As a tech support, this is exactly why I shill for Framework to friends and family. HP are the worst offenders, Lenovo is full of chinesium spyware and Dell no longer makes devices designed to be fixed; they all make devices designed to be replaced.
I popped my keyboard out of my Framework laptop for fun just to show my friends how easy it was.
Dell is stupid simple, it’s typically about 4 screws, none of which hold the laptop together.
Except this model,which is 2 hours of bullcrap just to find the keyboard.
I don’t know what the current tech scene is like, but I prefer military grade approved laptops. My old Dell B130 is one such laptop.
Sure it’s old and came out in 2006 I think, but their military grade line is meant to be easy to repair even in the field, better RF shielding, underclocked a bit for CPU longevity, and runs cooler than consumer grade laptops…
Is that something they still offer?
To be honest, I’m not sure anymore.
In the framework 16 it’s connected by magnets. You can do the whole thing without tools.
As easy as a Dell is, and how rarely a keyboard needs to be replaced, I’m fine with a couple screws
Dell is pretty maintainable as well in my experience. I replaced my old XPS 13 battery and it was like a 30 minute task.
Big thing with framework is the customizability and the upgradability.
When you say framework, what do you mean? The way a laptop is constructed?
It’s a company that makes and sells modular, upgradable laptops. (They also have a sort of desktop machine too.) https://frame.work/
Oh, that’s neat.
But isn’t NVidia the one that linux has issues with? Of the 3 laptops I looked at, all 3 had NVidia.
Since they’re so easy to repair/replace, could you just as easily tell them not to put Nvidia, and then you put intel?
Just checked this. For the 16, the GPU is a module. You can choose either an RX 7700S or an RTX 5070 Laptop gpu.
For the 13, the GPU is integrated onto the CPU, which can be an AMD HX 340, 350, or 370, so, AMD gpus.
The 12 uses igpus also, but on Intel cpus, so, intel GPUs.
I think they felt an obligation to offer nVidia because a lot of people are brand-loyal to it. But it seems like they have plenty of non-nVidia options.
My understanding is that not anymore. I have nvidia gpu and didn’t run into any major issues on Linux Mint.
I will second Dell not being repairable anymore - I had a Latitude 7280 which needed a keyboard replacement, and what an absolute pain in the arse that was because much like this post shows, most of the laptop has to come apart and then the keyboard is still held in with 50 goddamn screws.
I later found one of my friends had a similar era Latitude with the same keyboard design also fail in the same way mine did - if it doesn’t get used in a while, keys stop working or become intermittent, and you need to spend hours mashing each key repeatedly to restore functionality, until the next time that laptop sits.
Edit: I know that it wasn’t always this way because I owned a 2012 Latitude E6420, and that is the most modular laptop I’ve ever had and it was easy to repair, including the keyboard.
I recently replaced a Dell keyboard in 10 minutes. They’re stupid simple.
My current Lenovo has no spyware and it runs Windows - but I installed the OS myself and built it my way.
I’ve done lots of Wireshark testing on my network, and run PiHole for DNS so can look at reports - there’s nothing unusual going out of my network.
Look up the Superfish incident from about 10 years ago, im sure they got the memo and stopped that shit, but to me and a lot of cybersecurity professionals, that bridge is burnt.
I recently replaced a Dell keyboard in 10 minutes. They’re stupid simple.
It depends on the model. Sometimes, yeah.
The pro models like a low end Latitude.
Part of why you just don’t by the consumer models.
Regardless, you don’t need to remove the wifi card to change a keyboard.
One suggestion if you do this type of thing regularly. Go to the pharmacy and pick up one of those pill planning boxes. They are perfect for placing tiny screws in and you can separate them in order you removed them (one step per box) and then when you put it back together just use the screws in reverse order.
Another option for fastener management if this is just bench work is a lipstick organizer:
These can be had from about $5 to $15.
Yeah I can see those too… I’d be cautious of anyone with that many different lipsticks but looks good for screw holder.
