How to change a Keyboard on a HP Compaq 620 Laptop

Not sure why, but my families luck with Laptop Keyboards isn’t going too well.

An earlier post by me, about my daughters Acer Aspire 5738 Laptop, that needed a new keyboard after the dog chewed it, is now followed by this one about our HP Compaq 620 Laptop, which appears to have died following a liquid problem.

So, how to change a Keyboard on a HP Compaq 620 Laptop became a recent question.

My first problem came when I looked at the Manual for the HP 620, and checked the keyboard part number. Was it 605814-001 or was it 605813-001. On page 39 of the manual it states:

• 605814-001 Keyboard for 39.6-cm (15.6-in) computers for use in the United States

On page 69 of the manual it states:

• Keyboards for use in computers with 39.6-cm (15.6-in) displays 605813-xx1
• Keyboards for use in computers with 35.6-cm (14.3-in) and 33.8-cm (13.3-in) displays 605814-xx1

So confusion to begin with, which one is it ?

I have ordered the 605814-001, and am keeping my fingers crossed. However, I hadn’t realised at first what the cause of the damage was, but also I forgot totally about warranty !

We only bought the laptop 2 months ago, and for some reason, I never even considered a warranty repair, I just jumped into starting to fix it myself.

However, I did not get far… The keyboard removal instructions state to remove 6 screws, and the picture points to the location of all six (Page 69 of the manual).  But… I only saw 3 of them ! The screws numbered 1 and 2 in the above picture were just not there, so at that point I opted to take it to a specialist.

I dug out the receipt, and then remembered it was new and under warranty.

My joy was short lived when the supplier mentioned that most keyboard faults are caused by liquid damage, and I suddenly wondered about the events leading up to the keyboard failure.

The technician confirmed liquid damage after opening it up. Anyway at that  point, having experience of locating well priced laptop keyboards, and the fact that the shop could not guarantee getting a one in before Christmas, I checked with the people who supplied the ACER one in August, and luckily for me they had one in stock for $49 delivered, from Melbourne.

My laptop supplier, who has not reassembled the laptop yet, told me to drop the new keyboard in to them when it arrives, and they will put that one back instead, and so keep to the total cost of just the inspection price of $45.

So, $94 total. It could have been worse, but why..oh..why can’t people look after their laptop keyboards !!!

Credit is given to both Broadway Computers in Reservoir, Victoria, (for the keyboard), and Computer Alliance in Brisbane Queensland, (for the good technical support).

For future reference I have saved the 160 page PDF of this manual at HP Compaq 620 Manual. It is about 5Mb in size.