Prepare Dell Latitude D500 for power jack repair

posted in: 4. Dell | 9

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In a Dell Latitude D500 laptop the power jack is soldered to the motherboard. If the laptop loses power intermittently when you wiggle the power plug, most likely the power jack is damaged and has to be repaired. In order to repair the power jack you’ll have to remove the motherboard.

In one of the previous posts I explained how to remove the motherboard from a Dell Latitude D500 but it came out mounted to a metal bracket. You cannot access and repair the power jack while the motherboard is mounted to the metal bracket, it has to be removed first.

OK, let’s prepare the motherboard for the power jack repair.

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How to disassemble Dell Latitude D500

posted in: 4. Dell | 5

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In this guide I explain how to disassemble a Dell Latitude D500 laptop.

Also, you’ll see how to access and replace all other internal parts.

I had two different problems with the computer.
1. The power jack was damaged. I could have just resoldered the jack but the second problem was more serious.
2. The motherboard couldn’t charge a known good battery. Apparently it had a problem with the battery charging circuit.

So I decided to replace the motherboard.

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How to take apart Dell Inspiron 1720 Vostro 1700

posted in: 4. Dell | 225

Dell Inspiron 1720 1721 Vostro 1700

Here are instructions for taking apart a Dell Inspiron 1720/1721 or Dell Vostro 1700 laptop.

You can use these guide for removing and replacing:
1.  Memory modules, hard drive, wireless card, modem.
2. CD/DVD optical drive.
3. Keyboard.
4. LCD panel.
5. Heat sink, CPU, motherboard and other internal components.

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How to replace keyboard on Dell Latitude C840

posted in: 4. Dell | 8

In this tutorial I show how to remove and replace the keyboard on a Dell Latitude C840 laptop.

This is a few years old computer but I still like it and use every day.

The removal and replacement procedure is pretty much straightforward and shouldn’t take more more than 15 minutes.

Turn off the laptop, unplug the power adapter and remove the battery.

On the bottom you’ll find four screws with a letter “K” witch means keyboard. Remove all four screws.

Remove screws from bottom

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How to open Dell battery

posted in: 4. Dell | 16

Take apart Dell laptop battery

Here’s how I was able to open the battery from my Dell. I had to take it apart because the locking mechanism was broken. I decided to fix it by using the locking mechanism from another similar dead Dell battery.
I wasn’t sure if I can open the battery because it looked sealed.

To my surprise, it wasn’t difficult but you have to be very careful. If something goes wrong you can (and most likely will) destroy the battery or will not be able to assemble it back together. Proceed on your own risk.

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How to upgrade memory in Dell Latitude D610

posted in: 4. Dell | 191

Upgrade memory Dell Latitude D610

Dell Latitude D610 laptop has two memory slots available for upgrades.

This model can take up to 2GB RAM total, so you can install up to 1GB module in each slot.

You should use PC2-4200 DDR2-533 SODIMM RAM.

Your computer will work in dual channel mode (recommended) if you install two identical memory modules. In my case, I’m going to install two 1GB PC2-4200 modules.

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