Keyboard wear & tear

[qzmeng]

I had my Gemini since early May (first shipment x27) and use it for email primarily - so a lot of typing - in the hand held 2 thumbs position .

A couple of observations:
1. I already notice the keys plastic starts to get shiny particular the space bar in the spot I hit it with my right thumb
2. Some keys were a bit wobbly on arrival, this has progressed and then this week mid typing, the M popped right off!  It went back in again but now it is even more wobbly than before.

Is it just me or the plastic is too soft?

[Calamityspice]

I am using mine as my primary computer and phone now. The keyboard shows no visible wear.

Possible quality control issues?

[Dixit]

Gemini since end of June. I also use the keyboard frequently (the reason why we buy a Gemini).

Same experience as you, except that none of the keys came of (yet).

I will use the Gemini the next 2 weeks to type daily reports, so it will be interesting if it survives the trip.

[Rahab D]

Mine I dont think that is to soft, but I have another problem: keys go down sometimes whitouts progression. The mouvement it's not uniform; it's like if after 45%, key stop for a moment and we have to oppose more pressure. This arrive maybe when I dont press a Key exactly on his center, but by this way it's very difficult dose the pressure uniformly and I loose many letters...

[jakfish]

Three-week usage and I'm seeing wear on the Esc key.

Jake

[gidds]

Three-week usage and I'm seeing wear on the Esc key.

As discussed in other topics, it's not wear.  (The lettering is part of the same piece of plastic as the rest of the key; the laser printing causes it to expand and lighten.)  It's probably just finger grease &c sticking to the key.

It's not permanent, and can be removed; I think someone found IPA worked.  (Remove the keytops from the Gemini first, though.)

This arrive maybe when I dont press a Key exactly on his center

I think that's the main issue.  Keys work well when pressed dead on centre, but if you try to press them off-centre, they tend to rotate first, and then stick — either failing to press fully, or doing so unevenly and unreliably.  (That's the most obvious difference from the Psion keyboard, which was much better in that regard.)  I find the space bar particularly bad for this; I keep hitting it too high or low.

[Dixit]

Does that then wear the mechanism ? Or do you just need to retry and type the letter a second time ?

[jakfish]

Thanks, gidds. Hadn't realized it's dirt rather than something more permanent.

That said, I'm loathe to yank off keys just to clean them, especially after such a short ownership.

With machine shut down, I ran a q-tip of rubbing alcohol over the dirtier keys to little avail. So it appears permanent in a different sort of way, lest somebody posts with a more aggressive solvent that gets dirt but not the key lettering.

[gidds]

That said, I'm loathe to yank off keys just to clean them, especially after such a short ownership.

It's pretty easy and safe; I've done so many times on my Psions, with no ill effects, and the Gemini keyboard seems to work the same.

The best way I found is with a blob of Blu Tak or similar.  Press it down firmly on the key, the lift it away sharply; the keytop usually comes away with it.  (Unlike levering it off, the keytop comes up straight, and there's no risk of it being damaged by any tools.)  Take care with the Enter and space bar, as those are attached to metal bars underneath.

Once the keytop's off, you can reuse the Blu Tak to remove any dust or other debris from underneath.  (There's always some…)

If you're removing many keys at once (which is the best way to clean it out), you'll need some way to identify which ones go back where!  If you can't remember the layout, get a picture, or fire up a text editor and press the rubber ring underneath each key to check which character it produces.

[jakfish]

gidds, thanks for such a careful set of instructions. I ordered some Blu Tak and one follow-up: using Blu Tak, do I pull straight up?

I think I do, though I seem to remember that keys were pulled from back to front when removing for key mat replacement. But that was probably without putty use.

[gidds]

using Blu Tak, do I pull straight up?

Yes; at least, that's what works for me.  Press down just hard enough for the the blob to cover the key and grip it, and then pull up (directly away from the keyboard) just sharply enough for the keytop to come away with it.  (t's probably best to hold the Gemini down with your other hand, to prevent it coming away as well!)

I don't think I've ever seen this method anywhere else.  But, as I said, it's always worked for me.  I used to give my Psion a thorough clean once or twice a year.

[jakfish]

Many thanks for the follow-up and clarification.

[qzmeng]

Just to add on the story of my dodgy M key (if anyone cares :-)

The key got looser and looser and more unresponsive to the point it was falling out all the time ( i.e. turn the keyboard upside down, it falls out).  It looked like the very slight 'clip' at the bottom of the that holds the key into the keyboard had worn and this was also causing the key not to reach the membrane below.

I happened to have a spare set of keycaps that Robin sent me earlier (I know experiences with Planet vary, but mine has only been excellent) and thus switched the key to my spare one and now it is fine.
This is worrying though if there is variation in the build quality and if plastic too soft - this might not be the last such experience.  The margin between a good fit/responsiveness and a bad one is a fraction of a millimetre.

[Dixit]

Right. I have an 'N like that. Exciting, this particular build quality.

It is a nasty surprise, though. The Gemini keyboard bears a striking resemblance to the Psion 5mx one. This makes sense: it is the same designer. Why couldn't they have copied the same reliability ? I never had such issues with my 5mx.