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setho212

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 23, 2006
19
0
Hi all, I got my MBP a week ago and so far I love her. One thing I notice however is that the arrow keys seem to stick up higher than other keys on the board. Looking at them up close it appears that the small plastic piece that is on the bottom of all keys is dislodged on the left side of these keys, plus I seem a small loop shaped thing when looking under these keys. Is this normal? I realize it i might be cosmetic but I am concerned that lots of dirt might get under the keyboard.
 

madog

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2004
1,273
1
Korova Milkbar
Hi all, I got my MBP a week ago and so far I love her. One thing I notice however is that the arrow keys seem to stick up higher than other keys on the board. Looking at them up close it appears that the small plastic piece that is on the bottom of all keys is dislodged on the left side of these keys, plus I seem a small loop shaped thing when looking under these keys. Is this normal? I realize it i might be cosmetic but I am concerned that lots of dirt might get under the keyboard.

Well they are "scissor" keys which by design form a sort of X. There is the key itself [flat] snapped onto the top of the X while the bottom of the X is snapped onto the keyboard. They are kept erect by a little rubber piece in the middle which normally is stationary and can't be removed. In earlier models the rubber peice was removable and as a result a complete pain in the ass.

You can pry 'em off with an object such as a pocket knife though if you don't know what your doing you could permanently damage the scissor part. But basically, if the bottom of the X is snapped correctly into place, the key itself could be snapped in just by applying slightly more pressure than normal.

If you popped one off, once you figure out the proper way to place it back in, attach the scissor part to the keyboard first and then snap the actual key on afterwards.


scissors.jpg


slide_and_click2.jpg


This image shows one half of the scissor part but you can see the "loop" of the piece and how it snaps in.


Otherwise, the loop you may be seeing could just be the area around the rubber piece where it is attached to the keyboard. Dirt and crumbs could pose physical problems while pressing a key, but otherwise it is, for the most part, completely enclosed preventing those larger crumbs from getting inside the machine itself. The same is not to be said for liquids and dust.
 

setho212

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 23, 2006
19
0
Are only the arrow keys in the keyboard in this scissor arrangement. The reason I am concerned is that what I see under the arrow key is different than what I see under other keys.

Just to make things more clear, I havent removed any keys, I am just able to see under the keys on the bottom of the keyboard by lowering my head to the level of the keyboard.

As for the loops, I think I am describing something different. It rises out of the computer perpendicularly and is under the bottom right corner of the keys. It doesnt appear to be attached to anything. I dunno I just found it weird that the arrow keys are different from all the other keys on the keyboard.
 

setho212

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 23, 2006
19
0
Are only the arrow keys in the keyboard in this scissor arrangement. The reason I am concerned is that what I see under the arrow key is different than what I see under other keys.

Just to make things more clear, I havent removed any keys, I am just able to see under the keys on the bottom of the keyboard by lowering my head to the level of the keyboard.

As for the loops, I think I am describing something different. It rises out of the computer perpendicularly and is under the bottom right corner of the keys. It doesnt appear to be attached to anything. I dunno I just found it weird that the arrow keys are different from all the other keys on the keyboard.
 

madog

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2004
1,273
1
Korova Milkbar
Are only the arrow keys in the keyboard in this scissor arrangement. The reason I am concerned is that what I see under the arrow key is different than what I see under other keys.

Just to make things more clear, I havent removed any keys, I am just able to see under the keys on the bottom of the keyboard by lowering my head to the level of the keyboard.

As for the loops, I think I am describing something different. It rises out of the computer perpendicularly and is under the bottom right corner of the keys. It doesnt appear to be attached to anything. I dunno I just found it weird that the arrow keys are different from all the other keys on the keyboard.

All of the keys are scissors.

I know what ya mean, it's a bit easier to see under the arrow keys than the say the space bar or apple keys at the bottom.

I don't think it's just you though; however; I don't think there is anything wrong either, just your mind playing tricks on you. The arrow keys are half the size of every other key and have more space in between them as well.

Kind of like how a 17" MBP screen and 17" iMac screen look completely different to me. :p
 
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