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iamsamwood · 09-02-2006, 02:49 PM

I just recently purchased my Compal HGL30 from powernotebooks.com. I highly suggest buying from this company and I plan to buy from them again; the staff is very knowledgeable and courteous. They offer 24/7 tech support which is not outsourced and although I haven’t had to call it, I’ve heard great things. I love the HGL30, however the flex in the keyboard (which was mentioned as minor in some reviews) was intolerable. On the left hand side by lightly pressing down “a” the entire left third of the keyboard would flex. The middle had some flex but wasn’t as bad, and the right had almost no flex unless you press down hard and then it flexed worse than the left side.

After reading this post “http://forum.notebookreview.com/show...60006&page=32” I popped that tabs and removed the “Media Office” panel to access the keyboard. These tabs are especially difficult to remove, I suggest using a very long flathead screw driver to slide underneath the panel and gently lift upward releasing the tabs starting from left to right.

Upon removing the panel we realized that three tiny screw along with several tabs held the keyboard down. Donald and several other owners have suggested using 3M double sided tape to keep the keyboard down but I saw that as only a temporary solution because eventually the tape will give.

We found that by sliding a slim piece of steel (.365 mm) underneath the keyboard the flex was gone entirely. If you can’t find a steel bar then using a slim metal ruler may also do the trick. Anything that’s long enough, slim and will not give.

We used two pieces of slim double sided tape to attach the bar. As you can see we also placed the bar in the center making sure not to block the gpu fan. There were also several metal tabs placed for FCC regulations that weren’t making enough contact with the keyboard that we bent upward.

Make sure to be careful placing the “Media Office” panel back in place. It took us several tries getting the tabs to lock. Brute forcing it will only cause the tabs to break. Starting form the outside and working your way to the middle seemed to work best.

And there you have it, no flex what so ever. It’s more solid than my friend’s Macbook pro.

09-02-2006, 02:49 PM	#632
iamsamwood Newbie Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	Compal HGL30 Flex fix I just recently purchased my Compal HGL30 from powernotebooks.com. I highly suggest buying from this company and I plan to buy from them again; the staff is very knowledgeable and courteous. They offer 24/7 tech support which is not outsourced and although I haven’t had to call it, I’ve heard great things. I love the HGL30, however the flex in the keyboard (which was mentioned as minor in some reviews) was intolerable. On the left hand side by lightly pressing down “a” the entire left third of the keyboard would flex. The middle had some flex but wasn’t as bad, and the right had almost no flex unless you press down hard and then it flexed worse than the left side. After reading this post “http://forum.notebookreview.com/show...60006&page=32” I popped that tabs and removed the “Media Office” panel to access the keyboard. These tabs are especially difficult to remove, I suggest using a very long flathead screw driver to slide underneath the panel and gently lift upward releasing the tabs starting from left to right. Upon removing the panel we realized that three tiny screw along with several tabs held the keyboard down. Donald and several other owners have suggested using 3M double sided tape to keep the keyboard down but I saw that as only a temporary solution because eventually the tape will give. We found that by sliding a slim piece of steel (.365 mm) underneath the keyboard the flex was gone entirely. If you can’t find a steel bar then using a slim metal ruler may also do the trick. Anything that’s long enough, slim and will not give. We used two pieces of slim double sided tape to attach the bar. As you can see we also placed the bar in the center making sure not to block the gpu fan. There were also several metal tabs placed for FCC regulations that weren’t making enough contact with the keyboard that we bent upward. Make sure to be careful placing the “Media Office” panel back in place. It took us several tries getting the tabs to lock. Brute forcing it will only cause the tabs to break. Starting form the outside and working your way to the middle seemed to work best. And there you have it, no flex what so ever. It’s more solid than my friend’s Macbook pro.