Canadian Bilingual Keyboard out! Standard US Keyboard in! (Compaq Presario C700)

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Sign the petition to bring back the US keyboard layout as a choice for Canadians.

If you happen to know how to type on a standard US keyboard and happen to live in Canada, then you are fresh out of luck when buying a laptop! Unknowing how impossible it is to get used to this keyboard, I purchased my last laptop in Canada. A Compaq Presario C700.

On this silly keyboard, the left shift key and the enter key are completely useless. Re-mapping the keys will not change the physical stupidity of the layout. To fix the problem either cut your pinky fingers where they join your hands to make them longer and flex in unnatural ways, or replace the keyboard.

If you happen to own one of these laptops in Canada and can no longer stand this keyboard, you may be able to replace it the way I did. Here are some resources that I found online:

• Technical Manual for Compaq Presario C700
• Youtube Video of the keyboard replacement (not by me)
• ebay seller where I got my replacement US keyboard from (Feb-23-2011)

Few tips from my experience:

• The manual shows the keyboard can be removed without removing the panel with the power button. The video shows the removal of the panel is required. The video is right. I did not pull out the zif (zero insertion force) cable from the panel with the power button. You can just loosen the power button panel and pull the top edge of the keyboard out.
• The most tricky part of this process is inserting the zif cable from the new keyboard into the socket. They are small and require some patience to get it. I inserted it incorrectly at first and had to remove everything to do it right. Second time I plugged in the power cable and tested the keyboard before I closed everything again.

I hope my experience helps anyone who can not stand this keyboard and wish to get rid of it on their Compaq Presario C700 purchased in Canada in favour of a sane keyboard.

Until the retailers in Canada wise-up and start carrying a choice in keyboards on the laptops, I will not be buying another laptop in Canada!