Dropped Inspiron 1470

My first laptop dates back to OCT 2001 and I haven't, until today, ever dropped one especially one that is opened up and running. That all changed this morning, I dropped the Dell from about four feet onto a thinly carpeted concrete floor.

It bounced once then ending up landing on it's base - I was amazed that it was still running when I looked down at it. I was absolutely amazed when I picked it up and could not find any damage!! I was less amazed a few minutes later when it would not reboot.

I went to the Dell support site and downloaded the service manual. The many steps to get to the HDD looked formidable. You basically have to completely dis-assemble it down to the mobo to access the HDD - no such luck as having a bottom access panel like most laptops.

I thought Dell had cheated by using all ZIF connectors inside - including video and HDD - but they're all pretty sturdy and had no problems. The palm rest also snapped cleanly back onto the base which surprised me - it looks cheap and flimsy but is really fairly well made. The only really tricky part was re-threading and re-attaching the wireless antenna cables - but they re-connected just fine.

I just finished re-installing Windows 7 which also worked just fine. Oh - I did notice during the dis-assembly that the LCD lid and bezel had separated, but did not break, in two places during the fall. Both areas snapped back together with no gap showing. Still no stuck or dead pixels on the (very nice) AUO LCD despite the fall.

All in all, I have started to really like the 1470. I bought it for my youngest daughter but she was never happy with it - so Mr. Job's got another $1100+ out of me and she now has a 13" MacBook Pro. The SU7300 makes it run a little slow, but the 6+ hour battery life makes it handy for traveling and for moving around the house. I checked the Dell site and I see they have changed the proc over to an i3-330 - so hopefully the battery life on the new ones is just as good...