I prefer to just use a rubber mat. As you take the screws out I put them in the orientation of where they came out of the laptop/phone. Much quicker for me and you can mindlessly do it without any wonder of where screws went. Basically just looks like a screw map when your done, then resemble in reverse. This image shown appears to have torn down a lot more than needed for just the key board though, but some devices do have weird quirks. But why would a screen ever need to come off the clamshell for a keyboard replacement? (Unless it’s like a 2012 MacBook)
Yeah those can work too. I’ve just had experience with a table being bumped, screw falls to floor, the demons under the floor steal the screw, laptop is now short a screw
If you wanna get real fancy keeping up with screws, get one of those magnetic mats like we used in our computer shop.
Yeah, I’ve used those before but atleast the one I used didn’t separate them, it was handy when working in awkward places as you could just hang on and put the screws on it but you couldn’t separate them. I like the pill dispenser so I can follow directions and fill Monday morning on step 1, Monday mid day on step 4, Monday evening on step 7, Tuesday morning on step 9(completely made up step numbers). Then when I put it back together I use all of Tuesday morning, Monday evening, and if I have an extra screw in Monday morning I have a good idea of where I missed something.
That’s a Dell? Damn, they’ve strayed quite far away from their old B130 design, my old potato Dell only requires unclipping one plastic cover above the keyboard to access two screws to remove the keyboard.
I feel your pain homie. Was the surgery completed successfully?
After 5 minutes of blank screen it popped into the BIOS (date/time) and booted up normally. New keyboard works!
Awesome!
About 5 minutes of blank screen first though? What was it doing behind the scenes, contacting the Dell Mothership to void your warranty? 🤔
Yawning, blinking, not wanting to get up, wishing someone would bring them coffee. The usual.
It felt like 5 minutes, who knows 😄
As a former HP laptop tech, I don’t think keyboard replacements ever took longer than 20 minutes unless something went horrible awry.
8 screws in the back case or so, unplug the battery. 2-4 screws from the innards (varies by model) and then you push and replace some ribbon cables.
Oh man, you would remind me, my more modern laptop is an HP 15 DW0083WM, and my F10 key is so messed up that it would probably fly off if I sneezed on it.
I’ve already been inside the laptop before, but only to cut a service panel to easily remove/exchange the SSD module. I quickly realized that if I ever do have to replace the keyboard, I’ll have to gut all the boards and parts to get to it, not much different than OP’s journey…
How many tiny flat cables have you broken? 😩😭
None! A couple cables needed to be folded, but both the wires and insides have guides on where to fold.
Holy fuck, what a nightmare for replacing one part
I’m continuously amazed by even the shittiest and most cheaply made laptops, just because the form factor is so weird compared to big computers. Fitting a whole ass computer into what is basically a big keyboard dictates so many design compromises and yet it’s one of the main form factors so tooling, know-how, chips etc are all designed to make something out of it.
I always think I broke or missed a flat cable when I have to poke around in there (less than ever now thanks to the adoption of PTM over thermal paste that ages into toothpaste).
This is why I buy (used) business class machines. They are at least one tier above the cheap, unreapirable crap OEMs peddle to regular consumers.
But this doesn’t even look remotely dull though.
I already got anxiety just looking at the photo.
Just sayin…
Compared to kayaking rapids, this is pretty dull
lDK…
Did you ever have to completely reassamble a Laptop?
(edit:) Sorry, just saw who exactly you are… My sincerest sympathy to you!I did that once, my adrenaline was at max level, hyperfocused to get all the tiny parts in the right places again, fixed with the correct length and thread screws in the specific reverse order as before.
Total mental and physical exhaustion afterwards.Honestly, compared to that, kayaking some rapids actually sounds relaxing to me…
I’m calling BS - Dell doesn’t require taking a laptop apart for the keyboard, let alone taking everything apart like that.
Plus most of their screws are captured these days.
And you would be wrong. Skip to the end and you’ll see that the keyboard is mounted beneath a metal tray that is molded into place beneath all those components.
Yup, the Dell business line laptops are a joy to work with, the consumer lines… God no. And as someone mentioned already, HP is the worst as far as their consumer line stuff goes. Had a friend’s laptop I was trying to swap out more ram and had to take the whole thing apart just like you did because it was a molded plastic shell with no access hatched or anything.
You didn’t have to take the wifi card off. So you’re full of it
