Dell's Precision M65 dissected

It is quite simple to dismantle/disassemble a Dell Precision M65. In fact, it is a dummy process and anyone is able to do it with simple tools. Remember to use small screwdrivers to prevent damage to the screw heads. They are quite fragile if you keep treading the screw head with too big screwdrivers.

Here it goes:

Step 1:

Before starting, I had removed my CD drive and HDD so that they will not get damaged while I am dismantling the notebook, you want to be especially careful on the HDD. Use a flathead screwdriver to pry open the top panel just below the monitor. You can locate the prying point at the shown arrow in the image below.



Step 2:

Follow the arrow and slowly remove the cover by lifting it up from right to left. Note that your monitor has to be lowered flat on the table to raise the cover. When lifting, be careful by not breaking the catches of the cover.



Step 3:

Locate the 3 screws to the keyboard and remove them.



Step 4:

Notice that the keyboard is held in place by these small ledges.



Step 5:

Gently lift up the keyboard, one hand holding from the centre to bend the keyboard a bit in a arch shape to allow the keyboard to slide of the ledge easily, while the other hand at the side to prevent it from jumping up.



Step 6:

Next, pull up the connecter using the thin metal handle that is taped in blue.



Step 7:

Remove the WLAN and monitor connectors shown by the arrows and un-ledge the cables.



Step 8:

From here, your monitor is almost ready to be removed.



Step 9:

Located from the rear bottom of the monitor for screw D. There should be 2 on each side of the monitor. Remove them and you can lift the monitor up and put it aside.



Step10:

Locate the 3 screws pointed out by the arrows below and remove them. Notice that there is a small chip at the top middle position where it used to be the power button. Slide it to the right and lift it up.



Step 11:

Turn you notebook over and remove all other screws. Those are the screws that holds the notebook top panel together. The panel can now be easily removed. If it doesn’t, you might have missed a screw at the bottom. Turnover and check again.



Step 12:

Turn over the removed top panel and you will be able to find the location of the screws to the speaker. Remove them.



Step 13:

Since I have taken the trouble to remove the monitor and screws, I might as well clean the speaker. You can ignore these steps if you don’t bother to clean the speakers.



Step 14:

Look at how dusty it was. It even had the pattern of the perforated speaker cover.



Step 15:

After cleaning, it looks as good as new. Screw them back in place after cleaning.



Step 16:

Now for the fan. Locate the 2 screws and connector and remove them.



Step 17:

Lift the fan up and it is now ready for the major cleaning up.



Step 18:

What a thick layer of dust! No wonder my laptop is not cooling well and fan is spinning more frequently than usual. Remember not to use your laptop on a carpeted floor or dusty table. It will accelerate the amount of dust built up and stop your heat sink from cooling efficiently by the fan.



Step 19:

This is what I call clean. Using a paint brush to remove the dust that are stuck between the grilles and vacuum the dust up.



Step 20:

Next, we will attend the fan. Remove the 4 screws shown below.



Step 21:

There is a catch at the side. You need to un-ledge it to be able to remove the cover.



Step 22:

After cleaning, put them back together by tracing back the steps. Now you should have a quiet fan running behind.



Some tips:

If you have noticed, there are a lot of screws to be removed. What I did is to place the screws in a organised pattern, just like how it is located on the notebook. You can also label the screws so that you won’t mix them up with longer screws.





Hope this small guide helps. Thanks for reading!

tata…