M17x Show Off! - Pics, Vids, etc.

Deanodized M17x-R2 frame (lid and base):









Pure as...aluminum...

 

nice!! If I had some painting skills I 'd paint the lid and base blue.

 

Snagged up the same laptop mobile stand as Skygunner27...lol...

Very nice looking stand, but it's really wobbly and I am not sure I am going to put my M17xR2 on it, but I do have my work laptop on it and it is doing well. Good stuff for just $50. Looks real expensive!! lol.

 

I actually plan to re-anodize it to a dark blue.

 

Nice....I noticed there are two versions of the same model number. The difference is the way it connects the mouse panel to the laptop panel and the feet like part. The one I have has a square type feet and the other one is more rounded. The square one is better made and more sturdy. I would have mentioned this earlier but I bought one recently and noticed. Make sure the screws/bolts are really tight but don't strip them.

nice...I await your pics when finished.

 

What does "anodize" mean/entail, and how does one "re-anodize" something? Does that mean "to paint" it?

 

anxious to see your results, I tried green but didn't had perfect results as I didn't have a stable power source, I used a car charger lol and needed more intensity.

I should be done by the end of the week if nothing requires more attention

 

Blue sounds cool.

But how do you de-anodize and then re-anodize the aluminium, at home?

 

lol, the whole time I was assembling it I was afraid I was going to strip a bolt. So far so good though. A little afraid to tighten it more.

I think I know what you are talking about and I have the square feet one. I will tighten the bolts some more when I get home today. See if it can wobble less. I think it has to do with the knob that you tighten to hold the tray...I have it tightened, but it still slightly tilts front/back. Mouse tray is perfect tho.

 

That's what I was wondering, unless it's similar to chroming or magnetizing some way... or is it lke power coating??? I rebuild classic American muscle on the side for fun and I do alot of painting... and I really like how this aluminum finish looks. What exactly do you mean by "re-anodizing" it... and it you simply say "re-paint" it, I'm going to have to slap someone for being too dang technical, lol!

Last question... if there is some long process to "re-anodize" this shell, wouldn't be easier still to just shoot it with a nice automotive detailing paint gun? It'd take all of about 5 minutes and you could shoot several coats on it and even clear coat it to be super shiney. Enough clear on it and then you'd be able to buff out scratches... my only concern would be cooling issues. With that thick coat of paint around it, it would surely hold more heat. I guess that wouldn't be a problem with most things, but for a delicate laptop a few degrees can make a huge difference. So maybe I answered my own question.

 

Looked it up on Wikipedia: Anodizing increases corrosion resistance and wear resistance, and provides better adhesion for paint primers and glues than does bare metal. Anodic films can also be used for a number of cosmetic effects, either with thick porous coatings that can absorb dyes or with thin transparent coatings that add interference effects to reflected light.

Dunno how you can do that at home though. Should be interesting.

 

It has a little bit to do with powder coating but still a different process, i bet you can find good info about it on the internet as this is the wrong forum for me to explain the whole process.
Just keep in mind that this is no play and you can end up with serious injuries (burns, irritation, imtoxication etc.) if not careful. Do it in a well vented area!

Yes, Mavericke you can paint it and then apply clear coat but as you probably know already aluminium Is a very tricky metal (tends to create a thin layer of oxide in contact with oxygen very fast), you'll have to 'degrease' it very well and start painting right after.

 

The reason yours is wobbly, is because the bolt on that bottom bar on the very left is loose. Tighten it up with an Allen wrench. That bolt can become loose if you don't loosen up the panel adjustment nob enough before adjusting. The force to do so is counter clockwise against that bolt....if you know what I mean.

 

Still doesn't answer our curiosity on what exactly is anodizing? Is it painting/dying/buffing/coating? What exactly makes something "anodized"?

 

Here you go:
http://tinyurl.com/3or2aum

 

Lol! That was cooool!

 

I did google it. Still don't really understand how you do it at home though. Sounds like a very good idea. Must be time-consuming and/or expensive.

EDIT: Nm: http://www.ehow.com/how_4491907_anodize-home.html. Sounds a bit like how stuff is gold-plated, etc. I just don't get where one would get all those hightech sounding chemicals.

 

Ichime was talking about de-anodizing, which is easier to do. I think he is sending it out to a shop to get it professionally done.

 

Yes, it is. It can be done by either getting your anodized parts submerged into NaOH solution( sodium hydroxide) or by simply polishing/sanding them, as anodizing is just a very thin layer (~10-25 microns) and it's safe to say that it doesn't affect your aluminium part dimensions, unlike painting.

 

anodized is much easier to be painted. inap, u have a custom white R3 ?? That sounds great ! Could you show it to everybody ? I hope AW is gonna make a white m17x someday..... white is just so elegant..

