Laptop Keyboard/Touchpad Skip Problem

[thefultonhow]

Yes, this post refers to "peripherals," but I'm putting it in general hardware because I don't think it's a problem with the keyboard and touchpad themselves.

I'm working on an HP Pavilion ze4145 laptop which lags slightly in typing and mousing. Some letters will come out just fine and without delay, but others won't be recognized at all. This is key-independent -- all of the keys exhibit this behavior at various times and not at all at other times. The touchpad also has a similar problem, where the cursor will stay still for a few milliseconds and then keep going.

I have reformatted (the machine runs XP Home), so I don't think it's a software issue -- also, it even skipped letters when I put in a new network computer name in the Out-of-Box Experience part of Setup. CPU usage is low, so I don't think that is a problem either. And the machine has an Athlon XP 1800+ and 512 MB of RAM, so I doubt it's a speed issue.

Has anyone seen this problem at all before? I did a Google search and all I got were some people who had the problem with MSN TV wireless keyboards and some other types of wireless keyboards (changing the batteries fixed those problems). The keyboard is built into the notebook, so I don't think that's an issue. HP's support site had nothing, either, and the warranty is up so I doubt they would give free phone support.

I'm about ready to just tell the customers that they should go buy a new Dell Inspiron with a very long warranty. But I thought I'd post this here to see if anyone had seen this before and for anyone else who could conceivably be having this problem.

Thanks.

[thefultonhow]

UPDATE: I just tested with a USB keyboard, and it doesn't skip keys. Could it be a problem with the PS2 circuitry?

[glc]

Sounds more like a problem with the keyboard and/or palmrest/touchpad itself. Find out if someone spilled something in it.

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by glc Sounds more like a problem with the keyboard and/or palmrest/touchpad itself. Find out if someone spilled something in it.

I took the laptop apart to investigate whether there was something in there, and there was no sign of a spill.