Keyboard issues

I have a new MacBook Pro, work computer, 2 months old, and I am a first time user on a Mac... And I will never go back... As long as I can fix these problems anyways.

The wireless keyboard works fine, but the Mac's keyboard often has some weird issues:
random letters will stop working... I close the notebook and let it sit, open it, it works once and stops working again. Other times, the letters, u, c, or maybe another will stop working and a a box pops up with the letter with different symbols like ' ^ ~ over the letters like for language options... Today I powered down the computer and restarted ... Letters worked fine but then the enter/return button stopped working... It just gives a space and sometimes the letter 'g'.
Do you guys have any ideas to fix this? I don't think it's hardware...

Also, if I shut the screen and don't give it a good 15 seconds rest and open it, screen is dark with just the curser showing, is that normal?

I always heard these are supposed to be the best... But my 350 $ PC didn't seem to have such annoying problems as this $3500 macbook.