout. Our files show that your recent purchase was impacted. To rectify the issue, Dell will be replacing the keyboard. We have also introduced new quality control measures to ensure this does not happen again.

Next steps? We need to replace your keyboard. We will be calling you in the next 14 days to discuss your options and book a technician if you require one. If you have any questions, or you don’t want to wait, please contact us via e-mail, at emea_ts_pfr@dell.com.

Diagrams are attached to show the faulty and replacement keyboards.

Tomorrow, we will begin calling customers to organise replacement of keyboards. You have two options for keyboard replacement:
1. Customer replaceable keyboard option: For the fastest resolution, we will send a keyboard and software update CD to you in the post. Replacing the keyboard will take approximately 10 minutes. The software update will automatically run from the CD provided. This will take a further 5 minutes and you will need to restart your machine. Visit our Direct2Dell blog here to view a vlog showing how to replace the keyboard.
2. Technician replaceable keyboard option: Whilst customers can replace the keyboard themselves, we realise not all our customers will be comfortable carrying out this activity. For this reason, we are also able to send an engineer to replace the part for you, at no cost. Please note, this option will take more time to complete. We will action these keyboard replacements on a first come first served basis, as quickly as possible.

How did this happen? Essentially we revised the design of the original keyboard format, following customer feedback. One of our keyboard parts suppliers sent us one shipment of the pervious layout. When the factory received the shipment, our own quality control process did not pick up the error. We have now put in place new quality control measures in our keyboard parts procurement process.

Dell values you as a customer and we apologise for the inconvenience this problem will cause.

Yours Sincerely,

Dell Quality Team

Whats so poor about this is I have not even had it delivered yet, and they were aware of the problem (due to the issue in dell forums, here, and they must have had complaints), BEFORE I placed my order, so they knowingly are sending out faulty laptops. Interesting what the law is on this. I will await delivery before I contact them.

Derren