I have discussed it before, and finally here it is:
--My guide to swapping a mini 10v bezel with the mini 10.
The bezel that comes standard on the mini 10v is a black plastic ring which just goes around the outside. The mini 10 has a sheet of clear plastic over it which gives more protection, and best of all, a seamless surface which has no cracks for dirt to get in. Here is my tutorial on how to swap the bezels.
PRECAUTIONS AND INFO:
The screen bows out, not allowing the lid to fully close by about 1/8 of an inch. It easily sleeps with the screen like this, and after awhile, the screen should conform so that it closes fully. Read my last post on this page, and this is no longer an issue. I AM NOT responsible for anyone who accidentally breaks their laptop by following this guide. The components are delicate and you have to be careful when handling them.

KrazyKuul's Guide to Swapping mini 10v Bezel: (creative title)

1a. Order a "Dell mini 10" screen bezel from ebay or another site. I got mine from Parts-People Dell Laptop Parts & Notebook Repair Service

1b. Take the Battery out, and follow the guide below. Be sure to also watch the second video too. The guide is about how to swap ram, but this guy does a perfect job of giving you a step by step process of taking apart the mini 10v. Follow the videos until about half way through the second video.

YouTube- Dell Mini 10v 2 GB RAM Upgade - Part 1 of 3

YouTube- Dell Mini 10v 2 GB RAM Upgade - Part 1 of 3

If you want to swap ram, do so now.

2. Once you get the motherboard loosened and up, remove the rest of the cables and take the motherboard out, placing it bottom down so you don't mess up the grey heat-dissapating pads. On the computer body, remove the one screw holding down the chip for the two usb ports, and take out the chip. get the two black and white antenna wires for the wifi card out of the grooves and stuff. A small screwdriver is good for getting the wires out.

3. Remove the two screws holding the screen assembly down, and remove the screen from the computer. If you didn't break any wires, you should have two (black and white) wires on one side, and a display cable on the other.

4a. This part is a little hard, but you can use this manual from dell, given to me by Bear Hunter. Follow this guide until you get the lcd screen removed from the screen assembly.

4b. For the new bezel to fit, you need to cut off one of the plastic clips on the back lcd cover. Place the new bezel over the lcd back cover, and notice that the big magnet sits right over a protruding clip. Take a knife and shave the clip down to nothing. (see the thumbnails below):



5. This step is necessary if you want your computer to sleep when you close the lid: You need to take a small screwdriver or knife, and pop out the large magnet on the new bezel. Now remove the smaller magnet from the old bezel. You need to take some superglue, and glue the small magnet to the new bezel, right where it corresponds to the location on the old bezel, and it also needs to be flipped the right way. It does not have to be EXACT, but it need to be in the right location, DEFINITELY not too close to the edge of the bezel. See the thumbnail below.



6. Snap on the new bezel to see if it fits good. If so, remove it and clean the back surface of the new bezel really good, and also do the same with the lcd. This was the hardest part for me since I kept having to put it on, find dust, and snap it back off to clean; but in the end after many tries, I got it pretty good. Get all of the fingerprints out, and try to get all of the dust too. Once you are satisfied, snap the new bezel on for the last time, and it should fit good. Make sure all of the snaps are down before reassembling.

7. Put the computer back together, making sure to get everything in place. If you watch the third part of the video back in step one, the guy shows you how to put most of the computer back together. If you forget where things go, then read some of my steps backwards...

Enjoy the new upgrade to your computer, brought exclusively to you by.... KrazyKuul

here are some pictures:

[Montala]

Thanks for that KrazyKuul... we will have to see about getting it moved into the "Guides" section!

[ppafford]

Nice, definitely should move to the Guides section

[Montala]

Originally Posted by ppafford

Nice, definitely should move to the Guides section

Now moved!

[frasierman]

Pretty sweet

[dtay]

Interesting, has it conformed to the shape? Does it close completely for you now?
If you can replace the bezel, could you replace the screen with a 10 HD Display?

[DMBryant]

Originally Posted by dtay

Interesting, has it conformed to the shape? Does it close completely for you now?
If you can replace the bezel, could you replace the screen with a 10 HD Display?

I too am interested to know if it closes any better now? How is it after living with it for a while?

As far as I know the 10 HD screen cannot be fitted to the 10v as the LCD cables for the 2 machines are different.

[KrazyKuul]

Originally Posted by dtay

Interesting, has it conformed to the shape? Does it close completely for you now?
If you can replace the bezel, could you replace the screen with a 10 HD Display?

I found out that the screen sticks up higher in the mini 10v that it does in the mini 10 (one of the stupid little differences), and that pushes on the screen cover, making it bulge out. I recently switched back to the old bezel because I didn't like how it did not close all the way.

for your other question, no you can't. I saw a video before stating that you can't put an HD, or LED display in the 10v, simply because the motherboard hardware is different.

the 10 and 10v almost look identical, but there are small little differences between the two that are endless. Most of the parts are definitely not made on the same assembly line.

[KrazyKuul]

Ok guys, it's been a really long time. By now I'm sure no one out there would ever need this guide any longer, but I have a solution to the lid not closing all the way.

The screws that are covered by the square rubber pads on the bottom part of the screen are where the problem is.. Look under this section of the screen where the bezel touches the rest of the screen assembly (when you have it apart). If I remember right, some of the plastic is thicker in this lower section of the new bezel, all you have to do is file down some areas of plastic on the bezel, and you can get it to fit almost the same as a real mini 10 would. Another thing I did was remove the screws that hold the lcd to the thin metal part of the hinge (just remove the whole lcd from the lid, take out the 4 screws holding the sides of the two hinges to the lcd, screw the two hinges back to the lid, and then just drop the lcd down in place.. I think thats all you have to do), and it just floats in there.. you might not have to do this, but trust me, it is still really snug without those screws. I'm not gonna post pictures, but I just thought I'd share this. Also, I would keep those small square rubber pads off, and to make it look good, I lightly sanded the black coating off of the screw heads to make it look classy... I'm looking at it now, and the screen closes perfectly, all the way. I've been using it for a couple years now, with just mac leopard, and I think it is a great computer, almost 100% compatible with mac. amazing. Haha and I just remembered, those foam pieces under the lcd, they are stuck to that metal sheet... well I don't know if this is bad, but I just cut them out along with the metal, pulled the metal away from the foam, and stuck the foam back down to the plastic (to conserve space of course) make sure you cut neatly around the foam.

Hope I help at least one person out there...

[KrazyKuul]

bump

Anyone out there still using a mini 10v?