- the Z should go here, between the A and the S
- This is where the X should sit, not the Z - between the S and D
- On most other UK keyboards this shift key is smaller so that the |\ key and itself fit into the same space this single key is taking up, meaning the Z can go where the |\ is... where it should be. Alternatively, the shift is this big and the |\ key is someone completely different
- See the number '0' on this key? Look at ANY numberpad and you'll see the 0 is below the 1 and 2 not the 2 and 3
- Brand new model. They must have got monkeys to do the QA. If anyone with even remote touch typing skills or basic memory of where to put fingers to find keys used this, they'd figure it out in about... oh... 2 seconds
- Yes, this whole row is one key too far to the right. Unbelievable
- D for Dell... I mean Dumb
Try touch typing on this
Looks normal, right? Look at your own keyboard... notice anything different? Okay, maybe you don't. But try actually typing on this and it all becomes far too apparent. The whole of the bottom row of letters (Z, X, C...) is one too far to the right. The Z should be below and between A and S, not S and D.
You're looking at a brand new Dell Vostro 1310, ordered the day after its released, and delivered on 30th April 2008 in the UK.
They keys are all there. Shift, \|, Z, X... its just that the left shift is too big, forcing everything over too far. The Z has to be between the A and S... look on ANY other keyboard and that's where it sits. This is not a US/UK layout issue, just a general monumental flaw.
UPDATE 1st May 2008 5pm: I phoned Dell for 20 minutes and they have confirmed that this affects all new Vostro 1310s in the UK. Oh dear!! They're hoping they can just replace the keyboards, though the guy on the phone said it was a 'motherboard' problem... I can't imagine that though.
UPDATE: 2nd May 2008 1:30pm - Kerry from Dell has informed me that Dell are working on a resolution for the issue. The official statement is as follows:
------
A limited number of Vostro 1310 and
1510 in Europe have been sent out with the wrong keyboard
layout. We are working diligently to offer a solution to
impacted customers and correct the error. Once a solution
is in place, we will be contacting impacted customers
directly to both apologise and instruct them on next steps.
We are still investigating this issue and will come back
with more detailed information as soon as possible. We have
made a mistake here and will be acting as quickly as
possible to find a satisfactory solution for our customers.
-----
UPDATE 8th May: direct2dell.com/smallbusiness/archive/2008/05/08/europe-v...
UPDATE 9th May:
Okay, so they're sending out new keyboards. But it seems to me like a quick fix which is imperfect rather than applying the correct fix. Here's what I just posted to their blog:
---
[Y]ou've gone and kept the large left shift key and moved the \| key
to the right of the row, rather than making the left shift key
smaller... why?
You mention it appearing on more systems here... I will have to take
your word for that, but all 6 keyboards I can see in front of me right
now have a small left shift key and the \| key to the left of the z.
Why reinvent the wheel? If there's a good ergonomic reason for this
choice then that's great, but I can just sense that I'm going to fit
this new keyboard into my laptop and be (a lot less, but still a
little) frustrated with it.
Here's the logic for why the |\ should be on the left not the right:
* Look at where a touch typists fingers little fingers sit
* Note the distance the little fingers have to travel to reach a shift key
* when we have a small left shift, the 'A' is only half a regular
sized key away from the shift key. A nice small distance to travel
* again with the small left left key, the big left shift key is
only half a regular sized key from the colon/semi-colon on which the
right little finger sits.
* however, if you apply the layout you suggest, the left shift key
is under half the right shift key
* ... but the left shift key is now one and a half keys away from
the semi-colon. The right little finger has a long distance to travel,
making reaching for it take longer and be more of a pain.
So there's a very convincing argument to go for the standard UK layout
with small left shift and \| on the left. What's the convincing
counter argument that lead you to your chosen design?
I'm presuming that what you've applied here is the cost-effective
quick-fix and that there is no other argument for your choice. I can
completely understand this choice given the circumstances, but I don't
think its going to work for me I'm afraid.
