XPS m1210 A/V Comm Package

Is the a/v communications package necessary if I want to put in a wwan card in the computer? If it is integrated into the screen then would I need a whole new lcd that already has the a/v comm pack? Anyone with any info on this I would appreciate it.

 

yes, otherwise you will not have the antenna prep...

you may be able to obtain and fit the antenna parts to a non a/v screen but YMMV

 

If you don't have the internal antenna, I believe you'll need to use an ExpressCard WWAN module with an antenna sticking out the side of your lappy. I've also heard that the ExpressCard ones are slow to appear...I think there's only one right now?

 

Dell has all these parts, the only thing is actually getting them to sell me one. I am going to try to get just the antenna and install it myself. If I did have the a/v comm pack and the antenna did break, they would have to be able to replace it for me. So not having it, they should be able to provide me with one. Do you know how the antenna is hooked up in the screen and where it connects to in the computer?

 

Dell would not sell me the antenna's by themselves, so they sold me the a/v communications package casing. I was told I was going to get the webcam too, but they ended up not sending that. I only paid seventy eight dollars, so I'm not too mad about that. Once I got the new casing I had to take the TWO antennas out; the wlan AND the wwan. The way that the antenna are setup in the a/v comm pack casing is there is one wire for each the wlan and the wwan housed in a plastic part. So I could not just install the wwan antenna in my m1210, I had to also replace the existing wlan antenna.

Taking the screen casing off the m1210 was really easy, as was removing the lcd screen. The rubber feet in each of the four corners hide 4 screens. I just used an exacto knife to pop them off (they can easily be replaced when you are finished) and unscrewed the screws. At first it seemed like the casing was not going to pop off but with a little twisting one of the locks popped and the rest were easy after that. Once the casing was off I unscrewed the lcd screen and decided to not unhook it, but rather just move it so I could access the existing wlan antenna. I had to remove the little plastic strip in front of the keyboard next, and then the keyboard so I could remove the existing wlan antenna. The old wlan antenna was just soldered to a metal filler at the the top of the lcd casing. The new wlan/wwan antennas fit perfectly where the old wlan metal fillers were. After they were screwed in place I snaked the wires down to the wlan/wwan cards and hooked them up. I then put the lcd screen back in place, screwed it in and put the casing back on.

Now I have internal wwan all hooked up in my m1210 without having to have that stupid webcam looking thing that I probably never would use.

 

never mind, I should have read the last post before I posted.