I spilt coffee on my lovely computer and the keyboard doesn't work any more. I'm kind of hoping that I can replace the keyboard and have it working again, but it's going to take a while for the new keyboard to turn up and then, if that doesn't work, a while to buy a new computer. My EEE PC was only the second new computer I've ever had, and I've had it less than a year - I do feel very very stupid about it.
I have to remind myself that accidents happen to everyone, and sometimes far more disastrous ones. All my data is backed up, which was my greatest concern. And I can get on-line with this far inferior Apple machine but it is connected to the telly and is very difficult to do any writing on. I may find some means to blog if this goes on too long.
How frustrating! But all my silly fault. I did once spill a mug of herbal tea over a keyboard, but if anything its performance improved somewhat once it had dried out. It probably had magical healing properties.
10 comments:
Hmmm, interesting that tea does a keyboard good but coffee does not. I am very sorry about your spilling the emotional feelings. Nothing hurts more than the pretty shiny thing now not pretty and shiny and the need to blame is high, and when YOU did it (or me, since I am a pretty consistant dropper of things) there is nothing but, SIGH. Here's to the new keyboard arriving soon!
Accidental Damage Insurance is your friend... Mine pays for itself every year... And I *bet* I am more cack handed than you. Slightly. Maybe.
x
Oh dear, that is a bummer. I wonder if a hairdryer on low setting would help? Probably not.
I once dropped my brand new mobile in a glass of water. How on earth I managed to get a phone in a glass of water not much bigger than itself I cannot say. But I did spend a frantic time trying to fix it. In the end I got it working and my father found a message on his mobile answerphone. It turned out that while I thought my phone was dead, I had actually managed to phone him and had left a 15 minute message consisting on my grumbling and self-hatred, not to mention frantic dabbing with a tissue.
If I can be of any help, feel free to contact me. I recently looked into replacing eee pc keyboards when my sister's cat took a liking to her ` key. In the end I was able to cobble together a repair rather than replacing the board, but I'd already looked up instructions. There's even a helpful video on youtube.
Good luck!
Thanks everyone,
Elizabeth - good to see you about. Apparently coffee with sugar is the worst, although mine didn't have any. I also wonder about the difference between caffeinated and de-caffeinated coffee - does the former send the computer into overdrive?
Katie - Thing is our contents insurance has an excess of £200, which is about what my computer is worth. We work on the basis of having a float enough to cover such disasters and keep the premiums down. AJ is of a mind that all accidents are preventable, and of course never has any of his own. So whilst you are probably slightly more cack-handed than I am (I imagine that I am somewhat slower in my malco-ordinated movements), I tend to get banned from most activities in which accidents could incur great expense.
Seahorse - I did place it upside a short distance above the radiator (i.e. far enough for no glue to melt) for many hours.
Stephen - Thanks for the offer of help. We managed to get the keyboard out already in order to attempt a thorough clean, but the problem is extensive - if it was just one key, it would be a different matter. As it is, it is unclear exactly where the problem lies - it's not absolutely certain that a new keyboard will do it - it could be something deeper, something more fundamental.
I'm really hoping it's just the keyboard, and there are some clues to this being the case (everything else appears to work, and a few of the keys did recover after a wash). If that's the case, the replacement keyboard, off eBay, won't have been an expensive repair.
I killed my laptop last fall by leaving my water glass close enough to it that my dog was able to knock the water onto it. The repair estimate was about as high as a new computer, so I wound up replacing it and still feel terrible about the credit card payment, but it no longer feels optional, having a computer at home.
At any rate, I'm very relieved you had your data backed up. I didn't, and recovering just the jpegs doubled the cost. Caution pays off!
Oh Goldfish, I feel for you. I've lost 2 laptops, one to coffee (husband spilled it and it fried the motherboard which we replaced but for some reason never got round to using it again) and one to Gin and Tonic, but that one our son in law managed to get going again. :-)
So now husband has that one - I had to get a new laptop as the desktop died about 2 days before the laptop was anointed, and as it was I was SIX WHOLE DAYS without internet! Oh the pain of withdrawal! But I did get some books read. Oh yeah, it was just before Xmas too, so needed it for shopping.
Hope the keyboard fixes the problem for you. Let us know how it goes.
Hugs from sunny Liverpool
OMG Nothing worse (except maybe tax time)(or death) than "Computer Down!), I'm feeling your pain. Thanks for the advice though, I'll pour some herbal tea over my keyboard right now! It has been a bit slow.
Oh, if your computer is worth less than the excess then yeah... Also, I agree with you assessment of our relative cack-handedness and speed, I think. We should have a competition! (Let's not.)
I disagree with AJ's assessment that all accidents are preventable. Well, I suppose in my life they probably *are* but only if I sat on the sofa all day and didn't move. And even then my startle reflex would still see me kicking over a wine glass unexpectedly. So I'd have to sit on the sofa without moving, wrapped in bubble wrap with my limbs tied together, only using plastic crockery...
I don't doubt that it's someone's deepest darkest fantasy to be in that position, but it's not my idea of fun!
I do tend to steer clear of china shops, though.
Oh the irony: I found myself claiming on my accidental damage insurance today... for my laptop. Still not entirely sure what I did to it but I'm assured it was definitely my fault.
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