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Dell X300 Complete Disassembly





This page will visually guide you through disassembling a Dell X300 laptop. If one wants to take apart an x300, this is what they need!



Contents:

Remove the Battery

Remove the Memory

Remove the Wireless Card

Remove the Keyboard

Remove Top Panel Assembly

X300 Hard Drive Removal

Remove the X300 LCD Panel

Motherboard Removal



Remove the Battery

The battery is removed by sliding the two small sliders towards the outside of the laptop. This is a strange mechanism, but you'll know what I'm refering to when you see it.



slide the "sliders" to remove the battery



After you remove the battery, unscrew the two screws holding the bottom hatch on. The X300's memory, mini-pci wireless (embedded wireless) device, and modem are under here.





screws holding the underside panel





contents of the underside panel



Remove the Memory
Removing or updgrading memory in an x300 is very simple. There are two white tabs that hold the memory into the dimm slot. Carefully pull the tabs away from the memory on both sides, and the memory will pop upwards. Now the memory can be removed without any force.



To reinsert the memorry, place the memory in the slot so it is sticking out at an angle away from the motheboard and push the memory downwards so the tabs lock it in place.





pull the tabs to pop the memory module out



Remove the Wireless Card
Next the mini-pci wireless card will be removed. There are two wires that connect to the antenna in the laptop. Pull these wires striaght up and they will pop off the wireless card. Do this carefully, as they are fairly delicate.



After the antenna wires are disconnected, pull the metal tabs on both sides of the card away from the card, and the card will pop out just like the memory. Now you can remove the card with little to no force.





detach the antenna wires and pull the tabs to remove the wireless card



Remove the Keyboard
To remove the keyboard, look at the bottom of the x300, and remove the four screws marked with a K.





remove screws marked K



Flip the X300 back over and there is a small tab between the windows and the Alt key that needs to be pushed in to allow the keyboard to come out. Use a small screw driver to hold the tab in, and pull the keyboard straight up.





small tab holding keyboard





use small screwdriver to hold tab and lift keyboard







Before you can completely remove the keyboard, you must remove the keyboard ribbon cable. This is the wide black strip that looks like a ribbon. There are two tabs on either side of the connector that must be pulled upwards to allow the ribbon cable to come out of the connector.





carefully lift tabs on sides of ribbon cable, then the ribbon cable will slide out



Remove Top Panel Assembly
Once the keyboard is removed, you can see several more screws you can now remove. For now, remove only the ones shown in the image below.



Next flip the X300 over and remove the 3 screws that are towards the front of the laptop.





remove these screws





remove these screws too



Lift one side at a time to pop the tabs holding the panel in place, and then lift the whole top panel assemby forward. Next, the touchpad ribbon cable must be detached before the assembly can be completely removed.





lift upwards on each side of the panel, then tilt the whole panel fowards.






the touchpad ribbon cable must be detached



Using a small flat-headscrewdriver carefully insert the head into the ribbon connector and tilt the screwdriver upwards. Ribbon cables are one of the most delicate parts of laptops, so do this carefully. If you break this connector your touchpad probably will not work anymore.





use a screwdriver to carefully remove the ribbon cable connector



X300 Hard Drive Removal
Next we will remove the hard drive from this x300. Replacing a hard drive in an x300 is particularly difficult because you have to disassemble the laptop quite a bit.



There is a ribbon cable that connects to the motherboard of the x300. Remove it by grabbing it from the edges and lift it straight upwards.





remove the hard drive ribbon cable



Next remove the 4 screws holding the hard drive caddy.





remove the four hard drive caddy screws



Remove the X300 LCD Panel






Next we will loosen the panels which cover the LCD hinges. In these images I used my index finger for leverage to pop the panels up from each side. After both sides are popped up, the panel should be pretty loose, except is is still connected from behind the hinges.





first the hinge cover panels must be loosened from the front



Turn the laptop around and you will see a small notch near the outside of the battery cavity. Stick a small flat-head screwdriver in there and the hinge cover panel will pop off with ease.





use your screwdriver to release the tabs holding the hing cover panels



Repeat this operation for the hinge cover panel on the other side.



Next the LCD cable and antenna cables must be disconnected.



Using your flat-head screwdriver push up on each side of the LCD cabel where these arrows show. You do not want to pull the cable out, as you may disconnect a wire.





use a screw driver to remove the lcd cable



Next disconnect the antenna cables. They pop apart rather easily.





disconnect the antenna cables



On each hinge, there is a silver screw holding the hinges on. Remove them.





remove the silver screws



Next flip the x300 over and remove the last 2 screws holding the LCD hinges in place. Once these screws are removed, flip the unit back over and lift the lcd panel straigh up. It should be fully disconnected at this point.





remove the last two screws holing the LCD hinges and panel





the LCD should now be fully disconnected



Motherboard Removal
Finally, the motherboard will be removed. First, remove the wires connecting the cmos battery, speakers, and the ribbon cable for the LED lights. There is one last plastic panel across the top. Remove the screws indicated with the red circles, and the panel will easily come off.





disconnect the wires indicated





unscrew the indicated screws and remove the top panel



Next remove the panel, and remove the next set of screws marked with red circles.





remove these screws



Now the motherboard will lift out of the bottom housing. If there is any resistance, you missed a screw.



Notice, there are 3 screws left intact. These hold the heatsink against the processor. Do not take them out unless you are swapping the processor.





Screws holding the heatsink against the processor



Here are some final images of the motherboard and housing components:



motherboard top and bottom:

 



bottom housing bottom and inside:

  



underside of palmrest:







Thanks for the link, here's a linkback! For disassembly guides of all kinds check out repair4laptop.org

repair4laptop.org/disassembly_dell


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