G74SX-A1 Keyboard Issues (Key Engagement)

[cmorriss]

Just posting my experiences here. I was having major keyboard issues with the lack of key registration and whatnot. After flashing to the 203 BIOS, it was like getting a new fully functional keyboard replacement. Now I can type virtually flawlessly and am happy as a clam.

Sorry for the others, but definitely happy that mine is working great now!

[300mph]

To those of you who have experienced missed keystrokes and noticed that you have to press a key again or harder than usual to get it to register I have observed the same thing on my G74SX-DH73-3D.

This is not a BIOS or software issue. I have done some experimenting and found that this problem is indeed a mechanical one. The issue here is the mechanical design of this keyboard lends itself to this type of problem. If you place your finger lightly on a key and move it from side to side you will notice that the key surface will rock back and forth and will not stay level with the surface plane of the keyboard. This can cause a situation where if you hit a key off center near the edge it may stop before the key registers.

In my case I noticed this on the '5' key on the numpad. If I place my finger on the edge of this key and press down until I feel the key click, but no harder, it will never register because the side of the key has hit the bottom of the stroke but the center of the key has not. If I then rock my finger to the center it will register.

This IMHO is a very bad mechanical design that leads to missed keystrokes. In this design the keys do not have that much travel in the first place so any rocking of the keys will cause missed keystrokes when the edge of the key hits first. I think ASUS should fix this problem and replace these marginal keyboards.

[Wolfpup]

I never noticed missed keys or anything-in fact this is one of if not the best notebook keyboards I've used...

BUT, I had my keyboard quit working right after I cleaned it with like lysol wipe thing. I've done that with countless keyboards without issue, so...I don't know.

I'm not using my G74 as a 24/7 Folding @ Home machine, at which it's doing a REMARKABLY good job! I'm a week in, and it's maybe as much as trippled or more my points per day, and it barely feels warm, even sitting on a cardboard box LOL

The cooling's amazing if nothing else. I mean I was impressed when I could game on it and it seemed like no big deal, but now I'm running the CPUs and GPU at 100% for over a week, and it STILL seems like no big deal to it...

[bbro]

I have the Best Buy model and have the exact same issues with the keyboard. It takes incredible accuracy to hit each key dead center at full pressure while looking at the screen. I spoke with customer support today and they asked me to either take it back to Best Buy for warranty or send in to them repair/replace. Unsure of what the issue is but they sure had no desire to discuss how many other people were having the same issue after I told them I "Googled" it and saw pages of results. I have always been a Asus fan hope this gets remedied. I hate pulling out a cheap Dell USB keyboard to type. FYI: I missed about thirty to forty keystrokes while typing this using the built in keyboard!

[Wolfpup]

Well FYI it's not a universal problem, as my keyboard was the best I"ve used on a notebook, until I apparently damaged it with a cleaning cloth...I'm not really sure THAT should have damaged it, but I differently don't have that issue.

[Catzoo]

Yeah but it may depends on how fast you type right ? I mean , every people said around me says " hey i'm typing fast on my keyboard blabla " , but i actually type faster than i speak , and i can right down an entire conversation from two people talkin without any problems.

I'm not saying people here are slow or something, but i say people may have a different definition of what's fast typing.

That's why i carry my heavy blackwidow when i need to type , and i ALWAYS have my nostromo around to avoid that keyboard for gaming xD

[Wolfpup]

I'm at least 65 words per minute...I know there's way faster, but I don't know how fast it is people are having problems with.

[bbro]

Just took an online typing test and typed 47 WPM..so I am not by any means blazing fast. If i remember correctly that is around the average typing speed for a professional environment. I agree with 300MPH post saying it is the rocking of the key itself. For example, the "s" key is the worst on the keyboard and must be pressed down fully and in the center of the key or it doesn't register. I can even hold it down and it not register if it isn't dead center. This can be duplicated over and over again, on multiple keys. I am going to take it to back to Best Buy and view the floor model to see if it is better. If so hopefully it can be repaired as I have the protection plan from Best Buy as well as the factory warranty. I'll post my findings if anyone is interested in the direct comparison.

[Wolfpup]

Yeah, that's not like mine is. I didn't have any keys that were any different from any others, and in fact really liked the keyboard.

[Catzoo]

Oh ok 65 WPM is actually good, so you just may be lucky to have a great keyboard xD