---
['Ottovelo' commented I should just buy a Mac. I have removed his stupid Apple fanboy remark. Seriously... why not say but an Acer, Asus, Lenovo,, Samsung... and whilst we're on that, where's the delete key on a Mac? And why are " and @ in the wrong places on UK mac keyboards? Not as bad a design flaw as this, but utterly frustrating none the less.]
[
DEAR murilo A, dgua, korobeiniki, jorgepinto, cliph, mentor972, ramobjesus, raphy, zolinovat and every other MAC FANBOY out there,
Thank you sooooo much for your kind advice in telling me to 'get a mac'. Its so awfully sweet of you to be so kind and helpful.
Yes, I have considered buying a mac before. My wife has a mac which I bought her, my dad also has a mac which I bought him.
I hate my wife's mac. It has a backspace button but no delete button. It has one mouse button and forces me to press a key with the button rather than having a right mouse button. The @ and " are in the wrong places for UK users. You can't make windows fullscreen. Its slow. It crashes when playing DVDs. We have to cover it up at night as its glow 'throbs' and doesn't let me get any sleep.
Also, this laptop cost me £650. A similarly spec'd mac would have cost £949 (and that's still not as good spec as this).
Lots of love,
Jake
PS: I've deleted a lot of your helpful 'buy a mac' comments from this page. If you want to advertise, go do it in your own space, not mine
PPS: If you fancy trying to convert me you can of course send me a Mac for free. Just don't be surprised if a video of me smashing it to bits appears on the Internet soon after.
]
---
UPDATE 2nd May 11pm: For abyobe who's hacibg diffixulty ib ubderstabdibg just how ruvvish this laptop is with this dunv arse keyvoardm nayve tryibg to read this will help, I'n tryibg to spell this xorrextly ib that I'n puttibg ny fibgers where they bornally gom vut its hard for ne to realise whether or bot I'ce hit the xorrext keys as I xab varely read abythibg as I type it,
I'ce rexeiced ab enail fron Kelly at Dell to say she is sorry abd that its veibg dealt with etxm vut to ve hobest I'n bot too vothered right bow as I spebt all yesterday ibstallibg ZP ob it abyway as Cista xane preloaded, I wabted ZP origibally vut wheb selextibg that ob Dell's wevsite it said 'bot xonpativle with the ibtegrated wevxan' or sonethibg alobg those libes, Utter ruvvish - it ism works fibe ib ZP,
So tonorrow this laptop gets xobbexted up to ny three sxreeb setup abd ezterbal keyvoard abd nouse, Bo nore worries avout the keyvoard thebm abd I sinply await a replaxenebt or whatecer I guess,
Abywaym its veeb quite a fub day to hae ny 15 nibutes of fane, ny abger towards Dell has suvsidedm replaxed with ibxredulity that sone pepole really are stupid,,, too xlasses of people here:
- QA at Dell,,, why would you ecer release a keyvoard without typibg ob it first>
- Apple fabvoys,,, seriouslym ebgage your vraib vefore you speak
If abyobe's axtually read this whole thibg a nassice xobgratulatiobs to you!
Jake,
Comments and faves
mofoautolycus, evilmidori, freeforged, keoshi, and 55 other people added this photo to their favorites.
Irregular Shed (37 months ago | reply)
Epic fail.
BeamerM3 (37 months ago | reply)
What? Ottovelo, that makes no sense. That's like me saying I don't like the handling on the SL500, another reason to buy a Prius.
This has nothing to do with OS. It's a keyboard problem. On one model. Why would it be a reason to buy Apple? Wouldn't it be a reason to, oh I don't know, just buy another computer? Any computer? As much a reason to buy a different model Dell, or a Lenovo, or an EeePC, as to buy an Apple?
You seem to be a sheep. Bah. Baaaaah.
Courtarro (37 months ago | reply)
What an awkward failure on Dell's part. They must not have anyone on staff who tests international layouts, or they would have found this immediately. Someone simply had a brain fart while designing the layout, and their testing process completely failed.
