From: Bob Villa on
Has anyone replaced a similar model touchpad (palmrest) on an Inspiron
1545?
The manual looks like you have to remove everything but the
mobo...almost!
It is still (barely) under warranty and I am afraid if I sent it in
they will not sent me the same one back.
Most I have done on laptops was: keyboards, memory, wifi, and drives.
Never ripped one all the way down.
Your take would be appreciated,

bob
From: Christopher Muto on
Bob Villa wrote:
> Has anyone replaced a similar model touchpad (palmrest) on an Inspiron
> 1545?
> The manual looks like you have to remove everything but the
> mobo...almost!
> It is still (barely) under warranty and I am afraid if I sent it in
> they will not sent me the same one back.
> Most I have done on laptops was: keyboards, memory, wifi, and drives.
> Never ripped one all the way down.
> Your take would be appreciated,
>
> bob

it is a very involved repair and if you are uncomfortable with it then
you should not attempt it. i would send it in if you can afford to be
without the machine for the turn around time, but i would remove the
battery and hard drive first. otherwise your only other option is to
user an external mouse.
From: Ben Myers on
On 6/7/2010 6:34 AM, Bob Villa wrote:
> Has anyone replaced a similar model touchpad (palmrest) on an Inspiron
> 1545?
> The manual looks like you have to remove everything but the
> mobo...almost!
> It is still (barely) under warranty and I am afraid if I sent it in
> they will not sent me the same one back.
> Most I have done on laptops was: keyboards, memory, wifi, and drives.
> Never ripped one all the way down.
> Your take would be appreciated,
>
> bob

Your typical repair sequence for Dell laptops is plastic strip above
keyboard, keyboard, screen (including wifi cables), palm rest with
touchpad. Along the way, the battery, hard drive and optical drive have
to come out. This is not even close to being as bad as other brands
like Toshiba and HPaq, but a little tedious nevertheless. I have
rebuilt so many of the Inspiron 1100/1150/5100/5150/5160, that I do the
disassembly on mental autopilot... Ben
From: Bob Villa on
On Jun 7, 2:18 pm, Ben Myers <ben_my...(a)charter.net> wrote:
> On 6/7/2010 6:34 AM, Bob Villa wrote:
>
> > Has anyone replaced a similar model touchpad (palmrest) on an Inspiron
> > 1545?
> > The manual looks like you have to remove everything but the
> > mobo...almost!
> > It is still (barely) under warranty and I am afraid if I sent it in
> > they will not sent me the same one back.
> > Most I have done on laptops was: keyboards, memory, wifi, and drives.
> > Never ripped one all the way down.
> > Your take would be appreciated,
>
> > bob
>
> Your typical repair sequence for Dell laptops is plastic strip above
> keyboard, keyboard, screen (including wifi cables), palm rest with
> touchpad.  Along the way, the battery, hard drive and optical drive have
> to come out.  This is not even close to being as bad as other brands
> like Toshiba and HPaq, but a little tedious nevertheless.  I have
> rebuilt so many of the Inspiron 1100/1150/5100/5150/5160, that I do the
> disassembly on mental autopilot... Ben

According to the manual...you need to remove the heat-sink, and the
CPU chip (besides what you said). That seems a little excessive to
replace a touchpad.
I think I can do it...I will just take my time at it.
Thanks,
bob
From: Bob Villa on
On Jun 7, 2:18 pm, Ben Myers <ben_my...(a)charter.net> wrote:
> On 6/7/2010 6:34 AM, Bob Villa wrote:
>
> > Has anyone replaced a similar model touchpad (palmrest) on an Inspiron
> > 1545?
> > The manual looks like you have to remove everything but the
> > mobo...almost!
> > It is still (barely) under warranty and I am afraid if I sent it in
> > they will not sent me the same one back.
> > Most I have done on laptops was: keyboards, memory, wifi, and drives.
> > Never ripped one all the way down.
> > Your take would be appreciated,
>
> > bob
>
> Your typical repair sequence for Dell laptops is plastic strip above
> keyboard, keyboard, screen (including wifi cables), palm rest with
> touchpad.  Along the way, the battery, hard drive and optical drive have
> to come out.  This is not even close to being as bad as other brands
> like Toshiba and HPaq, but a little tedious nevertheless.  I have
> rebuilt so many of the Inspiron 1100/1150/5100/5150/5160, that I do the
> disassembly on mental autopilot... Ben

Removing the Palm Rest
NOTE: The location of the Mini-Card may change according to the
display adapter supported by your computer. To find the type of
display adapter on your computer, click Start® Control Panel® System®
Device Manager® Display adapters.

1. Follow the instructions in Before You Begin.

2. Remove the hard drive (see Removing the Hard Drive).

3. Remove the optical drive (see Removing the Optical Drive).

4. Remove the center control cover (see Removing the Center Control
Cover).

5. Remove the keyboard (see Removing the Keyboard).

6. Remove the base cover (see Removing the Base Cover).

7. Remove any installed memory modules (see Removing the Memory
Module(s)).

8. Remove the processor heat sink and processor (see Removing the
Processor Heat Sink and Removing the Processor).

9. Remove the display assembly (see Removing the Display Assembly).

10. Remove the eleven screws from the computer base.