Question Which brands are easy to open to clean dust and upgrade SSD + RAM (e.g. without need to remove keyboard first --- and never put it together again)

Mar 23, 2022
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(not sure if this question belongs to general or technical section...)

Let's start with three negative examples:
Toshiba - can't be opened without removing the keyboard and risking heavy damage
Medion - same keyboard problem
Apple - densely packed and rather difficult to upgrade


Which brands are famous for being easy to open & disassemble (for the puprpose of cleaning, upgrading, repairing, etc.)

Please also post further negative examples to avoid these brands!
 
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Not your question but the reason so many laptops don't work after "cleaning" is:
  • The internal connectors are very fragile and users don't deal with them properly.
  • ESD precautions are ignored (very widespread on you tube videos.
If you want to open up your machine you need to:
  • Get the appropriate service manual and follow it.
  • Actually do what it says about ESD precautions.
There is not an electronics factory in the work that is not very careful about ESD. Pay attention to it. No brushes unless they are designed to be anti-static.

Looking at the manual will tell you how hard a machine is to open. Most in my experience are pretty easy.

Regarding upgrading, this is less possible all the time at least on the lower-end machines. Soldered in processors and RAM are becoming common.
 
Mar 23, 2022
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thank you anyway


do you know by chance another forum with more, a lot more, avtivity? exept your very appreciated participation this forum seems to be dead and I really need to inform myself about notebooks
 
Mar 23, 2022
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Thank you

Consumer grade laptops/notebooks are simply not designed for this.
You might be generally right, but there are still huge differences between consumer grade notebooks resp. notebook brands.

Lenovo notebooks for example are oftenly described as very good accessable and upgradable, but I do not want a Lenovo - I find the price/performance ration not attractive. While Toshiba and Medion are nightmares.

So I ask here to find out which other brands build notebooks which are easy to dissassemble & resassemble & upgrade
 
Mar 23, 2022
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did you mean easy upgradeable, good performance and cheap.
I tried to keep it general but you are asking for specifics. Here we go:


What I mean is l easy to open and clean dust. Also easy to upgrade the SSD and RAM.

A good performence is welcomed as such notebooks last way longer.

The price mostly is a compromise.

It shall be a private notebook, not a "workstation". I am looking for a notebook that can be found in a normal computer shop, as I am just a normal user and not doing business with it.

Dedicated grapgic card or IGU? ==> Is nowaddays an IGU enough to play old games like Unreal Tournament 3 or Deus Ex and issue 4K movies to a TV?? Without dedicated GraCa the notebook would not only be much cheaper and lighter, but also cooler and less noisy when watching a (2D) movie, is this assumption right? IGU = less heat and noise in 2D and 3D use??


And the keyboard shall be not a bad one. I am a fast writer and the darn Toshiba keyboard is driving me nuts with constant omittting or doubling letters. And certainly no keyboard lighting that can not be turned off for good, I'd hate to use a side cutter on a new device.

Because of my glasses it shall be a 17".

But this goes probably goes way too much into details...?

The biggest issue about the Toshiba is that I can not open it and clean dust, too much heat inside, and that I can not replace the damaged, noisy fan.

So for starters I'd like to hear some good brand examples - in regard of easibess to open and clean dust, and updating the SSD and RAM. And/or some more negative brand examples.
 
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Mar 23, 2022
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What I want to know is which brands I can open, clean the dust, apply new thermal paste when the time has come and all that without risky proceedures (like removing of the keyboard first e.g.) to get access to the components and the dust.
 

COLGeek

Cybernaut
Moderator
You are asking a question for which there is no good answer. Consumer laptops are simply not designed for the accessibility you want. The previous suggestions weren't acceptable.

Regardless, your skill, knowledge, and comfort factors (disassembling) are something we can't assess. I am comfortable taking nearly any system apart. Others, not so much.

Good luck.
 
Mar 23, 2022
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You are asking a question for which there is no good answer. Consumer laptops are simply not designed for the accessibility you want. The previous suggestions weren't acceptable.

Regardless, your skill, knowledge, and comfort factors (disassembling) are something we can't assess. I am comfortable taking nearly any system apart. Others, not so much.

Good luck.
Dear ColGeek:

Would you agree or rather disagree that on some notebooks you just have to remove several screws on the backplate to open the case, while others are much more complicated to open?

The latter ones - in case you agree with me - if it is necessary to remove the keyboard and the keyboard has a very cheap and flimsy old connection, then not the disassembling process is the problem, it is the reassembling process! Many people report that the notebook did not work again.

So with all due respect:

I am just looking for a notebook where I just have to remove some screws on the backplate to open it. Simply as that.

If that is too much asked, and a certain admin starts flaming and being sarcastic to a newbie, then I appologize, accept that I am at the wrong place to ask such a question, and throw my login into the garbage can.
 
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