disassemble Dell XPS 17 L701X laptop

Dell XPS 17 L701X disassembly
In the following guide I explain how to disassemble a Dell XPS 17 L701X laptop.
During the disassembly process I’ll go though the following major steps:

STEP 1-8: Accessing laptop memory. Removing laptop hard drive and optical drive.
STEP 8-14: Disconnecting and removing laptop palmrest.
STEP 15-20: Removing laptop keyboard.
STEP 20-26: Removing laptop bottom cover.
STEP 27-28: Accessing and removing laptop cooling fan. Accessing laptop DC power jack.
Before you start taking it apart make sure the laptop is turned off.
STEP 1.
Unlock and remove the main battery.
Unlock and remove laptop battery
STEP 2.
Remove the service cover on the bottom of the laptop.
Remove service cover
STEP 3.
Under the service cover you can access both memory modules and hard drive.
Remove four screws securing the main hard drive mounting bracket.
Remove screws from hard drive


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STEP 4.
Slide the hard drive to the shown direction in order to disconnect it from the motherboard.
Disconnect laptop hard drive
STEP 5.
Remove the primary hard drive from the laptop.
Remove laptop hard drive
STEP 6.
Remove one screw securing the optical drive.
Pull the optical drive from the laptop and remove it.
UPDATE: you’ll find three screws located under the DVD drive. These screws must be removed before you can  remove the palmrest assembly in the step 8.
Remove optical drive


STEP 7.
Remove for screws securing the secondary hard drive mounting bracket.
In my Dell XPS L701X laptop I had only one hard drive installed.
Remove the mounting bracket.
Remove second hard drive bracket
STEP 8.
Start removing the palmrest.
UPDATE: three screws located under the DVD drive (removed in STEP 6) has to be removed in order to remove the palmrest assembly.
Insert a piece of plastic (I’m using the guitar pick) under the palmrest and lift it up.
Lift up top cover assembly
STEP 9.
Continue removing the palmrest with your fingers.
Continue removing top cover assembly
WARNING! The touchpad cables are still connected to the motherboard.
Before you can remove the palmrest completely it’s necessary to disconnect the touchpad cables.
Two touchpad cables connected
STEP 10.
The palmrest has been separated from the laptop base.
Top cover disconnected
STEP 11.
Place the palmrest so you can access the touchpad cables.
In the following two steps I explain how to unlock connectors and release cables.
Access touchpad cables
STEP 12.
In order to unlock the connector you’ll have to lift up the right side of the cable retainer.
The retainer will open up at a 90 degree angle.
Unlock touchpad cable connector
STEP 13.
On the following picture the connector shown in the UNLOCKED position. Now you can pull the cable from the connector.
Disconnect the second touchpad cable.
Disconnect touchpad cables
STEP 14.
Now you can remove the palmrest from the laptop completely.
After the palmrest removed you can access the CMOS battery.
Top cover removed
Here’s the bottom side of the palmrest.
Here you can access the touchpad and power button board.
Power button board and touchpad
STEP 15.
Remove four screws securing the keyboard.
Remove keyboard screws
STEP 16.
Lift up the keyboard and turn it upside down.
Lift up keyboard
STEP 17.
Now you can access the keyboard cable connector.
Access keyboard cable connector
STEP 18.
Unlock the connector by lifting up the left side of the cable retainer.
Unlock keyboard connector
STEP 19.
Disconnect the keyboard cable from the connector.
Disconnect keyboard cable
STEP 20.
Remove the laptop keyboard.
If you need a new replacement keyboard for your Dell XPS 17 L701X laptop, you can find it here.
Remove laptop keyboard
STEP 21.
Remove screws securing the top cover assembly.
Unplug the speaker cable from the motherboard.
Remove screws from top cover
Here’s how to unplug the cable.
Disconnect speaker cable
STEP 22.
Remove screws from the bottom of the laptop.
Remove screws from laptop bottom
STEP 23.
Don’t forget three screws located in the optical drive bay.
Remove three screws from DVD drive bay
STEP 24.
Remove the SD slot cover.
Remove SD card cover
STEP 25.
Start separating the bottom cover from the laptop.
Lift up bottom cover
STEP 26.
Remove the bottom cover.
Remove bottom cover
The bottom cover has been removed.
Bottom cover removed
STEP 27.
Remove two screws securing the cooling fan.
Disconnect fan cable from the motherboard.
Disconnect laptop cooling fan
STEP 28.
Remove the fan.
New replacement cooling fans for Dell XPS 17 L701X laptops available here.
Remove laptop cooling fan
The DC power jack connected to a cable. It can be easily removed and replaced.
New DC jacks for Dell XPS 17 L701X laptops available here.
Laptop DC power jack
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