 

I wouldn't mind a black aluminum lappy. This rubber stuff makes me feel iffy sometimes, even though it's REALLY durable and can withstand me scratching it with my finger nails on purpose. .....black is just so elegant..



Also, yesterday morning on my way to work I saw a hot babe driving a TT Supra. The car got my attention more for reason, lolz. Prolly cuz she wasn't a hot asian babe

EDIT: Err...Prolly cuz the car's pretty rare around here

 

If its the Mk4 supra your talking about, those are rare to come by anywhere in the USA. Its a double bonus finding a hot chick behind the wheel

 

U got that right, my man.

 

Here's a video of my maxed out Nebula Red M18x running stock AlienFX plugin in WMP. Sorry for the video quality my camera is down for repair.

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Hey this is show off m17x not m18x. LoL j/k

 

I know lol. I really enjoyed this thread when I owned an R2 and hate to see it go.

 

Hey,it's not like he bought a Sager or posted pics of his Toyota

 

I was only kidding, lol. I approve of the m18x however I never got one because my gaming has recently taken a slight detour and the necessity of having dual GPU's isnt' really there for me atm, as I currently value what little portability I have left with my current m17x R3, lol.

 

Don't worry, fella, me too
As long as you're happy and it suits your needs, that's what counts at the end of the day

 

Here's a pic of my setup I took with my cell phone, so please excuse the poor quality.

 

Sweet setup!!! IMO, I think that is pretty good for a cell phone pic.

 

Thanks man. Well, I guess it only looks bad when I compare it to the pics guys are taking with their SLR cameras lol. When I get a chance I'll try to put up some pics of the rest of my setup, that is, after I get this mess organized.

 

its been a long time and I am very happy that this thread is still alive... thanks everyone

nice set up man... but I prefer a bigger LCD

here's a quick shot of mine

 

You know what my big problem or dilema is? i want the Big LCd but I also want to use the alienware laptop keyboard. I kinda do this weird thing where I use the touchpad when in windows and the mouse when playing a game, so I really need a laptop keyboard and touchpad when doing my everyday computing, I'm just so use to it now. My girlfriend doesn't like it when i play games so I actually have cut down significantly, thus I only use my touch pad. So i basically just use the laptop screen even if I have 27 inch LCD's laying around, lol. I've gone as far as to drop $250 on like a logitech dinovo keyboard and I still prefer just using the alienware keyboard and touchpad, and I always find it mind-boggling that the actual keyboard is valued at around 30 some dollars, lol.

 

I see. But to me the glossy AW screen is not good for your eyes if you sit in front of your lap more than 6 hours everyday.... an IPS display is much much more comfortable compare to the annoying glossy AW one...

And you know what, the keyboard in that tray in my picture is actually a Logitech dinovo ... but not $250 though

 

That is an awesome setup! I really like that desk. Yea my LCD is pretty small lol, it's a 19" LG Flatron from 2006. I do plan on getting a 21-23" 1080p samsung thought when the funds are available, after I get an SSD + HDD. For now though, if I feel the need to go big screen, I just hook my R3 up to my 60" Sharp 3D. It is kind of a mess because I just setup this desk here as a temporary solution until I get a new desk. I'll get lots of pics up when I clean up here for you all.
I will try to keep this thread alive, this was one of the threads that made the almost unbearable wait for my R3 after I ordered much less painful.

 

Sweet setup.
All you need now is something to manage all those wires/cables.

 

Yeah you're right I think it was 200, I do not spend 6 hours in front of my PC, fortunately.

 

That's HOT !!!!!!!

 

So where do ya put your feet?

 

The two pictures on the Zalman cooler are taken with a phone camera in my dark student room, so they might be rather blurry.
I cant remember if I have shown one of these pictures before, there are two new pictures anyway.

 

Nice Red R2, will be getting my ordered R2 as well when I arrive to Malaysia soon in mid august, after considering between R3 and R2, I decided to go with the R2.

 

ahh....Ive been trolling this forum for too long...now I have to wait 2 weeks for my r3

 

thanks man, working on a new project atm, here is a sample pic.

 

my Alienware`s

 

wow green!
your AW is really one of a kind inap, it looks great!

and great pictures raFaeLTx. nice systems you have there.

+rep for both of you!

 

That looks amazing!

Nice pictures! That looks like a wonderful setup. The only thing I don't like is the Apple sticker on the R2.

 

@inap

That is really an awesome paint job. Im looking forward to see the end result
Did you paint over the white lid with green, or is that another lid?

 

what do you like better, nebula red or lunar silver?

 

Where's this green lappy I'm reading about in the last few posts? The last post I saw from inap was the one with a link to anodizing lolz.