Coming back to Malaysia and the anticipated Chinese New Year did not hinder me from my main quest of searching for more laptops to disassemble. Thanks to my really wonderful friends, Thomas and HQ who would let me disassemble laptops directly from his storage room. Although not new, but it’s a Dell XPS M1330 laptop, XPSes are fancy notebooks.
Alright, this “How To” guide will provide a step by step guide to Dismantle your Dell XPS M1330 Laptop.
READ ME
This guide is made just to show you a step by step sequence on how to disassemble your Dell XPS M1330 Laptop for cleaning purpose. Advices taken here are taken at your own risk. AhWee.com takes no responsibility if you break any of the hardware or lose your warranty.
NOTE: Even though Dell said disassembling yourself would lose your warranty, but I have yet to see the notebooks I’ve disassembled void their warranty.
Tools You Need For Dismantling
- Philips Screwdriver
- Flat Blade Screwdriver
Before You Start
Clear your table. You’ll need an empty medium sized table to put all the laptop components when you disassemble your Dell XPS M1330. Also get a container to put all the screws so that they don’t go missing.
Also, make sure there are no power connections to your laptop. This means unplugging the power connector and removing the battery out from its bay.
How to remove battery on a Dell XPS M1330?
- Note the battery position at the back of your laptop.
- Slide the battery latch that has a “lock” sign beside it.
- Push the battery out from its compartment.
Great, no more power, now ground yourself and your Dell XPS M1330′s motherboard to avoid any electrostatic discharge. To ground yourself, simply wear a wrist grounding strap or touching an unpainted metal surface from time to time. Press the power button to ground the motherboard.
Step 1: Locate and Remove Fan
Laptop fan is the most common area where dust tends to gather. Usually clearing the air vent and the fan would solve the problem.
In this Dell XPS M1330, the fan is extremely easy to locate, unlike the previous Dell Inspiron 6400 which I disassembled before.
- Take note of the screw slot with the “M” icon. That’s where your fan and the memory are located.
- Unscrew the M2.5 x 5mm screw and 3 captive screws.
- Lift the cover up (Obviously I forgot to take out the battery first).
- You can see your RAMs and the fan connected to the heat sink.
- Loosen 5 captive screws.
- Disconnect the fan’s power cable.
- Lift it up from the laptop.
Now you’ve got your hands on the fan, clean it by using brush. Remember to clean the air vent as well so that airflow can be as resistance free as possible.
When you reassemble the heat sink, apply some thermal compound to the processor if you have some.
If cleaning the fan isn’t enough because there is too much dust in the laptop, I suggest disassembling the palm rest. If you’re eager to follow through, then continue reading.
Step 2: Remove Communication Cards
Communication cards are WLAN and WWAN cards which you have to take out in order to remove the palm rest.
- Note the captive screw with a “C” icon located at the bottom (base facing up).
- Unscrew it and lift the cover up.
- Disconnect the antenna cables from the WLAN/WWAN cards.
- Unscrew the M2 x 3mm screw.
- The card lifts up automatically so you’ll just have to pull it out.
Step 3: Remove the Harddisk
- Note the screw slots with 4 container icons located at the bottom right (base facing up) of the laptop.
- Unscrew the four M3 x 3mm screws.
- Slide the harddisk out from its bay.
Harddisks are extremely fragile components. Put it in an antistatic bag (to avoid electrostatic discharge) and make sure there are no way the harddisk would drop or hit anything.
Step 4: Remove the Hinge Cover
- Remove the two M2 x 3mm screws that was covered by the battery.
- Turn the laptop over and open the LCD screen as far as possible (don’t break it).
- Remove the hinge covers caps for both sides. They are quite loose so using your finger nails would do the trick.
- Pry the hinge cover. Hinge covers are always the hardest part to disassemble, be firm and steady when you open it. Pry the hinge cover slowly because there’s a fragile cable at the bottom of it. You’ll need to remove the keyboard in order to disconnect the cable.
- Just lay the hinge cover on top of the LCD Screen first.
Note that the hinge cover is not easy to open. The fragile cable does not help too. Take extreme cautious of the amount of strength you use to pry the hinge cover up.
