Can We make one Laptop out of 2 the Same?

[mylanta]

Hey everyone, I have a friend who had a Dell Inspiron 1100 2.5 Celeron 15" Dell Notebook that suddenly died on him about a year ago. Possibly a screw came loose and shorted the motherboard and we are certain that one has the motherboard shot.
Anyway he bought the same Notebook used and swapped the hard drive over from the original and has been using it ever since. he just called me that the notebook slipped off the backseat onto the floor and now the video is gone with only a white screen on call for bootup.
I have almost 0 Laptop experience so my question is is it easier to move the motherboard from the one with shot video to the one we believe the video is ok on, or move the video to the one with the good motherboard and what (briefly) does each job entail?
He is a professional photographer and really needs having at least one working to show his work to clients on and the one with the shot video does work with an LCD monitor which he is planning to do temporarily.

[kelly]

By 'the video' are you referring to the video card or the display. The video card is probably part of the motherboard. I think the display would be easier to move than the board.
-td

[Seth]

Kelly is right. Moving the display is a heck of a lot easier than moving the mobo.

I've only had to completely take apart three laptops, but I would highly recommend finding the disassembly instructions on the net.

[mylanta]

Yeah you think I am going to find Dell disassembly instructions on the internet? I am pretty sure from what he tells me it is the LCD that is shot.
How does that hook to the mobo though?

[Seth]

Yeah you think I am going to find Dell disassembly instructions on the internet? I am pretty sure from what he tells me it is the LCD that is shot.
How does that hook to the mobo though?

It will connect with one or two connectors that are usually under a removable panel right beside the number keys.

The laptops that I've worked on have numerous screws of different lengths, so be carefull. It's easy to insert the wrong length of screw and go right through the mobo or the case.

I'll have a look on the net and see what I can find. In general though, you pry off the hinge covers, remove that cover I talked about, remove the mobo to lcd connector(s), then remove the hinge screws that hold the hinge to the case.

[Seth]

Here's (http://chrisjhughes.blogspot.com/2006/01/how-to-disassemble-dell-inspiron-2650.html) some pix for a 2650. It should be about the same. I'm still looking for more.

Edit: Check this (http://forums.devshed.com/motherboards-106/replacing-dell-5100-motherboard-215769.html) out too.

[mylanta]

Thanks Seth that was what i was looking for ...oh and the 1100 is really same as 5100.

[Seth]

Thanks Seth that was what i was looking for ...oh and the 1100 is really same as 5100.

Great!

Good luck.

[photolady]

I have a suggestion about the screws. Get an icecube tray, label each section with where you removed the screws, and put the screws for that section in the icecube tray. This what I do at work and I can say, I've never lost a screw yet. Oh and be careful, if they hit the floor; they bounce really far and in all different directions. ;)

[mylanta]

Thanks PL that is an excellent idea, especially for a laptop, yet I am not yet sure if I will be the one to do this. The 4800 bent pin fiasco has me wary of such unknowns for the moment....I did put the 4800 back on the Crossfire ATi board though (thought there was a bottle of Scotch on the workbench with me for courage)...you have to see the heat synch/fan that comes with that baby. Looks like a hot rod with copper pipes out over saddle and there was very little room to attach it as well as the fact you cannot see where it fits into the saddle either because of all the crap hanging over the side...took about 15 tries because of course there was 0 room between the clips on the saddle and the mobo capacitors on both sides....really outstanding planning on the part of Asus there. One wrong move and "toast" for motherboard where as the normal Amd heat synch/fan for the 4200 fit right in and though it was tight you could see around it.

[photolady]

Damn on that 4800 problem. And it's too bad your in PA and I'm not. I take laptops apart on a regular basis at work. So far I have not found one that I couldn't take apart and put back together working.

Oh and three more weekdays and I'm home all day. We're closing the shop on Wednesday.

[mylanta]

Hey good luck on that one PL.

[Seth]

Damn on that 4800 problem. And it's too bad your in PA and I'm not. I take laptops apart on a regular basis at work. So far I have not found one that I couldn't take apart and put back together working.

That's pretty good. A lot of techs find that the laptop doesn't work anymore after putting it back together.

Good idea on the ice cube tray. I was using a bunch of small food containers. Also, when there are a few different screw sizes for a particular part, I resort to drawing a diagram.

