I like the size and the display of my old compaq contura.
And I can't justify buying a new machine which I only use a few hours a year:
for special circumstances.

After the Ctrl, Alt, Fn keys stopped working, I traced that the track from
the keybrd-membrane via the flexible-pcd-cable was "diss" so I tried to
fix it. Now I've damaged the adjacent tracks too !

Were all these membrane parts made by one manufacturer, for various
keyboards ? And perhaps still available from the membrane manufacturer ?
Since human hands haven't changed with the new fads, the size and
configuration of keyboards are the same as years ago.

Perhaps a generic '2 flexible pcb-connector membrane is available' ?

Do other notebook users just throw their devices away, for such small
defects ?

== TIA.

You have created a situation from which the only escape is a whole new
keyboard. There is no other practical solution, unless you can use an
external keyboard exclusively.


no.top.post******.com wrote:
> I like the size and the display of my old compaq contura.
> And I can't justify buying a new machine which I only use a few hours a year:
> for special circumstances.
>
> After the Ctrl, Alt, Fn keys stopped working, I traced that the track from
> the keybrd-membrane via the flexible-pcd-cable was "diss" so I tried to
> fix it. Now I've damaged the adjacent tracks too !
>
> Were all these membrane parts made by one manufacturer, for various
> keyboards ? And perhaps still available from the membrane manufacturer ?
> Since human hands haven't changed with the new fads, the size and
> configuration of keyboards are the same as years ago.
>
> Perhaps a generic '2 flexible pcb-connector membrane is available' ?
>
> Do other notebook users just throw their devices away, for such small
> defects ?
>
> == TIA.
>

In article <haubvv$b6s$1@news.eternal-september.org>, Barry Watzman <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote:

> You have created a situation from which the only escape is a whole new
> keyboard. There is no other practical solution, unless you can use an
> external keyboard exclusively.
>
You can't buy 'a whole new keyboard' for older laptops.
What laptops can use an external keyboard ?
Perhaps I'll boot it to ETH-Oberon which can convenietly
be fully mouse driven.

Re: "You can't buy 'a whole new keyboard' for older laptops"

That depends on the laptop and the manufacturer. I certainly can still
buy a "whole new keyboard" for a Toshiba 2805 (2001) or a 2415 (2003).

Otherwise, find a broken laptop of the same model and buy it for it's
keyboard, or, possibly, just a used (but working) keyboard (E-Bay).

Re: "What laptops can use an external keyboard ?"

Almost all of them that I am aware of; using either a PS/2 keyboard on
older models and/or a USB keyboard on newer ones. Or, on some, a
docking station.


no.top.post******.com wrote:
> In article <haubvv$b6s$1@news.eternal-september.org>, Barry Watzman <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote:
>
>> You have created a situation from which the only escape is a whole new
>> keyboard. There is no other practical solution, unless you can use an
>> external keyboard exclusively.
>>
> You can't buy 'a whole new keyboard' for older laptops.
> What laptops can use an external keyboard ?
> Perhaps I'll boot it to ETH-Oberon which can convenietly
> be fully mouse driven.
>
>
>

In article <hautg5$g91$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
<no.top.post******.com> wrote:
>>
>You can't buy 'a whole new keyboard' for older laptops.

Well, of course you can. Try Ebay.

In article <hb166i$mnp$1@reader1.panix.com>, wrat@panix.com (the wharf rat) wrote:

> In article <hautg5$g91$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
> <no.top.post******.com> wrote:
> >>
> >You can't buy 'a whole new keyboard' for older laptops.
>
> Well, of course you can. Try Ebay.
>
Usenet reaches around the world; ebay deliveries don't.
Many americans don't realise that there's a world outside of US.

Actually, E-Bay does reach pretty much around the world, but the
selection is different in different countries. Aside from buying
something from a seller in another country, E-Bay has local, in-country
E-Bay sites in many countries. This is something that most US users
don't realize.

The selection available to any give buyer is a mix of what you can can
get both from sellers in your own country (and, to some extent, all of
Europe can be treated as "one country") and what you can get from
sellers in other countries who are willing to ship internationally.


no.top.post******.com wrote:
> In article <hb166i$mnp$1@reader1.panix.com>, wrat@panix.com (the wharf rat) wrote:
>
>> In article <hautg5$g91$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
>> <no.top.post******.com> wrote:
>>> You can't buy 'a whole new keyboard' for older laptops.
>> Well, of course you can. Try Ebay.
>>
> Usenet reaches around the world; ebay deliveries don't.
> Many americans don't realise that there's a world outside of US.
>
>

Elaborating on that further, E-Bay has separate sites in each of the
following countries:

Argentina
Brazil
Canada
Colombia
Mexico
United States
Austria
Belgium
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Netherlands
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Australia
China
Hong Kong
India
Korea
Malaysia
New Zealand
Philippines
Singapore
Taiwan

[Sorry for the lack of order; this was a cut/paste from a multi-column
presentation]

