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

By: Haider

Haider — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 18:48:24 +0000

who can on my laptop without keyboard where is the wire on motherbord operate the on of power

By: SVTom

SVTom — Fri, 08 May 2015 01:54:53 +0000

I need to reset the BIOS password on a off-lease Dell Inspiron 1720.
You say removing the CMOS coin battery will be futile. Do you know what will reset it? Thank you for the help up to now!
Tom

By: Sue

Sue — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 05:25:55 +0000

I have a Vostro 1700 and I want to change the memory and add another hard drive. I seen a lot of information about the Vostro 1720 and before I buy anything I would like to know what it is I should buy. I know it will only work with 4gb of memory. so I am thinking I should buy 2 sticks because so far everything I have read says that one stick inside my computer is only 1 gb. I also read that it will not go over the memory speed of 667 Mhz? Also what kind of hard drive do you advise I get? Does the 1700 have two slots for the hard drives? I read that the 1700 can take a DDR2 SDRAM but I am not even sure what that means. Please advise. I have been searching for a couple of days online to Dell, on YouTube, google etc. and so far you have been the best at all things Vostro 1700 (Mostly Vostro 1720) but before I start taking this apart I want to know my options for the 1700.
Thank you in advance for all your help in this matter. I am a grandma and I have do things with my grandkids computers like change the power cord insert which I had to do taking the whole thing apart and replacing it and the bottom of the computer. but this is something I am not sure about. I know with memory each stick has to be equal is that correct.

By: Jakub

Jakub — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 22:01:43 +0000

Thanks a lot for the article, I used this to remove dust from the fan-out area and to put a new thermal paste in and it worked perfectly, really reliable guide!

By: IML Tech

IML Tech — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 17:12:38 +0000

In reply to ALS. @ ALS, It's hard to tell what is damaged without testing the motherboard. It's possible you fried the motherboard by connecting your "fixed" adapter.

By: ALS

ALS — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 00:47:58 +0000

I have a dead power supply on the Vostro 1700 so I have tried to use a power supply from one of my other laptop computers with the same voltage and current but it had a wrong adapter plug. I took the adapter plug off and exchanged it on the line of the working supply. The only problem I put the positive wire on the wrong wire and when I plugged it into the computer. The computer does not work. I then purchased a new power supply that would work on the computer but it seems that I must have messed up something inside the Vostro 1700 (PP22X). Can you tell me if there is a fix for this?

ALS

By: john

john — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 16:00:24 +0000

Hi, there. Thanks for all this excellent info. Really feels good to be able to maintain your own laptop – especially when it’s a good one like the 1720. Seems such a shame to have to get a new one when it’s so well specced just because the odd thing needs upgrading or replacing.

I’ve decided to uprade my 1720 to wireless N and I’ve just received my intel 4965AGN network adapter PCI express mini card.

Is it just a case of cover off, wires off, old card out, new card in, wires back on and install new driver?

By: Patrick A.

Patrick A. — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:41:18 +0000

Hi,
I have a 1720 and the lan is a 4401 10/100 chip (128-pin), I think?.. I’d like to upgrade it to a gigabit lan but i’m not sure which chip to install..
If it is a 128-pin lan i’m not sure what to use.. If its a 196-pin type.., then i have a 5702 gigabit broadcom to replace the 4401… I also have a 5788 gigabit chip…
Did they make 196-pin lans on the 1720’s..?
thanks

By: Vrej

Vrej — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:04:22 +0000

Richard,
I have a Inspiron 1720 and I have the same problem as you.
I spilled some water, while it was running, on the keyboard on the right side but only a small amount of water. The laptop continued to run but the keys were acting out. The next day, I tried to dry the keyboard while it was in the laptop (stupid me). I started to use the laptop and it suddenly shutdown.
Without the AC adapter, pressing the ON button does nothing.
If I plug the AC adapter, the adapter makes a laser sound and the green light on the adapter almost goes out. I have to unplug the AC from the 120 VAC and reconnect for light to come on.
I did notice the underside was warm, near the video card area. It could be one of those large dark things labeled PL1 to PL6.
Some of them say R45X 7D25J.

I took it apart. Took off the video card as well. Took out battery as well. I’m pretty sure the motherboard is the problem.
I have seen other people describe the same problem. I’m not an electronics expert unfortunately.
I already checked the adapter, it gives 19.5 VDC so the adapter is fine.

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:30:57 +0000

First of all thank you very much for the perfectly detailed tutorial, particularly the pictures! This has helped me much with my Dell Vostro 1700 Laptop.

Unfortunately yesterday my Dell Vostro 1700 Laptop died without any error message. I have used it in a hotel, where I have worked for some hours at a glass workdesk. Suddenly it turned off completely. (without shutting down, no error message, no audio signal)

I could notice, that the bottom of the laptop was very warm. At first I thought that the notebook itself has shut down to prevent a damage due to overheating. But after some minutes / hours / 1 day it still does not work. No function.

Second idea: Dust. So I have disassembled the laptop (follow the instructions here) cleaned the fan, and the area of headpipe of the CPU. Furthermore I renew the thermal grease of the CPU. As I have a Vostro 1700 with a Nvidia 256 MB graphic (no shared memory Intel) there is a second headpipe – would it be good to disassembled this part also?

Unfortunately nothing changed after I have assembled the laptop again.

Third idea: Memory Ram. I have checked everything and every variant with the 2 built-in modules of my Vostro 1700, but nothing changed.

Fourth idea: Power adaptor. I have noticed, that if I plug the power adapter into the power outlet the green control light is active (on). But at the moment, when I plug the other end of the cord into the notebook, the green control light is immediately off. After this I have to plug out the power adapter of the power outlet for some minutes, before the green light is on again (but only if the other end of the cord is not in the notebook!)

Unfortunately the power adaptor is not the reason, I have ordered a new one – but I get the same result as mentioned above.

Fifth idea: POWER JACK PROBLEM – do you think, that could be the reason for my problem? I have searched already at Ebay for that item, but I do not know if I can manage the assembly of this part? Will this require knowledge?

The sixth idea is simply OVERHEATING – Do you think, that the graphic card or the processor (T8100) have been damaged and that’s why the whole notebook does not start and not even a signal lamp is on? Would it be difficult to change the graphic card and the processor?

The only good thing is, that it has not be an ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE, but I do not know, what to do now.

How difficult is a complete Motherboard changement? I think it is difficult to find a similar one, as I want to use my Processor and my grapic card, if possible and if they are still okay.

Do you think, that it is possible, that the “Power Jack” is faulty and therefore the battery is complete empty and the power adaptor is out of function in combination with the notebook due to the faulty Power Jack?

Would it be useful to disassemble also the grapic card and renew the thermal grease?

Once again thank you so much for your information, the pictures and your help.