Time to add this as an honorable mention to PC World's list of the worst keyboards of all time.
crazytales562 (37 months ago | reply)
Courtarro: Honorable mention? No, this ranks way up there since it's completely non-touchtypeable. As a frequent computer user, I depend on the keys being where they have been for the last decade whenever I type. Shifting the bottom row one key over is simply inexcusable.
Cameron_Talley (37 months ago | reply)
This is ridiculous. I would be unable to type on this keyboard. I have a general distaste for UK keyboards, anyway, but this would be unusable. Hope you get this worked out with Dell. They should get you your money back.
tracerbulletnpi (37 months ago | reply)
While I won't say that it isn't a screwup on dells part, I think they just installed the wrong keyboard. They probably ordered x amount of keyboards from some korean or whatever company, and they sent x amount of the wrong keyboard to dell.. Then the laptop gets put together with this awkward keyboard, and before anyone notices that it's not a standard keyboard, a few get shipped out. It's a screwup. But to say it's a design flaw is inaccurate. It was 'designed' with a normal keyboard. There is often something lost in translation when buying low cost components from overseas.. Lay off the sensationalism... As far as apple is concerned, no one but apple would ever use their keyboards so it'd be impossible to screw that up... And because of that, as well, Apple is more expensive.
tracerbulletnpi (37 months ago | reply)
Also, someone on digg mentioned that this is how it should look...
www.notebookreview.com/assets/32661.jpg
jakegordon (37 months ago | reply)
tracerbulletnpi: no, you're missing the point here. EVERY SINGLE QWERTY keyboard has Z between AS not SD, and so on for the bottom row. The |\ key to the left of Z is common on UK keyboards, but when it is there, the left shift key is made smaller so it fits in to the left of the A, not the right of it.
jakegordon (37 months ago | reply)
tracerbulletnpi: no again. That's a US keyboard layout. UK has " above the 2, not an @, and as above, |\ is often there to the left of the Z, just with a smaller left shift key.
jhandl (37 months ago | reply)
Are you sure the problem is not just that they placed the "|" key on the wrong side and hence the whole row got displaced? What happens when you press the "|" key? Hopefully a "Z" would appear.
freeforged (37 months ago | reply)
You should submit this to the failblog: failblog.wordpress.com/
davidcraig5 (37 months ago | reply)
You should be able to remap the keys to whatever you want using either windows or another program. They letters on the keys wont match, but if you are a touch typist, who cares?
How to remap manually -
pcworld.about.com/magazine/1912p190id65157.ht m
kenfagerdotcom (37 months ago | reply)
:P: FR::
(That's LOL DELL one key to the right.)
nikosh99 (37 months ago | reply)
wake up sheeple
Lepidus Wept (37 months ago | reply)
This is a silly error but NOT a big deal if you're otherwise pleased with the computer. Your brain, in this case, is smarter than you are. Your touch-typing will rapidly adjust if you soldier on, in exactly the same way a guitarist can play in multiple tunings. Really, this seems like more of a point of interest than a colossal screwup.
Ryan Calum (37 months ago | reply)
i guess giving good advice makes one a fanboy
holyjuan (37 months ago | reply)
Epix fail,
davidmess16 (37 months ago | reply)
You should buy a macbook. They work great and their keyboard is normal. Plus, you can go to this place called a store and they'll let you try it out there. Amazing huh? Too bad there's no "Dell Store", just resellers trying to take your money.
zolinovak [deleted] (37 months ago | reply)
You should just get a Mac. :)
JDM5 (37 months ago | reply)
"where's the delete key on a Mac?"
farm3.static.flickr.com/2343/2050640413_e3db5 129a3.jpg
jónr (37 months ago | reply)
Well, at least you have the |\ button. Last keyboard I bought didn't have it, making it useless for programming... But still, this is the ultimate computer hardware FAIL/You're doing it wrong
--
Seen on your photo stream. (?)
Rizzl3r (37 months ago | reply)
Speak a PC fault on flickr and become flooded in Mac invites. They feed on this stuff.