In addition, E-Bay has a "Global Hub" which lets a buyer see everything
available to him (e.g. his own country plus items from sellers in other
countries that will ship to his country).

http://pages.ebay.in/globaltrade/international.html
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/international-site.html



Barry Watzman wrote:
> Actually, E-Bay does reach pretty much around the world, but the
> selection is different in different countries. Aside from buying
> something from a seller in another country, E-Bay has local, in-country
> E-Bay sites in many countries. This is something that most US users
> don't realize.
>
> The selection available to any give buyer is a mix of what you can can
> get both from sellers in your own country (and, to some extent, all of
> Europe can be treated as "one country") and what you can get from
> sellers in other countries who are willing to ship internationally.
>
>
> no.top.post******.com wrote:
>> Usenet reaches around the world; ebay deliveries don't.
>> Many americans don't realise that there's a world outside of US.
>>
>>

no.top.post******.com wrote:
> I like the size and the display of my old compaq contura.
> And I can't justify buying a new machine which I only use a few hours a year:
> for special circumstances.

What is the model number?

I have a stack of contura laptops in the shed, maybe one with a good
keyboard. Where are you?

--
Adrian C

In article <hb3fa5$r7v$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
<no.top.post******.com> wrote:
>>
>Usenet reaches around the world; ebay deliveries don't.

Then try a newspaper. Do they have them outside of America?
I wouldn't know since if it happens outside of Round Rock I never notice,
never mind in one of then there foriegn places.

In article <hb3h2p$5eh$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
Barry Watzman <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote:
>Actually, E-Bay does reach pretty much around the world, but the
>selection is different in different countries. Aside from buying

It's also kind of silly to say you can't buy parts for old
laptops. They're widely available (excpet for batteries...) Heck,
if I knew what the original poster was looking for I'd see if I had
one laying around he could have...

My hobby is refurbishing OLD laptops and seeing how hard it is to
get Linux running on them... Keyboards don't seem to be too hard, some
of the case parts are harder, drive adaptors can be difficult...

Somewhere on teh intarwebs Barry Watzman wrote:
> Elaborating on that further, E-Bay has separate sites in each of the
> following countries:
>
> Argentina
> Brazil
> Canada
> Colombia
> Mexico
> United States
> Austria
> Belgium
> France
> Germany
> Ireland
> Italy
> Netherlands
> Spain
> Sweden
> Switzerland
> United Kingdom
> Australia
> China
> Hong Kong
> India
> Korea
> Malaysia
> New Zealand
> Philippines
> Singapore
> Taiwan
>
> [Sorry for the lack of order; this was a cut/paste from a multi-column
> presentation]
>
> In addition, E-Bay has a "Global Hub" which lets a buyer see
> everything available to him (e.g. his own country plus items from
> sellers in other countries that will ship to his country).
>
> http://pages.ebay.in/globaltrade/international.html
> http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/international-site.html

I've just checked out the New Zealand eBay. In the computer section it has
101 listings - for *everything* computer-related. Software to hardware,
desktops and laptops, Apple and Wintel.

There is a native NZ site called TradeMe, (I'm user 'misfit', what else?
<g>) they don't give a number of listings for the whole of the 'computer'
category but in 'laptops' alone there are currently 7661 listings. Seems
eBay never really got a foothold here.

Cheers,
--
Shaun.

"Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's
warm for the rest of his life." Terry Pratchet, 'Jingo'.

In article <hb6inp$3cf$2@reader1.panix.com>, wrat@panix.com (the wharf rat) wrote:

> In article <hb3h2p$5eh$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
> Barry Watzman <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote:
> >Actually, E-Bay does reach pretty much around the world, but the
> >selection is different in different countries. Aside from buying
>
> It's also kind of silly to say you can't buy parts for old
> laptops. They're widely available (excpet for batteries...) Heck,
> if I knew what the original poster was looking for I'd see if I had
> one laying around he could have...
>
> My hobby is refurbishing OLD laptops and seeing how hard it is to
> get Linux running on them... Keyboards don't seem to be too hard, some
> of the case parts are harder, drive adaptors can be difficult...
>
I think you asked the serial numger and location ?
Compaq Contura Aero 4/33C
Series 2830A
BarCodePaper: 7519HMR51837
--
Johannesburg, S.Africa.
I like the display, so I'll perhaps set it up to boot straight into
ETH-Oberon, which can be mouse driven.

I investigated the smartQ5 that was mentioned here.
A linux, ARM based device would be good, provided the
display allows the batteries to last.
Nobody talks about charge-life, which IMO is important.

== Chis Glur.

In article <hbf6t2$iml$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
<no.top.post******.com> wrote:
>>
>I think you asked the serial numger and location ?
>Compaq Contura Aero 4/33C
>Series 2830A
>BarCodePaper: 7519HMR51837

I have a model U03769001 (spares 139461) Compaq keybaord that looks
to be the right part. If you send me a real address I'll see about shipping
it (if you agree that it should work, it's from a hmmm 4/25 I think but I
seem to remember that it was the same part...)