Inspiron motherboard compatibility check

[VansTheMan]

Does anybody know if the motherboards from the Inspiron 8100 are interchangeable with any other Dell laptop? I've read that the Latitude 810 mobo can be used, but are there any others?

 

[VansTheMan]

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[So]

Originally posted by: VansTheMan
bump

I'd seriously doubt that mobos are swappable across different product lines. What, exactly are you trying to do?

 

[VansTheMan]

I'm replacing the motherboard in my Inspiron 8100, but there are almost no Inspiron 8100 motherboards available. I e-mailed Dell's "legendary customer support" to get a part number for the motherboard, but they aren't so legendary. If I had a part number, I could be sure of compatibility.

 

[Gunbuster]

I think the old Precision laptop shared the same chassis/casing

 

[VansTheMan]

Well, I want to use all the other stuff from my laptop on the motherboard. I'm guessing the Precision motherboard wouldn't support the PIII-M processor and the other stuff from the Inspiron motherboard. Thanks, though.

 

[Almighty1]

Originally posted by: VansTheMan
Does anybody know if the motherboards from the Inspiron 8100 are interchangeable with any other Dell laptop? I've read that the Latitude 810 mobo can be used, but are there any others?

The Inspiron 8000/Latitude C800 use the same motherboards as well as all internal parts - just the BIOS is different.

The Inspiron 8100/Latitude C810 use the same motherboards as well as all internal parts - just the BIOS is different.

The Inspiron 8200/Latitude C810/Precision Workstation M50 uses the same motherboard as well as all internal parts - just the BIOS is different.

With that said, going from a 8100 to a C810 won't do anything as all you have to do is flash with the C810 BIOS to use the docking station. You can upgrade your 8100 to a 8200 but it will cost you around $500 for the bottom portion as the ports on the 8200,C840,M50 are on the left instead of the right and then you have to get a new CPU. The differences between the M50 and the C840 is the video card and even that, you can buy the Quadro 4 700GL for $319 which is equivelent to a GeForce 4200 Go as both are NV28/NV28GL. The US UXGA 15" 1600x1200 screen costs $600 for the top portion. The M50 would say C840 on the screen if you used any other video card.

 

[Almighty1]

Originally posted by: Gunbuster
I think the old Precision laptop shared the same chassis/casing

There were no Precision laptops before the M50 and that was a Pentium 4 class machine. The 8100 is Pentium IIIM class.

 

[Almighty1]

Originally posted by: VansTheMan
Well, I want to use all the other stuff from my laptop on the motherboard. I'm guessing the Precision motherboard wouldn't support the PIII-M processor and the other stuff from the Inspiron motherboard. Thanks, though.

Actually it will but there was no Precision until the Pentium 4-M. So basically if it's only the motherboard you need then you need to call Dell Spare Parts. The C810 and 8100 are the same motherboard. Just different BIOS. PM or email me and I'll get you hook up with someone at Dell Spare Parts who can help you get what you need since I imagine as your system is a PIII-M, the motherboard is going to be cheaper than the one for the Pentium-4M Dell's.

 

[VansTheMan]

Great, that's exactly what I needed to know. You are definitely a wealth of Dell knowledge. I would say you should work for them, but then I wouldn't be able to get any info from you...

 

[Almighty1]

Originally posted by: VansTheMan
Great, that's exactly what I needed to know. You are definitely a wealth of Dell knowledge. I would say you should work for them, but then I wouldn't be able to get any info from you...

Heh, and it's not that hard because I have these machines and I've taken them apart before to change the fans... 90% of the screws are on the bottom of the machine. You basically have to remove all the screws on the bottom. then take the keyboard out... then the hinge cover by prying with a knife/screwdriver on both sides. then take the three screws for the video card out... then the palm rest/top cover.
and then the plastic cover thing that covers the Ethernet/Modem port cable that goes on the motherboard which you need to take out as well. then there are three more screws... You should check the System Parts Install/Removal guide on support.dell.com. IBM ThinkPad's are a lot harder though. and make sure you pull all the batteries and ac adapter as well as HD, DVD/CD-ROM before you open it.

 

[VansTheMan]

I was looking at that Install/Removal guide the other night. It seems funny to me that they list how to dismantle the system, but they don't have any parts numbers listed. After I read through the disassembly procedure, I felt a lot more confident about replacing it myself. It seems fairly simple. Thanks for the help everybody.

 

[Almighty1]

Originally posted by: VansTheMan
I was looking at that Install/Removal guide the other night. It seems funny to me that they list how to dismantle the system, but they don't have any parts numbers listed. After I read through the disassembly procedure, I felt a lot more confident about replacing it myself. It seems fairly simple. Thanks for the help everybody.

Yeah, that's the bad part about Dell... They don't list part numbers unlike IBM ThinkPad service manuals. Would you believe that every time I had a problem with my ThinkPad even though I created it, I know the guy who fixes it so I tell him all the part numbers to order... Hehe. Dell's are really simple...