In this guide I will be taking apart a Sony Vaio VGN-SZ series laptop. In my case I’m working with a Sony Vaio VGN-SZ330p laptop but the guide should work for the entire VGN-SZ line.

In you need replacement parts, search here.

STEP 1.

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

Remove one screw securing the keyboard.

STEP 2.

There are two latches securing the keyboard. They are located above the F2 and Insert keys.

STEP 3.

Using a small screwdriver press on the locking latch above the Insert key and lift up the right side of the keyboard.

STEP 4.

Do the same with the second latch and lift up the keyboard from the laptop base.

STEP 5.

Place the keyboard upside down on the palm rest so you can access the cable connector underneath.

STEP 5.

In order to unlock the cable connector move the black clip about 2 millimeters towards the touch pad. The clip must stay attached to the connector base.

If you break the connector, you’ll have to remove the motherboard. Work very carefully.

STEP 6.

Release the keyboard cable. Remove the keyboard and replace it with a new one if needed.

STEP 7.

Remove four screw securing the heat sink cover. Remove the cover.
Remove two screws securing the memory cover. Remove the cover.

STEP 8.

Remove two screw securing the CPU heat sink.

STEP 9.

Remove heat sink from the laptop.

Now you can clean the cooling fan and heat sink with compressed air.
Also, you get an access to the CPU.

STEP 10.

Both memory modules could be access through the door on the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 11.

Remove four red screws securing the switch cover.
Remove three yellow screws securing the palm rest.

STEP 12.

Carefully lift up and remove the switch cover.

STEP 13.

Remove three screw securing the palm rest.
Unlock the touch pad cable connector and release the cable.

In order to unlock the connector simply lift up the right side of the locking clip with your finger nail.

On the picture below the connector is shown in the unlocked state.

STEP 14.

Release the touch pad cable and remove the palm rest assembly.

When the palm rest assembly is removed you get an access to the hard drive, DVD drive, wireless card and CMOS battery.

STEP 15.

Remove three screws securing the hard drive assembly.

Disconnect the hard drive cable connector from the motherboard.

STEP 16.

Remove the hard drive assembly from the laptop.

If you are replacing or upgrading the hard drive you’ll have to transfer the mounting bracket and cable from the old drive to a new one.

STEP 17.

Remove one screw securing the DVD drive.

STEP 18.

Slid the DVD drive to the right to disconnect it from the motherboard.

There is an adapter between the DVD drive and motherboard. This adapter has to stay attached to the motherboard.

STEP 19.

Remove DVD drive from the laptop.

STEP 20.

In order to remove the wireless card, disconnect two antenna cable from the card, remove two screws securing the card and pull the card from the slot on the motherboard.

If you would like to replace the CMOS battery, simply unplug it from the motherboard and replace with a new one.

In one of the previous guides I explain how to remove the LCD screen and inverter board from a Sony Vaio VGN-SZ series laptop.

In the following guide I will disassemble a HP Compaq 8510p notebook PC and remove all main parts. According with the HP specifications, my disassembly guide should work for a HP Compaq 8510w mobile workstation. If it works for any other model, I would appreciate if you mention the model name in the following comments.

In the next guide I’ll explain how to remove and replace the screen inverter.
Before you start, you should turn off the laptop and unplug the power adapter.

STEP 1

Remove the battery.
Remove the hard drive and memory covers.

STEP 2

Remove the memory module.
Remove the hard drive as it shown on the sticker. Simply remove one screw securing the hard drive, slide the hard drive to the left and remove it from the laptop.

STEP 3

Remove one screw securing the optical drive (CD/DVD drive). Push the drive from the laptop with a screwdriver. Remove the drive.

STEP 4

Loosen two screws securing the keyboard. Both screws will stay attached to the laptop bottom.

STEP 5

Slide four latches securing the keyboard to the direction pointed by red arrows.

STEP 6

Lift up the keyboard with a sharp object, you can use a small flathead screwdriver.

STEP 7

Continue removing the keyboard. Place it upside down on the palm rest.

STEP 8

The keyboard is connected to the motherboard via two flat ribbon cables. Unlock both connectors by lifting the locking tab about 2-3 millimeters up with your finger nails. Be very careful with the connectors.

On the picture below you can see both connectors unlocked and keyboard cables removed. The locking tab must stay attached to the connector base.

STEP 9

Remove two screws securing the cooling fan. Unplug the fan cable from the motherboard.

Remove the fan.

STEP 10

Remove six screws securing the video card (VGA board) and processor (CPU) heat sinks.

Remove the heat sink.

STEP 11

Remove two screws securing the video card.

The video card will pop up at a 15-20 degree angle. Carefully pull the video card from the slot by the edges.

STEP 12

Now I’m going to remove the laptop top cover. Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop. The orange screw securing the touch pad. There are two more screws (marked with green squares) hidden under rubber seals.
As you see, you can access the Bluetooth card through the hard drive compartment.

STEP 13

Lift up the touch pad assembly as it shown on the picture below. Place the touch pad upside down on the palm rest.

Disconnect the touch pad cable from the motherboard. Remove the touch pad.

STEP 14

Start removing the keyboard bezel with a small screwdriver. Do not forget to disconnect the cable the same way as you disconnected the keyboard cables.

Continue separating the keyboard bezel with your fingers and remove it from the laptop.

STEP 15

Unplug the LCD cable from the motherboard.
Unsnap three wireless card antenna cables from the wireless card.
Unroute the wireless card antenna cables.
Remove five screws securing the display hinges (two from the left hinge and three from the right hinge).

STEP 16

Remove four screws securing the display hinges on the back of the laptop.

