Replacing laptop keys

[bogart]

Hey,
My 'w' key isn't responsive, making gaming a bitch. I've haven't got alot of tech knowledge but I'm curious, is there any of way of fixing it without getting a new one? My laptop is an alienware M15X. Also, as far as removing it goes, I presume I don't just pry it out? How does that work?
Thanks,

[Kamikaze-X]

do you get any input from the key itself, like in word documents etc? if not, you are looking at a full keyboard replacement. contact Dell.

[bogart]

I get some input however it requires pressing it heavily and won't always work, will I need an entire keyboard replacement for just a single key?

[mrpier]

Probably yes, the sensors that registers the keypresses usually sits on a sort of circuit mat and there is no way to just replace the one of them. Do an image search for "inside keyboard" or something similar and you'll see what I mean.

[Gerbick]

Check there's no dirt under the key first. Working in schools this is the most common cause of "HELP!!! Keyboard not working" problems I come across.

[bogart]

Hm, after pressing it just recently I heard a kind of 'CRACK' sound, now its working perfectly, so I'll just pretend nothing ever happened.
Thanks for the input guys!

[Kamikaze-X]

that was the cookie you were eating a little while ago

;)

[solipsistnation]

Yeah, be glad it cleared up-- it was probably a bit of crisp (or chip or whatever you call it) stuck in there. Otherwise, yeah-- you typically do have to replace the whole keyboard to fix a single key. Depending on the type of keyboard, it may be more or less difficult to pop the key off and clean under it, too-- some of them are very difficult to clean like that without breaking important pieces of the key mechanism, too...