AOD257 - remove keyboard

Hi I am new to the forum. I am trying to upgrade my new AOD257 with a 2GB stick of RAM and a 60GB SSD.

This is my first Aspire One but I have opened up several netbooks before for such upgrade.

I did read the "how to" guides / watch the "how to" videos before my attempt.

I got as far as pushing all four tabs above the top row of keys of the keyboard. I heard and felt the "pop" and they seemed free. I managed to slide my screwdriver under the top right corner of the keyboard. However, when I tried to run the screwdriver around the sides of the keyboard to free it, it felt firmly stuck as if something is holding onto the keyboard.

I have removed keyboards in a similar fashion before (eg. on my MSI Wind netbook) - after unhooking the tabs, the top part of the keyboard should have sprung up freely, so that I can pull on and release it from the bottom catch. This did not happen with the AOD257.

Has anyone bought the AOD257 and upgraded their RAM / HD? If so did anyone open up the AO in a different way, or encounter the same problem?

Thanks.

 

OK I managed to open everything up to upgrade the RAM (2GB Mushkin Essentials DDR3 1066) and drive (OCZ Vertex Plus SSD 60GB - cloned with Acronis True Image 2011, 8GB recovery leaving about 48GB free).

I watched two more youtube videos about opening up AOD257 (which are really poorly made not showing the crucial part about prying the keyboard open). It looks easy in those videos, probably because they must have removed the KB a few times making things loose. All I found was that it took more brute force to remove the KB.

I actually find that this video posted by stardancer here in the "How to Guides" forum shows the procedure in the clearest way. Although she has a different model (D533), most of the procedure is identical to the D257:

Thread: http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=21234

Video:

(Thank you Alia)

The AOD257 has the same four tabs above the top row of keys you must push in, plus a fixed tab in the top left corner. Also there are two small fixed tabs on either sides - this is why you need more brute force to bend the KB a little to free it. The trick about running a plastic knife (or a very thin plastic card - I find that even credit cards are too thick!) around the KB to pop the tabs worked really well.

After the KB came loose, I also remove the KB ribbon (which was a little difficult to reattach afterward). There are five screws to remove (all marked "Door"), and I used a small screwdriver to punch through the hole below the hard drive compartment to remove the back panel (it was also clearly marked, but I forgot what it says).

Some people say that you can just pry the back panel open without removing the KB and unscrewing the screws underneath. I tried to poke through the hole to remove the back panel without removing any screws but that did not work. Maybe not all 5 marked screws hold the back panel but I don't know which ones.