FWIW I'm working on the same problem with a 2100 ... still trying to
find the non-obvious screws on the case, so this thread has been very
helpful.

I'm guessing this would be a $200US-ish job at a local computer shop,
so the effort is worth the money ... assuming I don't eff the job up
and kill the notebook, which is very easy to imagine doing.

Talking of murder, who the hell's responsible for this delightful
piece of hardware design that has so many of us tearing our hair out
and wasting time and money? As far as I'm concerned, it has seriously
interrupted my work.

With so many people experiencing the same problem, is there grounds
for a class action lawsuit against HP?

Meanwhile, back at the disemboweling, where did I put all those screws
...