Laptop with AZERTY keyboard ?

[ericbj]

Am seeking - in Thailand - a new laptop with French AZERTY (not German AZERTY) keyboard.  As a replacement for my existing one which is on the blink due to a graphics problem.  Possibly repairable, but if so it can become a stand-by when up-and-running again.  (Am thinking of guarantee)

 

Some years ago I brought to Thailand an external USB AZERTY keyboard in the belief that if the computer I had failed it could be replaced with a computer bought in Thailand having the habitual Thai/US keyboard.

 

The circumstance foreseen arose; I purchased a computer in Thailand, and confidently plugged in my AZERTY keyboard.  It did not function correctly.  Whenever one typed an accented character, or certain symbols, it reverted to a US keyboard and started outputting gibberish.  Years later I tried the same computer [a Lenovo Ideapad 320] with another USB AZERTY keyboard, with the same result.  Incompatibility caused by differences in computer keyboard processor?

 

My current computer which has started to develop the screen  problem is a Lenovo 1i with 15.7" screen [*], and was ordered from amazon.fr in April 2021 in replacement for an ASUS purchased in France only about 18 months earlier but which developed one keyboard failure after another (remedied by use of USB keyboard) before finally packing up altogether.  Forcing me to boot into Knoppix via USB to recover some data.  Swore never again to buy an ASUS.

 

It does occur to me that one could perhaps purchase a locally available computer, configure it under Windows as having a French keyboard, and then stick on the keys pieces of paper marked with the requisite characters.  But not, I suspect, a very durable solution.

 

Wonder if some of my many past hardware problems might have been caused by real live bugs.  Such as the almost microscopically small ants that abound in this house especially during the rainy season, and which can sometimes even find their way into screw-top jars.  Tend to put equipment into plastic bags with a few mothballs, but tedious repeatedly unplugging and re-plugging everything, so can get a bit neglected.

 

Moreover this house can be extremely damp and subject to mould, since some years ago a nameless clown concreted over the no-longer used irrigation ditch that ran down alongside my plot.  In the monsoon it served as a drain for the rainwater than now laps at the foot of my concrete-block walls.  However mould ought not to affect equipment in regular use, but only when in storage.  In the latter case I endeavour to seal with silica gel.

 

[ * not a bad machine but contrast ratio too low for my liking, as discovered after delivery ]

[cjinchiangrai]

Try looking in Vietnam. French is not a thing in Thailand. You might also set your system to French and then install new drivers.