How to take apart your vpr Matrix 120-180B5 laptop

The following is a (pretty much) step-by-step illustrated guide to taking apart a vpr Matrix 120-180B5 laptop. The steps are presented in the way that I take it apart... some steps can probably be done in a different order. If your computer is still under warranty and you need something fixed, I would strongly urge you to take it to your dealer/manufacturer first, if possible. Otherwise, find a flat place with some space to work (I chose on the floor on the carpet... probably not a good idea, but oh well).

If you plan on using this guide more than once, I'd suggest downloading it here. I don't plan on leaving this up permanently.

Note: My computer is missing some parts or is broken in parts because of my mistakes messing with it, so it may look slightly different than yours. Also, I'm not responsible for anything bad that may happen to your computer! Follow this guide at your own risk!


Materials required
Steps

1) First, turn your laptop over and remove the battery and the cd-rw/dvd-rom drive by holding back the little sliders and pulling them out.


2) Next, remove all of the screws EXCEPT the two closest to the side and back of the laptop (see Figure 1). These two screws hold the lcd screen on. If you remove them, there's a good chance you'll bust something when you try to open the laptop. You can also remove the three smaller screws on the front bottom of the laptop.


Figure 1. Remove all the screws circled in red.



3) Flip over your laptop, and open it up. Gently pop off the front panel as shown in the picture. There is one connector you need to unplug. Unplug it, and set this part aside.


Figure 2. Pop off the front panel and gently disconnect it from the plug circled in red.



4) Get the small flathead screwdriver (or small flat object) and stick it between the keyboard and the hand rest area in the three spots marked in red and gently wedge the keyboard upward (see Figuree 3). Do each slot one at a time and it should gently pop up.


Figure 3. Wedge the small screwdriver between the keyboard and handrest in the three marked spots and pop up the keyboard up.



5) Your keyboard should now pop up like in Figure 4. Gently pull out the ribbon connecting the keyboard and motherboard, as marked in red. Put the keyboard aside.


Figure 4. Gently pull out the ribbon connecting the keyboard and motherboard, as marked in red.



6) Next, remove the two screws holding on the panel on the top near the back (where the power on/off) button is located. The screws are marked in red in Figure 5. After removing them, lift the panel up and disconnect it from the two connectors marked in yellow in Figure 5. Put this panel off to the side with all the other removed parts. At this time, you can also remove the hinge covers, I believe (don't ask me, mine are broken off :))


Figure 5. Remove the screws marked in red and disconnect the plugs circled in yellow.





7) Next, (THIS IS IMPORTANT) move the LCD screen so that it's at a 90 degree angle from (or perpendicular to) the bottom half of the laptop (where the keyboard was). Turn it over and unscrew the two remaining screws on the bottom half, which are marked in red in Figure 6. Turn the computer back over, making sure that the LCD stays at a 90 degree angle (bending it either way could break the case or plastic hinge covers).


Figure 6. Remove the screws marked in red and disconnect the plugs circled in yellow.



8) Now, remove the two screws and the small rectangular spacers underneath them, as shown in Figure 7 in red. Also, remove the connector from the LCD as marked in yellow. Gently pull the wires running from the LCD to the motherboard out of the slots that hold them in place.


Figure 7. Remove the two screws and the small rectangular spacers underneath them (shown in red). Remove the plug marked in yellow.



9) You can now pull the LCD straight up from the rest of the body and lay it out as shown in Figure 8. There are two solder points that connect the black LCD wires onto the motherboard. Don't disconnect these unless you're completely removing the LCD, because you'll need to solder them back on if they come apart.


Figure 8. Pull the LCD straight up from the rest of the body and lay it out.



10) Now you should be able to pop up the top half of the frame (the black part) away from the motherboard. It might take a little tugging... be careful not to snap anything. There is a ribbon by the touchpad that you need to disconnect. Gently set the top half of the frame on the LCD. You're now left with the bottom half of the laptop (painted silver) and the motherboard connected to it via gold screws.


Figure 9. Pop up the top half of the frame (painted black) and set it on the LCD. This is what you're left with.



11) Remove the card with the copper plate on the front left side of the laptop (marked yellow in Figure 10). To do this, pull up on the left side of the card and it will squeeze out on the left side (it's sort of wedged in there to hold it in place) and disconnect it on the right side from the motherboard. It may be a good idea to pull out the hard drive as well (marked in green). Then, unscrew all the gold screws holding the motherboard onto the silver plastic frame, which are marked in red. (They may be in different spots from the picture.. I may have screwed them back in the wrong places, I don't remember).


Figure 10. Remove the card (marked in yellow), hard drive (marked in green), and all the gold screws holding the motherboard onto the silver plastic casing (marked in red).



12) You can now lift the motherboard away from the plastic casing. Lift up the front end at about a 20 or 30 degree angle and pull it towards you.


Figure 11. Pull that mutha out!



THAT'S IT!

Now, make your repairs, sell the parts, or whatever you're going to do. But you DO remember how you need to put it back together, right? Okay okay... just scroll up then and follow this guide in reverse order.


Good luck!


Last Updated: 10/18/2004