GS70 Stealth - Spacebar Issue A Showstopper?

So I just got my GS70-001D this morning and let me say up until a few minutes ago I absolutely loved it. Great screen, overall size, etc.

But I just noticed something about 20 minutes ago that will likely cause me to return the GS70. :cry:

The spacebar! It seems as if the sensor for pressing the spacebar is located in the middle of the spacebar thereby causing clicks on the outer (right mostly for me since I use my right thumb to press the spacebar) to not register. I have found myself having to either click REALLY hard or move my thumb towards the center of the spacebar for my "normal" clicks to register. I have even found spots on the spacebar where I can press and hold it and nothing happens!

I plan on doing a LOT of typing on this machine (for development) and for me one of the most important (if not THE MOST important) aspect of any computer is ease of typing.

I just got off the phone with MSI support and the guy basically told me that this is a known issue and it's because, as I stated above, the sensor is in the middle of the spacebar. How could they let something like this get through their quality control???!!!! It's like they designed the machine but never had anyone use it for any period of time or else they would have surely noticed this flaw.

The MSI support person told me that there are no drivers that I can download to "tweak" the keyboard sensitivity as this is a purely hardware issue. Maybe that's the case for now but I might hold on to hope that it is something they can fix in the future with firmware updates.

I really don't want to have to return this computer but something as critical as a poorly performing spacebar is just too much for me to accept.

Good thing I purchased my GS70 from Rakuten.com and they have a 45 day no restocking fee return policy.

Has anyone else had issues with their spacebar and if so what did you do to get around it?

Thank you.

I just found the following image from a Google search:



It looks like whomever designed that keyboard was smart enough to put sensors in more than one location under the spacebar. I assume MSI (Steelseries) didn't think about doing that and probably just put one sensor.

Update...

Note, I was searching around the web and I found several other people who have the same spacebar issue as me. One person went so far as to remove the spacebar and tape some paper underneath it to improve the response. Here is a pic:



If you look at the hardware underneath the spacebar it looks like there is more than one sensor. There is one in the middle and one each on the sides. This perplexes me even more. How can it not register a left/right spacebar click if there are sensors located directly under each side?

This makes me a bit more optimistic because maybe MSI will design a new spacebar cover and make it thicker in the middle (like the guy did with the tape) and this might solve the problem. I don't know how they would handle updating all the laptops out there, however, I doubt they would just send everyone the replacement spacebar cover and say "do it yourself." but at the same time that would be a lot of work for them if they had to take shipments/fix every laptop out there.

 

Hmm, how annoying! Just out of curiousity, when you had the spacebar key popped off did you try pressing one of the non-middle sensors to see if it registered anything on-screen? if they actually work, maybe the key just wasn't designed so hot. You could probably rig a little somethin' up to make sure those sensors get pressed.

 

Contact vendor for exchange, or contact the manufacturer for warranty service.

 

I never actually popped off the spacebar key. That was an image I found on the internet. I am tempted to pop it off though. :O

BTW... MSI is sending me a shipping box to return the unit but honestly I can't go without a compter for the days it will take for them to fix it. I wonder if they would send me a replacement keyboard?

 

Really? Perhaps it was a prepaid shipping label?
So they are willing to take a look at the issue for you which is good.

 

I've just had exactly the same issue with my new GS70 machine - on my particular machine the problem was on the right hand side of the spacebar key. I did remove the space bar key and stick a small piece of thin card in the middle of the cap. I just folded some tape in two and attached the card that way. This seems to have cured the problem. The space bar is quite tricky to get off and on and you need to be careful because it doesn't look like it would take much to break it. I prised it open on the left hand side and gently ran my finger underneath the top edge to loosen it from the clips so it will come off. In putting it back on, there are two clips/bars that need to click into place. I lifted the top clip so that it would fit underneath the space bar cap and pressed down on the top edge of the space bar cap until it clicked into place. I could then see the bottom clip underneath the cap was not engaged and so I gently lifted the lower edge if the cap and raised the connecting clip with a small screwdriver so it went underneath the cap and then pressed down on the lower edge to clip it into place.

So far working fine but a real pain to have to do this on a brand new machine!

 

Sorry to say that it can get even worse - I love this machine but after 2 months of ownership, other keys are becoming unreliable. the "s" is spacing out on me randomly, and the space bar is autorepeating and inserting 2 spaces instead of one...i find it in general to be a hard keyboard to use efficiently. The keys seem to be spaced oddly and my 25 years of conditioning on keyboards is completely flumoxed. But I won;t part form it, I'll start using an external and close the lid.

 

This appear to be a more serious design issue. I'm also an owner, but I can live with a bit of squeak. I can't live with the 's' key.

I also lost my 's', my '6' and my space key. There are a couple other keys that broke down. Notice that we both lost the same keys?!

Did MSI honour your warranty?

 

Best to contact MSI directly to find out, but it may be classified as customer-induced damage.
However, if you have ADC (accidental damage coverage) then it can be covered.

 

no issues here with either the space bar or the keyboard -- the fact that you had more than one issue suggests you got a faulty keyboard more than a design issue -- hopefully MSI replaces the unit for you

 

I got a stealth pro last night and have the same issue, i can press with my left thumb in the middle and it registers but right and it doesnt. If i want to press it at the sides i have to press quite hard which seems ridiculous, just typing a message to somebody takes ages because i am constantly correcting the non spaces! So it seems to be an issue with the later stealth models too?!

 

This is a common issue (flawed design) with this keyboard, and it's caused by lack of force being distributed to the center where the key switch mechanism is located.
Try to press the spacebar as close to the center as possible.

 

I barely have to tap the spacebar on the outside edge of either side and it works perfectly. no other key issues either.

 

Only few users reported such problem, but majority don't have this issue.
Best to contact MSI directly to have this issue taken care of by them.

 

Received mine today, same issue. Hopefully, this is a batch issue rather than a design flaw. I'll update when I have a reply from MSI.

 

Hi, did you ever get an update? I find the exact same issue if I press the spacebar on the right side.