Jhaedee Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Hi, basically I have been looking at the possibility of adding a backlit keyboard to my laptop. I have seen one for sale online here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Keyboard-Timeline-9J-N2B82-01D-Compatible-keyboard/dp/B005HSQY9Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1433451880&sr=8-3&keywords=7738g+backlit#immersive-view_1433453384933 And have opened up my laptop to see what connections I have available (as seen in the pictures attached). My specific model number is an acer aspire 7738g 664g32Bn. From the vendors website it seems that it should fit the 7738g but I have concerns that there is no socket for the back light connector. Can you please confirm if this will work officially on my laptop i.e was it available as an option? If he answer to that is no could I also confirm whether or not one of the other small ribbon controllers could be used to power a backlit keyboard if I disconnect something else such as the media and volume controller on the right hand side of the keyboard? I would really appreciate any help or information you could offer me. Many thanks I do apologise for the copy and paste job from my official enquiry to acer but as I'm typing this on my phone I didn't want to type all of that out again as I covered most of the points. The main reason I'm posting this here is more regarding my unofficial ideas to fit the keyboard. If it will accept the modification as standard that's great. But as I mentioned in my email there doesn't seem to be a free connector for the back light ribbon cable. HOWEVER there are numerous other small ribbon cable connectors available under the keyboard so maybe I could use one of those? Ideas? Comments? All welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jhaedee Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 More images to come... One more to follow... (2mb limit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted June 4, 2015 Moderator Share Posted June 4, 2015 Says it is for your system model. Why wouldn't it work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jhaedee Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 If anything else needs to be seen just ask but I think this should cover everything. Says it is for your system model. Why wouldn't it work? I have worries that it might be a sneaky sales technique as I'm sure this technically would work as a keyboard on my system but the back light may not work as I saw this on the product description "Fit specified models in the title Please confirm laptop model, the layout, cable position before purchase; thanks" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intersect Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 i had an old 5920 that i needed to swap out a keyboard for and was able to use one from a different series that had backlit functions but sadly i was unable to make use of the back light on the keyboard when inserting the LED flex into a zif socket that had the same number of pins. all you can do is try and hope for the best, you may end up with a keyboard that has full on brightness, from what i remember acers like most LED backlit keyboards have 3 stepped levels of light but you will lose either your power button to turn on the laptop some other important devices. I have googled your system series and cannot find a backlit keyboard version. Amazon and ebay sellers like to list every single compatible laptop a keyboard will fit and work with even if you don't have a KB-LED socket, I know! it suxs right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted June 4, 2015 Moderator Share Posted June 4, 2015 Well, a search on the manufacturer reference brings up a few other countries that sell the same thing: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=L010100054.1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jhaedee Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 Thanks for the replies so far guys! Nice to see Neowin isn't a dying community Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jhaedee Posted June 5, 2015 Author Share Posted June 5, 2015 Well, as I suspected Acer were next to useless with their response. See below, so now rules them out I guess I need help from someone vastly knowledgeable here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahorsepip Veteran Posted June 5, 2015 Veteran Share Posted June 5, 2015 If you can't find someone else who has trid it with a similiar laptop model then you've got only one option, try it yourself 24 pound isn't that much of a gamble anyway, and if you're carefull with installing you might be able to return it when it doesn't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aergan Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 If you've got no socket for the backlight cable, you'll get no backlight. The keyboard side of things should work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jhaedee Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 I've been pondering this some more recently and have been pondering whether the backlight could be made to work with a small cell battery and a bit of wire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intersect Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 it would but it would not last long, if you really want to go down this rout then find out what voltage the lights require buy looking at the tech details for it and you could power it from a usb port from the inside if you wanted after all the LED part of the keyboard has 5 pins, you would only need the + - and ground the other pins would be for turning them on when they are connected to a laptop that fully supports that keyboard. It would be a good project if you can get it to work but you may end up doing serious damage to your laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jhaedee Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 Well, after some further general research i found the following thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/ul30-backlit-keyboard-mod.465841/ Of interest in particular were the pictures attached and the revelation (to me anyway) of a product called 'wire glue' which is apparently a solder alternative and way more noob friendly. So, what i also have to ask is what is the likelyhood that the orange ribbon cable on the acer backlit keyboard would have the 5v and ground in the same place as this asus keyboard? As far as i can tell the Acer cable only has 4 connectors too. Any further thoughts on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Bet u could use a USB line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intersect Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 just to give you an idea of what you are trying to accomplish take a look at the site below, the reason for the code box is some people prefer to see the whole link so it does not look fishy http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/asus-n50vn-backlight-keyboard-mod.762121/ Aergan 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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