Dell admits Vostro keyboard messup

UK customers not able to touchtype

2 May 2008 12:59 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Dell has responded to claims that its latest laptops the Dell Vostro 1310 and 1510 to go on sale in the UK come with a keyboard that hinders touch typists.

The problem, as recorded by Flickr member Jacob Gordon centres around the left shift key on the keyboard being too large forcing the / to replace the spot where the Z key normally sits below the A and the S (see pictures).

While the Dell press office was keen to play down the issue, Dell technical support gave a rather different picture.

"We've been aware of the problem for around a week", a customer service representative at Dell told Pocket-lint before telling us to "hold off buying the laptop" as they don't specifically know when the issue that affects every keyboard language apart from Russian, Greek, Hebrew, or US international will be fixed.

Dell says it hopes the keyboard issue will be resolved in the next couple of weeks, however recommends users looking to buy the Vostro 1310 or 1510 to phone first to make sure they won't get the current keyboard layout.

Pocket-lint contacted Dell press office and got the following response:

"A limited number of Dell Vostro 1310 and 1510 laptops in Europe have been sent out with the wrong keyboard layout. We are working diligently to offer a solution to impacted customers and correct the error before any additional units are shipped."

"We will be contacting impacted customers directly to both apologise and instruct them on next steps."

"This issue is under investigation, and we will come back with more detailed information as soon as possible.

We will be acting as quickly as possible to find a satisfactory solution for our customers."

We will keep you posted.