You know where you hit " and you have to hit the key again to make "" appear ?
I think this is what causes the problems with activating the console since the ~ key also has the same function in some windows language setups.

I'm not sure but maybe you can change your keyboard layout in the windows options to english?

Its not the layout thats the problem. ( I have it as english now but still can't get the console to come up ). Its that fact that Windows doesnt respond to "Shift" + " ' " as "~" it waits for the second time you press the key and then comes up with "~~"

I've tried just about every key combo there is, but it still doesnt work.
This includes alt + shift.

If you have a german keyboard a Shift + Ö will do.

I think it is a "feature" of the keyboard layoouts.
When I set it to the US version the ~ comes up immediatly, and when I set it to US (international) I have to hit ~ and spacebar to make it appear!

So I would play around with the different layouts...

Hope it helps..