Step 4: Remove the Keyboard
- Unscrew the two M2 x 2mm screws on top of the keyboard.
- Lift the keyboard up slowly and carefully so you don’t break the connector.
- Note the connector at the bottom of the keyboard.
- Pull the tab up and slide the connector out.
By now you should be able to see the hinge cover’s cable clearly. Disconnect it by pulling the 2 release tabs up and slide the connector out.
Removing the Bluetooth Device
By this time you will be able to see the Bluetooth device clearly at the left side of the laptop, if it is installed. They are around 2.5cm x 1cm long. You can see it at this picture, the little card located at the left side of the laptop. Just pull the cable out. Easy
Step 5: Remove the LCD Screen
- Unscrew the two M2.5 x 5mm screws located at the upper corner of the laptop base.
- Dislodge all the cables that are connected from the LCD screen. Lists of them are:
- WLAN/WWAN antenna cables: push them through the hole.
- Display cable: Disconnect with the pull tab.
- Camera cable: Just pull, easy.
- Unscrew the two M2.5 x 5mm screws at each side of the LCD screen’s support.
- Slowly lift the screen up and put it on a flat surface.
Step 6: Remove the Palm Rest
- Remove six M2.5 x 5mm screws at the bottom of the laptop.
- Remove 7 screws at the top of the palm rest.
- Disconnect the touch pad cable.
- Carefully separate the palm rest from the base so that you won’t break any components.
There you go, your Dell XPS M1330 laptop disassembled. Take extreme care from here onwards. Clean whatever that is necessary, don’t apply force on area you think you shouldn’t touch.
Addon Step: How to Remove the Memory Modules
The memory modules share the same entry cover with the heat sink/fan. The one with the “M” labeled cover. So, after removing the cover, the RAMs can be seen.
To remove the RAM:
- Pull the two pins outwards.
- The memory module will pop up, you might even jump out of surprise if this is your first time.
- The popping up means the memory module is ready to be taken out.
- Note the connector pattern when you replace your RAMs.
I hope this guide would help anybody who wants to disassemble their Dell XPS M1330 for cleaning or etc. Do leave some comments if I left any steps out. Happy Disassembling!
If you have difficulties disassembling your laptop, I would gladly help you out, Free. The idea is not to break your components. Contact me and we’ll discuss the details.
More laptop disassembly guides at the Laptop Disassembly Archive.
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100 Comments
Hi James,
Here I am again, this laptop seems to be very unluky wth! This time it wouldnt start (neither battery – which I reckon it’s completely down – or power supplied) and every time I plug in the adapter, the adapter itself switches off, I can see from its green led. The adapter is fine, tested into another identical laptop but something is wrong with the mobo or something that I cannot figure out. No warranty no nothing. Any suggestion? Plz email tnx a lot!
@Carlo
There have been numerous complaints on Dell’s laptop about the soldering of the power pins onto the motherboard.
I believe you could try and look into that.
I have never personally soldered a Dell motherboard before so I am not in any position to give any advice.
However, you might want to try looking for a new motherboard or a new laptop.
Hi James, I found your site searching for an answer to my mouse button problem. About 2 weeks ago both my mouse buttons stopped woking on my M1330. I have found minimal information as to why this happens. I guess I am just wondering before I spend any money on a new palmrest. In your experience with this laptop Do you think That is the problem or could it be as simple as needing cleaning? I bought it used and it is approx. 2-3 years old.
Any ideas would help. Thanks
Jenn.
@jenn
Everything has its end-of-life times. And for your case, it is extremely subjective.
It depends on how often do you use the palm rest. If you don’t use it too often, then it might be some stuff had stuck in there.
But if you use it everytime you use your computer for the past 3 years. Then it could faulty.
Ok Thanks for the imput. I will just order one and hope that works. And yes I used it alot. Thanks Again. Jenn
Hi James, Jenn here I just wanted to let you know I am happy to say I am writing to you with my new working palmrest. Thanks for the instructions they made it very easy to change it out.
Thanks again Jenn.
THanks very much for the guide. My laptop was getting really hot and I was concerned it needed a clean. I found almost no dust, but it was my first laptop disassembly and very interesting.
I wonder what I should do with the extra screw left over! (d’oh!)
