[Retsof]

I need to get to my disc player to see what is wrong with it (sounds like a gear is stripping out and it won't take a disc all the way in).  Problem is this:  To get to it from the bottom I'd need to take the whole thing apart, and something appears to be holding the top panel on even after I take the screws for it out.  Answers?

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Can't be helped:  

[Iss Mneur]

I need to get to my disc player

By "disc player" do you mean the optical drive?

If so there should be *a* single screw about 6-7 inches in from the outside edge of the drive (more or less centered on the drive).  The screw may be under an access panel if ther is on that covers the area that I said above. I have not seen a laptop (even Dells) that do not have this single screw because unlike most other hardware in a laptop optical drives are almost identical across most brands. 

[Bobboau]

in this model of laptop the dvd rom is one of those slot loaders and there is no external part of it visible, he is going to have to dismantle the whole case to get to it.

[Klaustrophobia]

my optical drive pops right out with no screws involved.

[JGZinv]

First off... Google the model number and "dell" and "disassembly guide" together.
9 out of 10 times there's a site with a pictorial guide out there.

If that fails, go ask at the Notebookreview.com forums. Someone's probably modded
the tar out of one already and could tell you how to assemble it upside down and blindfolded.

[Flipside]

I seem to recall that Dell used to have a reputation for sealing their old laptops shut to prevent upgrades, and therefore sell more computers. I think there was a bit of a storm about it a few years ago? Didn't they also used to use non-standard power connectors for the same reason?

[Iss Mneur]

in this model of laptop the dvd rom is one of those slot loaders and there is no external part of it visible, he is going to have to dismantle the whole case to get to it.

Ya, I realize that now.  I for some reason thought he was talking about a Latitude.

First off... Google the model number and "dell" and "disassembly guide" together.
9 out of 10 times there's a site with a pictorial guide out there.

If that fails, go ask at the Notebookreview.com forums. Someone's probably modded
the tar out of one already and could tell you how to assemble it upside down and blindfolded.

This is you best bet.  To state what is (hopefully) obvious, even if you can't find the exact disassembly guide for your model, disassembly guides for related designs will prove useful for figuring out how to take it apart.  If you do manage to start taking it apart without an explicit disassembly guide make sure that you take pictures of the stages so that you know how to put it back together 

I seem to recall that Dell used to have a reputation for sealing their old laptops shut to prevent upgrades, and therefore sell more computers. I think there was a bit of a storm about it a few years ago? Didn't they also used to use non-standard power connectors for the same reason?

Yep, and certain models still do.  Though pretty much every laptop builder has slightly different power connectors, they luckily keep them mostly the same across multiple model lines.

[Retsof]

Well, I might just get a USB disc drive.  I am warry of damaging my comp in the dissasembly process.

[Admiral LSD]

in this model of laptop the dvd rom is one of those slot loaders and there is no external part of it visible, he is going to have to dismantle the whole case to get to it.

I hate slot loading drives. They have no real benefit beyond the cosmetic and are inherently more problematic than tray loaders. Not only do you have the fun of trying to get discs out of them when they decide to get hungry (I believe many have a similar force eject mechanism to tray loaders, but many bezel designs make it impossible to reach) like in this situation, but I'm still not convinced they're entirely safe on discs in the long term and they simply can't take the same range of media as tray loaders. Even if we ignore all those wacky discs shaped like stars, business cards and whatnot, they can't even take the 8cm round discs that are/were popular in things like camcorders or driver distribution. The exception here is the Wii, which was specially designed to take 8cm GameCube discs in addition to the 12cm variety, but that's the exception rather than the rule. I even managed to get two discs stuck in the one in my MacBook because I forgot the first one was in there when I put the second one in (Luckily though, Macs have a couple of options to force eject the drive at boot time so I was able to get them both back without tearing the whole machine apart).