Hello there!
first I appologize if the topic is offensive, I meant no offense to anyone, so with that disclaimer out of the way:
I have a Duo 230, great little machine but with one small problem; they keyboard doesn't respond well. Now, the center keys are relatively easy, however the outter keys don't respond, sometimes I have to press physically down on them several times... other incedents occur when a key will be pressed and not recognize it...any ideas? is there any way to adjust the keyboard tension?
Not to me, anyway... I wholeheartedly believe that those keyboards where designed for demonic claws instead of human fingers...
I have never come across anyone who has successfully "fixed" a Duo keyboard... If you figure it out, please post it!
AFAIK there's no surefire fix as such for the Duo keyboards, however there were enough different revisions of the Duo keyboard that the final few were a pleasure to type on in comparison to the earlier models. I purchased a couple revision 'F' keyboards (which IIRC, were the last keyboards to be produced) for my 230 and 280c a couple years back and they were a vast improvement over the original keyboards - all the keys worked with the same pressure. The only trick is finding the later 'boards, I ended up trawling eBay...
Your alternative is to crack open the keyboard and clean all the traces and contact pads, it gets pretty filthy in there after 10 years of use.
Besides cleaning, the other problem is that one or more of the screws which hold the keyboard on the Duo may be too tight, thereby distorting the metal base of the keyboard.
One thing to try is to open the KeyCaps DA, tilt the Duo up on its side, and selectively loosen the screws while seeing if the key response in that area of the keyboard improves. You'll need a T8 screwdriver for that one.
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I remember me ol' 210. It wasn't so bad for me because I was a terrible typist at the time and so I typed slowly enough to get a good punch in on each of the keys.
The thread title isn't offensive to me, though. For a moment an image flashed in my head...
There is a New late revsion Duo Keyboard on eBay, buy it now for 9.99. Thats a good deal. I too have had trouble with the keyboard on the Duo's.
Thanks All,
Mark Jozaitis