Hey Thanks 100X for this guide. I successfully replaced my mouse buttons and it only took about 30min.
Great stuff James!
Hi-please advise how i can fix my m1330. The motherboard and keyboard were replaced twice under warranty – heating issues i think. and once they replaced the screen too. now long out of warranty.
my laptop was knocked off my lap and now screen is just black, nothing at all. i have been using it plugged into a monitor. the lid has since cracked a bit and split and i am going to order a new part from ebay for the lid, if you advise.
could it just be a wire is lose somewhere inside which is why the screen does not show? everything else works perfectly. please help! thank you very much
Hi James,
Just wondering what type of CMOS battery the M1330 takes? Is it a CR2032?
Cheers for any help.
Was.
@Was,
Yes, CR2032. Wow I had to check the internet to make sure it is the same thing.
@Sam,
Very hard to say, it might be just a lose wire (which you can easily check by disassembling it), or it could be a broken wire (which means you have to fork out money to get a new monitor).
Hey David/James,
I’ve had my laptop for about 3years now and its far past its warranty period. I was hoping to fix the left mouse button issue myself but I need to order the replacement part first.
The issue is the button no longer de-presses as it should. It stays pressed in halfway, so sometimes clicks work and other times it doesn’t.
I presume the little rubber thing (the sort you find under keyboard buttons) underneath the mouse button must be broken.
Could one of you advise me on the part number? Or where I can get a cheap replacement that fits?
Thanks!
hi james,
i have a problem with my m1330 .. it automatically shuts down, i dont know why … and sometimes after it shutsdown and then i start it again after a minute, it shutsdown again … what should i do ?
Dear James,
I followed your steps in disassemble my laptop xps m1330 to replace the motherboard as it was shortcircuited. After replacing a new one, I try to turn on the motherboard but it did not work. I already make sure all the connections are done appropriately and grounded myself.
Please advise what else could be wrong.
Thank you.
@Clement,
Did the laptop power on at all? If yes, what are the signs on the 3 LED lights?
If no, check the power if its connected properly.
If you do it correctly this shouldn’t happen.
When replacing the motherboard, can the thermal pads on the heat sink be reused or should they be removed and could arctic silver 5 be used instead? I’ve noticed there is quite a large “gap” between the bottom of the heat sink and the chips they contact.. the thermal pad helped fill that gap.
Recently my Laptop just shut down and after unplugging and reconnecting the AC adaptor I noticed that the blue LED turns off as soon as it is connected to the computer. I figured that there is (most likely) a short circuit somewhere.
I disassemled the computer thanks to the great advice on this page.
There was a MOSFET 4435B located near the DC connector on the motherboard that looked burned. I had this component replaced (name on the board was U40), but the symptoms are still the same – LED on adaptor turns off as soon as it is plugged into the computer.
Does anyone have any ideas? Other than replacing the whole mainboard…
Thank you very much.
Finally a site that everyone can complain/fix/troubleshoot their 1330. I also am the lucky owner of a 1330 that has been replaced twice by dell for the Nvidia/GPU failure. The second time I got it back, I removed the back where the cooling fan is, removed the cooling fan and applied quite large amounts of heat sink compound (found at Radio Shack) to help pull heat from the GPU. This kept the laptop running for two years until recently it stopped accepting a charge from the A/C adapter. Tried two different adapters with no success. I believe its an intermittent connection on the mother board. If I twist the A/C jack when it is in the laptop, sometimes the charging light will come on. I have re-soldering the jack connections on the motherboard and checking the voltage on the pins, all good. I’m hoping to find the problem w/o MB replacement. Anyway, this one, and most 1330′s out their are on life support due to the GPU problems. Any thoughts would be appreciated and if I find the solution, Ill sure post.
Hi. Any instructions on how to change the motherboard? I guess I have to do it on my xps m1530
James,
I think that our XPS computers (I have two) are over heating because their fans have both stopped working. so I plan on removing the fans and getting a replacement to re install. The bottom of the computers get very hot to the touch. Also sometimes the computers shut down due to heat.Where is the best place to get these fans, obviously Dell would have a replacement part, but maybe there is a better fan available from an other sourse. Thanks Erik