Installing Bluetooth in z61t - Can I just undo the lid bezel?

[jimwg]

Greetings!

I'm installing a (so tiny!) Bluetooth card in a z61t and the manual has it that you have to remove the keyboard and the side panels and expose the whole works just to detach the display lid by its hinges when all I want to do is remove the 3 screws at the lid's bottom bezel and 1 on the top edge to remove the bezel to get at the Bluetooth slot. Is there any short to avoid that tedious long way around?

Thanks!

Jim in NYC

[Cigarguy]

Why don't you give it a shot? Remove the screen bezel and see if you can pop in the BT card without breaking anything. Regardless of what else you do, you will have to remove the screen bezel anyways. So nothing to lose. If all else fail you can always resort to following the manual.

[brchan]

It should only be necessary to remove the three screws and the lcd bezel. You can speed up reassembly by first placing a stack of papers underneath the lid while it is opened at a 180 degree angle. The lid will rest evenly on top of the papers after removing the hinge screws and avoid sagging.

The HMM likely lists the entire lcd assembly removal since it does make it easier to reassemble the lid, especially for LCD swaps.

[jimwg]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!!

Well, I today I chickened out removing the bezel because it offered too much resistance to my prying it apart even from the lid while I was holding back the lid latch slider as par the z61t manual's directives. I tapped further resources on LaptopInventory.com's fix-it z61t videos which instead showed how to dissect an Acer instead of a Thinkpad. I'm wondering if there's some lid-bezel sealing adhesive in play here because I'm afraid of applying too much force to pry the sides apart in case it's really just some stubborn snap-lock tabs at work. I'm even beginning to wonder whether this new Amazon second-hand model sports the exact same lcd lid or a replacement with slightly different specs to take apart and get at the Bluetooth slot. I'll keep all abreast while in the meantime using a way top protrusive Bluetooth dongle!

Jim in NYC

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

The only place there's adhesive under the bezel is above the inverter board, which is where the status lights are. Otherwise it's just four screws and some snap tabs. You did remember to remove the fourth screw that's under the little rubber pad on top of the screen, right?

I find that the best place to start off with removing the bezel is the bottom left corner, then move up the left side, across the top, down the right side, and then finally work on the part at the bottom with adhesive.

And yeah, to answer your original question, you can definitely install or swap a bluetooth card by only removing the LCD bezel.

[Kasm279]

Try pulling around the interior side of the bezel, instead of the exterior edge. I.e., pull up around the LCD itself. Note that your machine may not have the connector on the screen cable.

[RealBlackStuff]

It's the strip of adhesive tape along the bottom metal edge of the LCD, that holds the bottom-part of the bezel.
I normally put in a small utility knife with a sharp blade for about 1/4" in the RH bottom corner between bezel and LCD, hold that knife flat at an angle of ca. 60 degrees backwards, like a slash / (point down, sharp edge on the left), then hold that blade in such a way with my thumb that it is prevented from going in deeper than 1/4" and gently push forward from right to left, thus cutting the adhesive stuff loose from the LCD.
Make sure not to scratch the LCD itself.
The whole operation takes me about 5 seconds and I don't leave any marks or fingerprints on the screen.

I use this knife: http://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-5-Blade- ... e/50111410

[jimwg]

I'm going to investigate whether the LCD lid on this unit is the real deal or one selected from eslewhere since it's an Amazon dealer-used issue. The joint between bezel and lid is more extensive than I thought. In fact the joint curls around the hinges to the upper back edge of the lid itself. I can't reach the joint with the laptop spread-eagle and the lid fully open backward because the joint doesn't show on the edge below the indicator lamps and logo, only if the lid is closed can the joint be seen from the rear, giving the appearance that there's more bezel than actual lid in this LCD cover. I always thought a bezel was just a flat doohickey that's easily movable as a decal. I also noticed something funny not mentioned in the manual as I read it; At the very tip of the top left-hand corner of the lid there's a kind a tiny rubber or vinyl "cap" corner, kind of like the tiny wedge that covers the top bezel screw. It's virtually invisible unless you feel it or tell the rubber texture by the light. Is this part of some unused antenna socket set-up or such? It leads me to wonder whether I'm operating on the right type of LCD cover.

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Jim in NYC