Keyboards

Evelyn has a Lenovo computer and her keyboard is acting up when she types. Letters repeat when she types. How can she fix that? Leo says that keyboards are pretty cheap now, under $10. So it sounds like her keyboard is ready to be replaced. It's probably the easiest fix for a computer out there.

Carl is having a Chromebook issue where he's typing, the tab and address bars will disappear. It goes full screen. Leo says to use the keyboard combination Alt "-" to reset it. Also check the function keys, like F11. He may strike the wrong one and boom, he's in full screen. That's likely the issue. Carl also powerwashed his Chromebook and he can't log into his network because the keyboards reset. Leo suspects that Carl may have a faulty or damaged keyboard.

Dale wants to know if he can plug in a keyboard and mouse with his Xbox. Leo says he can, but the real question is, does the game support it? It's really going to be game-by-game to see what happens. But the hardware supports it. 

Marie has a cellphone that has an upside down question mark on the keyboard, what gives? Leo says it sounds like the keyboard was changed to a Spanish language keyboard. If your phone also has an upside-down exclamation mark, then that's the case. Go into the settings and reset your keyboard.

Bob is having issues with booting up a few of his computers. He gets a message that says "press F1 to continue" and then it doesn't do anything - it just crashes. Leo says it's usually related to the keyboard. The computer can't see it, and pressing F1 wakes up the keyboard and lets the computer recognize it. It could also be a failed keyboard since Bob is using a really old PS2 keyboard.

Steve is retired and loves to run Linux and his computers. How can he get a backlit keyboard on his next laptop? Leo recommends a Lenovo ThinkPad. They have backlit keys, they are very robust, easily upgradeable and modifiable, and Linux works great on them out of the box. But if he runs Linux virtually then 16GB for RAM may not be enough. So he should get as much RAM as he can. Processor-wise, AMDs are fine.

Mark wants to know why he gets a different keyboard whenever he launches an app on his Google Pixel smartphone. Leo says this is a feature that developers can take advantage of so that the keyboard can be more contextual. For instance, when a number needs to be entered, the keyboard that comes up can be just a number pad. But there is a bug that causes keyboards to change randomly, so maybe that's the problem. More likely, it's something the app developer has done. Mark can try installing Swiftkey and see if that helps.

Curtis is frustrated that his Samsung TV Bluetooth keyboard can't be seen by his computer. Leo says it probably just needs to be paired if his computer supports Bluetooth. It has to 'shake hands' with his keyboard and computer before he can try that.