So it appears our housekeeper dripped some water over my laptop while watering plants...
the left half of the KB does not function (2-3 keys do, all else seems ok, it powers up, etc., and I have been using an external USB KB with it this past week.

Two questions:

1. Any advice on reviving the existing keyboard? It is an Dell Inspiron, about three years old.

2. Recommendations on a replacement, good deals, etc? I don't really need it for anything other good internet access, wifi, and some light photoshop work. I don't need a heavy gaming machine.

Apple MacBook.

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I hear Circuit City might be having some sales.....

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You may know me as Juwaack68

Ebay should have the parts you need.
I work on only dells and buy most of our parts there cheap
Sometimes after a few days it might dry out. 50-50 chance
dont use hairdrier on hot setting, it melts keys if too hot.

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Torch 9800 on BES 4.1.6 MR7, Exchange 2003, SQL 2005.
WES 2009-2010 Survivor

Partial keyboard functionality usually indicates the motherboard. Brandee got a MacBook and loves it, although given your business, I'm pretty sure you have experience with both platforms enough to make an informed decision. At three years, I think that it's a decent time to consider getting a new laptop (especially with the changes since that time period) rather than fixing an old one... especially if its your primary machine.

I guess you aren't going to be a meanie and make the housekeeper pay for it, eh?

What all do you want from your laptop? Obviously there's a huge drop-off from a top of the market gaming laptop to an internet browsing laptop.

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Dell Studio 15....

For the price, I'd go ahead and go with the Studio 16. It's newer, looks a lot better, and is not much more expensive.

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I'm inclined to do a Dell if nothing hot pops up somewhere.
There is no sign of the 16 here, just the Studio 15 and 17
Dell Studio Laptops / Notebooks: Personalized laptops, light weight laptops with multimedia features

No, I don't need a high-end gaming machine.

No, the housekeeper won't be made to pay for it, I was the one who left the laptop sitting where I did.

Since I am not in a rush, I'm going to see what the next few days offer me, I dropped by one of the Circuit City stores here and nothing there much excited me pricewise at only 10% off... perhaps if anything is left in a few days I will look again.

Slight difference between the Studio and Studio XPS product lines The Studio XPS adds in a better screen (especially if you go the FullHD route), faster memory (DDR3), faster HDD (7200rpm option), better graphics (ATI M86XT), newer/faster chipset (up to T9600 @ 2.8ghz), better Wi-Fi card (Wireless-N).

Dell XPS and Studio XPS Laptops/Notebooks

Of course, with customizing it, you can very easily go way overboard. Are you budgeting for under $1,000 or under $2,000? If the latter, go with the Studio XPS and customize the top-end option (that's what I would do), although the low-end model is just fine, as well.

I would personally go with the 3-year warranty, 320GB 7200rpm SATA drive, FullHD screen, P8600 @ 2.4ghz processor. I think it comes out right under $2,000 pre-tax/shipping (the latter two options aren't as customizable as the first option, though).

I'm sure there are 10-20% off deals, as well (check SlickDeals, TechBargains, etc). If not, let me know and I'll send over a link for my company's friends/family portal for Dell (assuming it's extended to friends/family, which I believe it is).

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We are a Dell shop. Mainly cause we get the full accidental damage warranty etc. So all latitude D630's or D830's and I can't say anything bad about them. I'm also a windows and linux guy so mac's have never pulled any weight with me.
However for my next personal computer I've been wanting 17" screen and the new macbook pro I can't pass up. Solid aluminum, incredible battery life and nice glossy 17" screen. I'll be running ubuntu as primary OS with a windows vm inside. I hope it works out.
My point is the new Dells are pretty good, no complaints and a safe bet. There is much more I dislike with HP and Lenovo (the only other 2 I have experience with). However if you can deal with macs either with thier OS or loading your own, they offer a nice choice.

I hope the new MacBook Pro line is better than the previous one. We have had tons of issues with the last rev of MacBook Pros and went to buying regular MacBooks.