This week I decided to share a repair I did on a Dell Mini 10v. I got it on ebay for a very reasonable price because it had a broken USB port, It appears it got dropped with a device plugged into the port, and it broke the port. This is a fairly common accident. First I had to come up with a replacement port. Since I didn’t have any dead computers in the “bone pile” I went to my local “dollar store” and checked out the cell phone accessories. They always have cheap stuff and I got lucky and found a 12 volt charger that plugs into a cigarette lighter socket and has a USB port with 5 volts output for charging and powering USB devices. I bought it for $5 and brought it home where I promptly took it apart and salvaged the USB port from it to use in the Dell.
Next I had to get inside the Dell Mini. When you first look at it, it seems pretty difficult to get inside but, like most laptops and net books, it isn’t that hard. On most laptops, you gain access to the motherboard by removing the keyboard. The keyboard can be held in place with screws from the bottom or some simple release clips at the edges. The Dell Mini has 8 screws on the back, three of which hold the keyboard in place. The other five hold the top cover on. Up top there are three more screws to remove along with the hard drive and then the top cover comes off
Once inside you can remove the connectors to the motherboard and take it out, replace the hard drive, upgrade the RAM and make repairs as needed.
Follow along on with me on the video and you’ll learn how to get inside the Dell Mini. If you apply this approach to other laptops and net books you’ll soon learn that it isn’t that hard to figure out how to get inside these devices and repair them yourself!
Happy hackin!
I like the credit card used as tool, I always damage plastic parts with my screwdriver
At work (camera repairs) some of us use guitar plectrums for opening the cases. They tend to work quite well.