Comments on: How to take apart Dell Inspiron 1720 or Dell Vostro 1700 laptop

By: Shannon

Shannon — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:35:42 +0000

What stage do I need to do to replace the AC power plug and modem/ ethernet plug on my Vostro 1710? How difficult is it?

Awesome walk through!!

By: shello

shello — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:46:47 +0000

Can somebody tell where can i find the atmel chip on the dell vostro 1700 motherboard. P.S. A picture of it will be great

By: Laptop Tech

Laptop Tech — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:32:22 +0000

The_Snowman,

Replacing the CPU seems easy enough, I have the T7500 @ 2.2 GHz, would I achieve enough performance increase by changing to T9500 @ 2.6 GHz to make it worthwhile?

I don’t think that you will achieve noticeable performance increase by upgrading the CPU.
Will it work? I’m not sure 100% but probably yes. I believe both CPUs have same socket and FSB but T9500 is faster and has more cash memory. But T9500 is still expensive.

Instead of upgrading the CPU, I would consider maximizing RAM and installing faster hard drive.
The hard drive is the slowest part in the computer. If you can upgrade from a 5400RPM hard drive to 7200RPM hard drive you’ll see enough performance increase.

By: The_Snowman

The_Snowman — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 09:31:10 +0000

Great tutorial, thanks for posting, and glad to see questions are being answered. So here is mine, Replacing the CPU seems easy enough, I have the T7500 @ 2.2 GHz, would I achieve enough performance increase by changing to T9500 @ 2.6 GHz to make it worthwhile?
Thanks, John

By: Seb

Seb — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:00:15 +0000

I Took my 1721 apart to clean the dust out of the fan (I have done this manytimes). Now I cannot turn the laptop on. The on symbol lights up, and I can hear the hard disk working but the laptop just turns back off after a few seconds.

By: Lobby13

Lobby13 — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:36:25 +0000

I knew that changing a laptop keyboard was supposed to be simple, but hadn’t ever done it myself. After my “n” key blew, I remapped the tilde (only key I never used) to type “n” on a temporary basis, then went looking for instructions on swapping keyboards. With your help, I just completed the task! Thanks a bunch. I’m bookmarking you and will be recommending you to my friends.

By: Dorothy

Dorothy — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:30:39 +0000

Hi, Thanks so much for the info and pics of how to remove my keyboard. I’ve had a problem with the words when I type where the cursor keeps zipping back to the start of the sentence. I’ve now taken it apart and cleaned it so fingers crossed this problem will cease. Many thanks.

By: Kirsty

Kirsty — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:57:03 +0000

Hi again,
I got my new motherboard and put it in but when I start up the fan doesn’t seem to be working. Does this take a minute to start or should it start like it usually does?
Trying to figure out if I need to buy a new fan and be in for a wait again.
Thanks,
Kirsty.

By: Keith

Keith — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:17:58 +0000

I just took my laptop apart a little, I didn’t go as far as you have here. I chickened out and put it back together. But when I did the screen did not come on. I can here that windows has started up. Log in etc. but I can’t see anything – it seems there is no connection to the LCD. Any idea how this happened? I have tried starting up holding function and f8 but that didn’t help.

By: Laptop Tech

Laptop Tech — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:15:11 +0000

LHUPA,

I have to service a Dell Inspiron 1720 who seems to have no Wi-Fi system nor graphic card installed (despite any drivers installed)… I get these messages on the System’s details. But in the overall, the mother board seems to be correct. I have completely re-installed all Dell’s original softwares (on 4 CD-Roms or DVD’s) including the Windows Vista Home Edition also included, bundled to genuine Dell’s discs after reformatted the hard disk with DBAN. How to find if the Wi-Fi and the graphic card have been taken off from the computer?

I think the laptop wouldn’t start at all with the graphics card removed. Apparently the graphics card is installed and works properly.
Can you see the Wi-Fi card in the device manager? Also, you can remove the cover on the bottom of the laptop and find out if the Wi-Fi card is installed.

I have also noticed that two module parts seem to be missing: WPAN-FCM and WWAN-FCM each side of the WLAN (present).

That doesn’t make sense. You asked how to find if the Wi-Fi card is installed even though you said it’s present. WLAN=Wi-Fi