Easiest laptop (brand) to take apart ?

[Flatop0315]

While they are more expensive, from what I have seen, business class laptops are easier to disassemble such as the Dell Latitudes.  They are generally designed for quick component swapping by IT techs in corporate environments. Thus quick break down and repair is a must. Where as consumer laptops are design to be made cheap as possible and dis-assembly is an after thought.

Apple laptops are in a league of their own since they are designed with a main emphasis on looks. I have an older Macbook and am not impressed with the way it is made.

Like another poster, I like being able to swap hard drives as well. I much prefer being able to remove 1 or 2 screws and sliding the hard drive out the side, instead of my current Acer (like the one pictured in an earlier post) where you have to loosen 7 screws to remove the cover and then remove 2 screws for the hard drive. It was a cheap buy from Craigslist though.

Just my 2 cents.

[Armando]

Thanks for you thoughts. 
Yes, it boils down to what are your priorities. If one is swapping hard drives frequently, then a simple "slide out/in" design is better. My Dell Vostro is like that, and my Inspiron was like that too.

(That said, in my specific case, I'd still go for the extra screws and a better overall accessibility of all components, than an easy to swap hard drive mechanism. We're only speakin about maybe 1 (2?) extra minute to remove 7 screws. However, in those models where plastic parts need to be popped out/in, plugs to be unplugged, etc. we're easily talking about an extra 25-30min when access to other parts like the CPU is needed, and then another 30 min to put back pieces together -- my Vostro or Inspiron take/took that long.)

[brahman]

On a final note, the most difficult laptop I've ever taken apart was called a medion. Dont think they're in business anymore (thankfully)

-Kamel (April 30, 2011, 09:11 PM)

They sure are still in business - bigger than ever - and last I checked their lappies are rebranded or special versions of bare bones MSIs.

[Flatop0315]

Hey Armando, my Acer laptop died last week and I am doing research to buy new one when I came across this video of the HP Elitebook 8460p. Take a look at around the 58 second mark of the video where it shows a panel that snaps off the bottom to access all of the internals. It doesn't look like it could get much easier or better than that. Of course it is expensive at around $900+. Unfortunately from what I am reading about it, it has an inferior screen. Just thought I would share.

http://www.youtube.c...ture=player_embedded

[Armando]

Thanks for sharing ! Yes, this is a really nice design and... you're right : it doesn't look like it could get much easier or better than that! I really like it. This is certainly one to keep in mind
 

[Edit : oh... and good luck with your research!  I hope you didn't loose any data when your Acer died..,]

[casonbang]

While they are more expensive, from what I have seen, business class laptops are easier to disassemble such as the Dell Latitudes.  They are generally designed for quick component swapping by IT techs in corporate environments. Thus quick break down and repair is a must.

-Flatop0315 (May 09, 2011, 01:52 PM)

Yeah, the Dell Latitude line has good documentation and is designed for quick field repairs. It's amazing how quick a tech can get a Latitude E-series apart. One screw to remove the entire bottom cover with access to all the common components. Even things like the power connector are a modular, snap-in part that can be replaced.