"Paul" wrote:

http://www.impactcomputers.com/f1674-69010.html

If you click the magnifier button, there are four views of
the motherboard. On the bottom of the motherboard, is a
large cover plate, covering most of the bottom. There
is a circular opening in the plate, near the barrel connector
power jack end of the photo. That's probably your CR2032
there. It appears to use an actual battery holder
on the motherboard - so no pigtail and two pin connector
for this battery.

http://images.impactcomputers.us/IYB...1674-69010.jpg

Is there a matching access panel or cover plate in the bottom of the
laptop's shell so the battery is accessible WITHOUT having to dismantle
the shell (take it all apart)? I would've thought that the OP would
have already opened all the access panels to look inside for an easily
accessible battery.

Here's a photo of the inside of the laptop (with the shield removed):

http://www.notebookpartsrepair.com/H...otherboard.jpg

I don't see the CMOS battery holder in that photo. From the one you
gave, the battery in this photo should be on the top right (opposite
from the drive bay) in this photo. I can't tell if the black plate atop
the mobo at the upper right in the Google photo can be removed and the
battery holder is under there.

I haven't found a good photo of the underside of the N3390's case to see
where are the access plates that can be removed to get access to the
insides. What I did find showing the underside was in the product's
online manual at:

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/lpi04219.pdf

Page 16 shows a bottom view (not a photo but grayscale sketch) of the
case. I do not see any access or cover plate at the top right of the
image (by the port replicator connector) to gain access to the battery.
So it looks like the case has to get dismantled; however, from your
photo, it appears the mobo does not have to get removed from the case.

Would've been so much easier if HP bothered to provide a downloadable
service manual for this product. It probably has a section on how to
replace the battery and what you have to dismantle to get at it.