Black HP keyboard in a Compaq

Well, my original keyboard had a lot of use and a couple of keys popped off. When I couldntput them back in, it gave me the perfect excuse to try out the HP keyboard which I always wanted to see in place of the Gray Compaq keyboard....

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What do you guys think?

 

Personally I prefer black. Especially when matched with silver or black laptops. Black also looks good with red and other colors to

Only time I like a white keyboard much is when the laptop is blue for some reason I love blue with white. Nice mod.

 

Kinda makes the Compaq look like a Dell notebook from far away. But I kinda like the gray look, makes it look a little cleaner looking and black picks up so much dust!

 

I was thinking the same thing as Bhatman. It kind of looks like a Dell now, the black keys look make the gray look more like the grayish-silverish sparkly color my Dell has going on. Now you just need to put some white bumpers on it. XD! Appearently Compaq keyboards will all come in black from here on out, "The PC is personal again. I really don't make the distinction between black and white keyboards. Black shows dirt and hair and white shows grim so both get pretty dirty and show wear. Cool mod. I'm thinking about putting the XPS 1070's grayish keyboard on my 6000.

 

Nice job, but I voted for the original. I think a black keyboard only looks good on a black laptop, like IBM for example. Dell stopped black keyboards, at least on the xps m1710 (not sure about the rest). Another issue is that when the lighting is not so bright or when your in the dark, I think finding a button that you don't know where it actually is would be tough.

 

Sweet!!! Is that the v4000 miner? I should do that with my keyboard when it needs to be replaced. It looks really good since the screen has a black border surrounding it. Where did you order the keyboard? How much? How hard to install?

BTW I have a question about your touchpad. Are the touchpad buttons flat on your laptop? Mine rise in the center and the right button is a little lose. Do you think I could change those?
Tim

*edit I see you sig. It is not the v4000. )

 

Thanks for you opinions guys. I appreciate it.

The thing with the Gray keyboard was that it was the only thing that was was Gray in the whole laptop. Rest of the stuff were either Silver or Black. In the pictures the keyboard looks similar to the surrounding silver plastic but in reality it is a different shade and I thought it kinda looked odd.

@Tim - I bought it direct from HP. Cost about $72. Ebay has a lot of these much cheaper but most of them are used(~30 - 40, even less for worn out ones). I wasnt particularly fond of used keyboards, so paid the price for a new one. Accessing the keyboard was very easy, took out 4 screws from the bottom, removed the top bezel(the one with the power on/off switch) and took out 4 more screws and the keyboard pretty much was very easy. It just took about 3 mins to replace it.

Since you have a different model, look up the service manual. The instructions should in there and it shouldnt be very difficult.

The touchpad buttons are totally flat. I believe some fo the newer models had problems with the touchpad being loose or were of not good quality. It should also be replaceable and if you are under warranty HP should be able to replace the part.

 

Great job miner. I had an HP zv5000z, which you know is the HP version of the R3000, with that same keyboard; I thought it was great and delivered good feedback.

Always nice to make a mainstream notebook different than the other clones running around.

 

I like the black better than the white, nice job!!!!

 

Thanks for the tip miner. Yeah my touchpad is kinda screwed up. The buttons aren't flat and the right button is loose. I wonder how much trouble it would be to get them to replace it. I guess I should give them a call since it has only been 4 months. It would make me a lot happier.

BTW where can I find the service manual. My manual is actually on the laptop as a program. Should it be there somewhere or on HP's site?
Tim

 

The one they ship with the laptop(like any other manufacturer) is just junk. Here's the real Service Manual....
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00530488.pdf

 

I really like the black and I hope it's of better quality than mine. Nothing's wrong with the keys or the flex, but the durability of the plastics is not great. I've used my l2000 extensively for 8 months and zv6000 not so extensively for 10 months (I think your keyboard is petty much the same as the one on zv6000) and both of those have worn out on the most used keys. F, J, D, S, K, L, Space, etc. all have the glossy finish now, and it won't go away with cleaning.

By the way, was your old keyboard worn out on the Space key? It kinda looks like this on the picture.

 

Yeah, All of the most used keys were pretty much worn and had the gloss like appearance. I took the picture a few months ago before some of the keys popped off and since then it had gotten even worse. Also there was this "softness" in the most used keys - Key A particularly, it lost the usual spring like tension when I used it. It would register the stroke but had this annoying feel to it which was completely different from the rest of the keys.

I expect the black to show wear more than the gray, but the gray got dirtier quicker. The dust/dirt if I didnt clean it built up in the area surrounding the most use. The black keyboard does feel different though. Maybe I havent gotten used to it yet. But I have noticed a lot of typo's since I replaced the keyboard.

 

Thanks a million miner.
Tim

 

I like the black and one of the reasons I chose the HP dv8000 series.

 

if that black keyboard is the same as what's on my dv1000, it's a piece of crap. after just several months of use, mine is all shiny and smooth.