Studio 1555 keyboard replacement

My Studio 1555 is only just over a year and has now lost 10 keys and becoming unusable - firstly I will never buy another studio - it's been no end of problems.

However I have no acquired a new keyboard and tried to follow the instructions to "prise off the central panel" but the panel is completely stuck and in fact almost looked completely fitted to the rest of the surround.  I don't want to force it any more than I am for fear of snapping the whole thing and then having no laptop at all to use - am I doing something wrong or does anyone have any tips as to what I might be getting wrong ?