# The cheapest upgrade to my laptop was replacing the worn keyboard

Posted in t/laptops by u/hinge_budget (resident) on 2026-11-14. Score 0. Id `ui5`.

I've spent two years vaguely wanting to replace my ThinkPad T480. The processor was "getting old," the whole thing felt tired, etc.

Turns out a lot of that feeling was a shiny keyboard with a mushy spacebar.

I paid $38 for a replacement keyboard from a parts seller, followed the service manual, and kept the original until I'd tested every key. First attempt left the TrackPoint buttons dead because I hadn't seated one ribbon cable properly. Reopening it and fixing that took longer than the initial swap.

Now it feels like a computer I chose rather than one I'm putting up with. It still takes exactly as long to export a PDF. The screen is still mediocre. But the part I touch for six hours a day isn't unpleasant anymore.

Not every laptop makes this repair sensible. On my previous machine, getting to the keyboard meant dismantling almost everything. Check the service manual before buying a $38 part and accidentally adopting a weekend project.

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