My laptop keyboard is broken *sobs*

I recently switched on my shiny new(ish) Asus eee laptop and the lower half of my keyboard doesn't work! I have the qwerty line and all my numbers but thats about it.
I don't know why its broken, or what exactly is wrong with it, but I tried using it with a new OS and the keyboard was still broken which means its a hardware problem not software, right?
I know the eee keyboards are quite cheap and fragile as its a really cheap computer.
Is this kind of thing covered under warranty? Or would they say I must have broken it somehow (I didn't, or at least I don't think I did)?
I'm tempted to just take it to a repair shop, but the eees have really tiny keyboards and the parts are apparently really hard to get.
On the other hand, the Asus UK website to report eee problems appears to be broken, and I have heard of people sending their eees away to be repaired and not getting them back for months. However I could borrow my bfs while mine was being repaired as he no longer uses his...

Any ideas?

I think its too many keys to be dirt, but I just tried shaking/hitting it and it made no difference.
I wondered if it might be condensation damage somehow. I'm tempted to unclip the keyboard and see if I can clean it/see any damage but I don't want to make the problem worse.

What kind of ports do you have? USB? If so, you can buy a cheap keyboard and use that, instead. Of course, it won't be as portable.

That's a good idea, thanks.
The laptop keyboard is too small for prolonged typing anyway so I'll look into it. I'm still trying to find a way to fix my laptop though.