It may be similar on the other Gateway laptops but I figured I should clarify right off the bat that mine is a slightly older model a 450-ROG, but I know it has similar parts as other Gateway models given what came up when I was looking for the replacement part in the first place. I have to thank PC Partners for the keyboard. Not only was it a very cost-effective price but they had it to me in just over a day, even though I didn’t pay for expedited shipping. It was greatly appreciated as I’d been without a keyboard for almost two weeks by that point even though I ordered one from another company the day the laptop broke and it never came. Thankfully I got the money back on that, otherwise there would have been a LOT of trouble, that company had initially charged me triple what PC Partners did and never contacted me or anything.

Anyway, on to how I did it:

First, here is the poor disheveled and broken laptop:

Note the lack of attached space bar. I had tried to just clip the space bar back on but the hook pieces were broken and so they would not reattach.

Here is the nice shiny new keyboard:

First you pop off the clips that cover the screws which attach the monitor to the base. You don’t need to disconnect the monitor, it just makes it easier to do the next steps if those are off.

After the clips are off, use the flat of a screwdriver to pop the flat piece off that has the power button and all the shortcut buttons off, leaving the computer this.

There are several screws attaching the keyboard to the laptop base. The first of which is seen in the photo. Keep the screws because the new keyboard doesn’t come with any.

After the screws are undone, you can start to lift the keyboard out. It’s still attached to the base via a pin plug which has to be popped out to disconnect the keyboard fully.

Behold the semi-naked computer:

Attach the plug on the new keyboard into the slot you just took the old one out of.

Then put the screws back in, and you can replace the protectors.

And the power/shortcut button panel.

Then the computer is once again ready to use.

So, that’s how you can replace the keyboard of a laptop for relatively cheap. I paid less than $20 including shipping and handling for my replacement keyboard. A great deal given the laptop cost me $2000 when I bought it new, and we don’t have the funds to replace the whole thing.