[PeteF]

I have a suggestion about the screws. Get an icecube tray, label each section with where you removed the screws, and put the screws for that section in the icecube tray. This what I do at work and I can say, I've never lost a screw yet. Oh and be careful, if they hit the floor; they bounce really far and in all different directions. ;)

Hey Photolady,
An ice cube tray is a great idea!
That will come in handy when I'm working on various things like VCRs,
and other electronics. I've been using tuna fish cans and sometimes
I'd section one off into 4 compartments using cardboard, but I like that
ice cube tray idea. I might even try an egg try if I can locate a plastic
one that I can cut down into about 6 sections.

---pete---

[photolady]

If I'm going to be working on a certain laptop for days, I cut a piece of cardboard the size of the tray and tape this over the top of ice cube tray, that way no screws get lost or dumped.

Seth, I learned along time ago. "Laptops don't have spare screws, or spare parts" That is the case with most techs, they take the lappers apart and don't keep track of the screws, or extra parts or even forget where certain parts go back when reassembly time comes around. The best idea I've used with this scenerio is, use tape to mark the extra parts. On the ice cube trays I use a permanent marker that way I have always have what goes where boxes.

Pete, I think if you could find a plastic egg tray that would work too. And better if it has a lid, like the Styrofoam ones do.

[Seth]

Here's another good idea:

So far, I've been able to find fully illustrated disassembly instructions for the laptops that I've had to take apart. So I always check what's available online. I know enough now that I can do it without instructions, but given the way those things are assembled, it's good to check anyway. As you know with laptops, there's no such thing as being to carefull.

[photolady]

Yes, with Dell I have no problem finding tear down guides. Most though, Toshiba, Sony, HP/Compaq or Gateway don't always have a guide. But since I've taken most of these apart one time or another, I really don't need a guide any more either. And you're right, one can never be too careful with laptops disassembly or reassembly.

My first Toshiba belonged to the company I work for, it was older and had a bad power adapter. I disassembled it just like I would with any other laptop, and after the power adapter was fixed, I put it back together. And of course they are still using this laptop. ;)

[Seth]

My first Toshiba belonged to the company I work for, it was older and had a bad power adapter. I disassembled it just like I would with any other laptop, and after the power adapter was fixed, I put it back together. And of course they are still using this laptop. ;)

I've had to repair bad/broken adapter solder connections on four laptop mobo's now...one Dell, one HP, and two Toshiba's.

Those adapter connections are way to weak.

[SkipCox]

My "official" recommendations for working on a laptop.

1. It is not a job for the impatient of faint of heart.
2. Get a service manual and read every page of it.
3. Read the service manual again.
4. Memorize the service manual.
5. Most service manuals direct you to pay close attention to the different screw sizes used to assemble the thing. They can and will vary by a fraction of a mm in length or diameter and appear to be the same to most eyes.
6. Not paying attention to the fastener sizes in #5 is the killer of most laptops undergoing repair.

<Rant #1>

Now, it's time to take a moment to talk about tools...we can't do a job like this with a driver set from the dollar store. Quality tools are required; the tool must fit the fastener and be strong enough to remove it without destroying the screw. Y'all will also find tiny and fragile screws that have locktite applied when the machine was built. The trick is to use steady pressure until the fastener moves. Hell, I have some Itronix laptops where all fasteners are locktite'd to keep the machine drop resistant and water resistant...these screws are an absolute bish to remove with good tools and impossible with crappy tools.

</Rant #1>

7. As previously discussed and relating to #5 in this thread, we gotta absolutely know where the screws go on reassembly...a couple of methods to do this to follow in the next rant paragraph.

8. Insure you have a large clean workspace before starting a laptop repair.

<Rant #2>

I use two methods to organize for reassembly. One is the eggcrate method. Eggcrate position at the top left contains the fasteners for component at top left of the workspace...this one works reasonably well. The other is to place the fasteners on a hunk of tape and attaching the tape w/ fasteners to that particular component...works reasonably well too but, some fasteners may do dual duty and you'll end up wondering which component to attach 'em to. For both methods, that's when I stick the fastener on something like an address label that says "holds the dc to dc converter board to the modem and motherboard on the right side". Those fasteners get their own little compartment in the eggcrate...helps cut down on the pucker factor.

</Rant #2>

9. Very expensive laptop parts are available for a song on auction sites and ebay provides most of the ones I use. I try to purchase a suitable parts machine of the exact model I'm working on to insure parts compatibility.

10. If you reach a point where you know you're screwed...jump on a quality forum like this one, manufacturer forum, or retailer/etailer forum and ask for help.

11. Do not get impatient.

12. Read the service manual again.

13. Do not get impatient.

14. Read the service manual again.

[mylanta]

Thanks Skipcox, now I am terrified as opposed to slightly frightened!
But that's a good thing,