Crackin' the Inspiron

It's not every day you're going to see a brand new laptop under 3 months old cracked open like this. 😉

The "L" key on my Inspiron 6000 keyboard is getting a little bit over-sensitive (you barely touch it and lllllllllllllllll appears), so I called Dell and ordered a replacement keyboard under warranty. It will arrive next week.

I did a Google search and found that the way to detach the Inspiron 6000 keyboard is fairly straightforward. First, remove the top bezel. This is where the power button and top lights are. You push the LCD screen all the way back, then "crack" off the bezel, which goes from right-to-left, starting with a small indentation on the far right side which is just large enough (by design) for a standard flathead screwdriver. You use the screwdriver to slowly crack it off.

Once off, there are two black screws at the top. Unscrew these, then the keyboard top lifts up, then pull back. The result is what you see in the photo above.

One thing I truly love about Dell chassis' is that they are extremely easy to work on. This keyboard connects with a single ribbon connector (see the blue part in the photo) that pulls right out. Pull out, put in new board, two screws, snap back on bezel, done deal. Total job time, about 5 minutes.

-- edit --

And yes, most people FREAK OUT when they see a laptop taken apart like this. When I used to work for Unisys doing Dell repairs, I would see people's faces light up in horror as I cracked apart laptops to repair them. You should see people's terror when replacing an LCD screen. (tee hee)