STEP 17

Remove the LCD screen (display) assembly.

STEP 18

Remove six screws securing the top cover assembly.
Unplug the CMOS (RTC) battery cable from the motherboard.
Unplug the finger scanning device cable from the motherboard.
If you wish, you can remove the wireless card here. I’ll do it later.

STEP 19

Start removing the laptop top cover assembly. It could be a challenge.

The top cover is still attached to the bottom with a cable pointed with the red arrow. Unplug this cable. By the way, you can access the Bluetooth module from here too.

Remove the top cover assembly.

On the picture below you can see the finger scanning device attached to the top cover.

STEP 20

Remove two screws securing the speaker assembly to the motherboard (I don’t remember if I had to remove three screws).
Unplug the speaker cable.

Lift up and remove the speaker assembly.

STEP 21

Remove two screws securing the wireless card. Remove the wireless card from the motherboard.
Remove two screws securing the modem card. Unplug the modem card cable from the motherboard. Remove the modem card.

STEP 22

Remove two hex studs from the VGA port (two orange arrows on the top).
Unplug cables pointed with red arrows.
Remove five screws securing the motherboard.

STEP 23

Start removing the motherboard from the laptop base.

The motherboard has been removed. If you are replacing the motherboard, transfer the processor (CPU) to the new board.

Your Dell laptop has no Bluetooth capability? Not a problem!
This tutorial will give you an idea how you can upgrade your Dell laptop with an internal Bluetooth. To be precise, this guide explains how to install an external USB 2.0 Bluetooth dongle inside your laptop and make it internal. Sounds like an interesting idea and most likely I’ll try it on my laptop too.

This guide was made for a Dell Inspiron 700m but will work for most other models.

All you need is some soldering experience and inexpensive USB 2.0 Bluetooth dongle. Laptop disassembly instructions could be found in the official service manual.

This guide explains how to install internal Bluetooth module into a Dell Inspiron 6400 or E1505 laptop.

It turns out, that even if you didn’t order Bluetooth in the Build-To-Order configuration, you can add it after the fact.

The Bluetooth module compartment is located under the battery.
1. Remove the battery.
2. Remove the Bluetooth compartment cover.
3. Carefully pull the cable and connect the Bluetooth module.
4. Close the Bluetooth compartment and install the battery.

You can purchase a new Bluetooth module for your Dell Inspiron 6400/E1505 laptop here for less then $25.

Most likely you have XP or Vista OS installed on your laptop, it should install the drivers automatically. Now your laptop is Bluetooth-ready.

This tutorial will help to install an internal Bluetooth v2.0 adapter into your Acer Extensa 5420 notebook. I think this tutorial might work for Extensa 5620 notebook series too, but I’m not 100% sure.

For this upgrade you’ll need a compatible 4-pin internal Bluetooth adapter, you can find it here. Make sure to contact the seller and confirm that you are getting a compatible adapter.

The Bluetooth connector is located on the motherboard under the touchpad and the author explains how to install the Bluetooth adapter without taking the whole thing apart.

Installing a Bluethooth card into your Dell Inspiron 1520/1521 or Dell Vostro 1500 laptops will not take more than 5 minutes. You can easily install the Bluetooth card yourself and this upgrade will cost you about $20.
The Bluetooth card mounts between the securing tabs witch could be found under the keyboard bezel above F10, F11 and F12 keys.

Also, you’ll find detailed instructions in the Dell Inspiron 1520/1521 and Vostro 1500 service manual.

You can find a new Bluetooth 2.0 Module 355 for Dell laptops here.

in your package, you will receive several stickers. To abide by the FCC laws, you must adhere one of these to the bottom portion of your laptop.

Here’s another guy who added an internal Bluetooth 2.0 module into his Dell laptop.

This tutorial shows how you can remove the keyboard and access the internal RAM slot in a Dell Latitude D820 notebook.
The keyboard removal procedure will not take long.
1. Remove the keyboard bezel with a flathead screwdriver.
2. Remove three screws securing the keyboard
3. Unplug the keyboard cable from the motherboard and remove the keyboard.

The internal RAM slot is located under the keyboard, right above the touch pad buttons.

Also, you can use this tutorial for replacing the following internal components:
1. Bluetooth module witch is located under the keyboard bezel.
2. Wireless card, witch is located under the keyboard in the lower left corner.
3. WWAN card (if you have it installed), witch is located under the keyboard on the right side from the wireless card.

If you are looking for more detailed disassembly instructions, I would suggest using this Dell Latitude D820 notebook service manual.

I just added detailed instruction for updating RAM in a Dell Latitude D830 which is very similar to Latitude D820.

You can easily upgrade your Acer Aspire 3680 and install internal Bluetooth module at home, without taking it to a repair shop or service center if you read through this guide.

Installation is actually pretty easy for the Acer 3680. All you need to do is to remove the memory door panel, exposing a white 6 pin socket. All you need to do is plug the connector into the socket (it only goes in one way). You can remove the backing of the double-sided tape and stick it on some part of the motherboard.

If you don’t know where to find a new Bluetooth module for your laptop, try here.

UPDATE: Here’s another guide for the same model: Upgrading Acer Aspire 3680 memory.

The Acer 3680 has two memory slots that takes DDR2-533/PC4200 or DDR2-667/PC5300. Because the Celeron M has a FSB of 533 Mhz, you’re limited to 533 Mhz even if you use DDR2-667. The computer typically come with a single 512 Mb module and can accept up to a maximum of two 1 Gb module for a total of 2 Gb. In this case I’m putting 1GB additional ram.