cheap Compaq laptop goes wacky

[cassandra]

I got this laptop a couple years ago, cost 450 and has a celeron..it's fine for what I need BUT I often get this crazy problem where my pointer opens up things when I just pass over the link, my caps function stops working, I get < instead of period, and worst of all, I get out of control highlighting. Just, everything highlighted so I can't delete or write or anything. I just have to shut it down.

What would cause a problem like that? Could it be overheating?

[Patrick Graham]

Does your laptop feel hot?

If it doesn't then it's probably not overheating.

Does the problem go away with a reboot?

It sounds hardware related to me.

[wbgolden]

Hardware related, I'd agree. I'd suggest plugging a USB keyboard and maybe also mouse into it and see if it continues. It sounds like the strobing from the keyboard has gone wonky (for lack of a better word). So it's either going to be bad input from the keyboard/touchpad or (*gasp*) a motherboard on its way out.

With that said, I'm guessing I can expect a couple good years out of the $400 Compaq laptop I bought 6 months ago. :)