Keyboards

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.

David is having problems with his Dell laptop. It autoscrolls when he opens a window and goes straight down to the bottom. It doesn't matter what he opens. Leo says that it's possible that the trackpad or keyboard are pressed or stuck. There may be some cruft in the key that's causing it to stick, or there's some "schmutz" on the trackpad that is giving a false positive and causing the problem. David should check his external mouse and keyboard as well.

Jeff is getting strange random key strokes appearing in his browser bar. Leo says to try a different browser. Windows comes with both Edge and Internet Explorer. If it happens in both browsers, it could be a failing keyboard. Jeff should unplug his keyboard and try a new one. If he still has the issue, then it's a Windows problem, which could be malware or a browser hijack. He could try resetting his browser first. If that solves the problem, then he's fine. If not, then it may be that he'll need to reinstall Windows from a known good source.

Josh has discovered a crazy new keyboard interface called the TAP Wearable Keyboard. Leo says that it allows you to turn any surface into a keyboard, but you have to completely relearn how to type to use it. It's just available for preorder also, so it hasn't hit the market yet. Leo says this is a category that's going to blow up in the near future. It has an accelerometer built into it to read the movement of your fingers. But this is a very inconvenient way to type for those who have been typing for years.