Ysbrand Galama (37 months ago | reply)
Yes, I agree, get a Mac. I have a Mac and I have no problem, keys are in the right place. So hurry, and get a Mac :)
tenthousandpc (37 months ago | reply)
motherboard problem?
looks like a keyboard problem to me...
sameedShaikh (37 months ago | reply)
wow...they shouldn't have made the enter key so big and they could have put the \ there
eddie_trent_pr (37 months ago | reply)
That is not a regular keyboard.... it's a mix between a spanish keyboard and an english one. BIG mistake
aimhelix (37 months ago | reply)
"motherboard problem" lol!
jamesbar2 (37 months ago | reply)
Hate to rain on your parade but that's just a standard UK/Ireland keyboard layout. Keyboards in other parts of the world are different (notice the € and £ keys).
Don't believe me, check this out
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout#UK_and_ Ireland
BrokenBat (37 months ago | reply)
To your comment over the model type, please don't berate the QAs. They report problems, not fix them. Project Managers have the responsibility to fix it or not.
jeff.emminger (37 months ago | reply)
mac, mac mac mac. mac - /mac/ mac mac! ;)
Torley (37 months ago | reply)
While I have a MacBook Pro and like it very much, I also run Windows and emphasize with this frustrating situation! I wonder how this could've possibly happened; it's quizzical and I do hope it gets resolved soon.
All the best with it, jakegordon!
raybdbomb (37 months ago | reply)
Wow that is completely ridiculous...
owen.iverson (37 months ago | reply)
i'm assuming the mac comments above are only there because jake removed ottovelos comment. i hope you guys aren't this dumb...if you're serious, throw your macs out - you shouldn't be using computers
Ysbrand Galama (37 months ago | reply)
No really it has nothing to do with Jake removing the Mac-comment, it is just that we think you should get a Mac. Really.
navitronic (37 months ago | reply)
mac delete key on a laptop = fn + backspace.
space saving on a laptop keyboard by combining the functions of two similar keys into one and using a standard modifier key seems like a good idea to me. I can see why some would disagree, but I would much prefer a big delete key that requires a simple modifier key to work than a small tacked on one that you find on most windows laptops.
kiko_91 (37 months ago | reply)
lets all blame china
Mulling it Over (37 months ago | reply)
Epic fail for Dell, but wevs. Just remap the keys in software and swap the physical keys out to their appropriate locations. No sweat for the 1337.
Marshalus (37 months ago | reply)
Ooops
andoru (37 months ago | reply)
At first, I thought it was simply a matter of getting a European keyboard by mistake. But after checking, there's no valid layout in which the "Z" key is positioned below the "S" and "D" keys this way. So, epic fail for Dell.
grimmythegrim (37 months ago | reply)
Well ok, here's an Asus comment... I don't understand how the shift key is too big as mine looks exactly the same as your's (extending to halfway under the A key) the only difference is the UK keyboard has the \ key where Z is on an American keyboard (and I think it works out much better this way...) *insert comment about America being better than the UK*
JeffrySG (37 months ago | reply)
stunned..... :-O
kubcollector (37 months ago | reply)
This deserves an entry in the fail blog
dm33 (37 months ago | reply)
Get a Mac. Far superior OS, machine and keyboard.
Delete is function-backspace. I found that I don't miss having a special purpose delete key much. I got used to it pretty quick.
Sad that Dell is having such trouble.
r_reuland (37 months ago | reply)
straight mac homie
jconaty (37 months ago | reply)
wow, that sucks. you should get a mac!
mentor972 (37 months ago | reply)
Wow! Total FAIL!
...and yes, you SHOULD get a Mac.
tony perrie (37 months ago | reply)
hack the windows registry and swap the keycaps.
Automatt (37 months ago | reply)
This is a typical DELL issue. It comes from nobody giving a shit about design during their testing process. This is why I've seen USB ports too close together to be used at the same time, built-in speakers that sound terrible, and fans that get ridiculously whiny and loud... all on DELL laptops, and all design issues that my Mac laptops don't have.
k1mb3r1y (37 months ago | reply)
You don't have to get a mac, just stop buying Dells for christ's sake.
the3seashells (37 months ago | reply)
Check your flickr mail, I sent you some information that should solve this problem.