How easy is it to replace a motherboard in a notebook?

[Stu Pidasso]

20 days after the warranty expired I had problems with my Dell 5150 laptop. Dell tech support thought it was the motherboard and would not fix it unless I paid. What a bunch of bastdards.

Anyways, I decided just to take the laptop completely apart and re-assemble it. I was hoping that doing that would fix the problem. It didn't. However I did learn that changing out a motherboard in a laptop is a fairly easy and straight foward process.

I bought a motherboard for a Dell 5160 laptop off ebay. When it arrived it took me about an hour to successfully replace it. Basically you need a set of precision screw drivers, a sorter to put all the little screws in, and some thermal grease. Pen and paper as well as a digital camera can be very handy if think you might not remember how to re-assemble it once its down to bits.

If you can replace a motherboard in a desktop computer, replacing one in a laptop should not be a problem(I think its easier in fact).

Stu