Alienware Notebook Cosmetic Modifications and Custom Builds

That eurocom has 4 fans maan must be proper hoover...
I really thinking about 2x 7970 but dunno which laptop shiuld i bet on ..
alien is expensive
.

 

To me it's not even a question: in overall power and design AW worth every penny... so it's Dell's worldwide NBD on site warranty and support service.
BTW: look @ minute 1.03 of the Eurocom video, seems like one of the fans intakes is closed?

 

When you start truly comparing identical hardware specs and call Alienware sales for a competitive quote, Alienware is not priced much different than their competitors. If you go based on the online configuration price, they will appear to be overpriced.

And, as Brother SOS points out, the warranty makes the decision a no brainer. What appears to be the 4th fan in the Eurocom is really a blank. With a CPU fan and a fan for each GPU, there's really little reason for a 4th fan to exist in a laptop. Unless a lot of thoughtfulness were to go into the engineering process, a 4th fan might even result in reduced cooling by causing turbulence that adversely affects airflow inside of the laptop chassis.

 

if so, where to get one?

pricy..! worth it?
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...e_bnrank=1&baynote_irrank=0&~ck=baynoteSearch

or from amazon


amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Green-Onions-Supply-Anti-Glare-Protector/dp/B0035JKL0

checkout the video guys
Screen Protectors for Alienware Laptops: an Installation Tutorial from Green Onions Supply - YouTube

 

I would say yes. I have a couple semi-deep nicks on the plexiglass that annoy me when I'm looking at a white or black background

 

You can view a pretty decent review of the Green Onions AG Screen Protector over in the M17x Forums here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...7x-r3-ag2-anti-glare-screen-protector-2.html#

Doesnt sound too promising if you are wanting to reduce glare.....also, these so called anti glare films do increase the "graininess" of the diplay - I've heard that on more than one occasion for varying products.

 

I have never had any good experiences with anti-glare coatings. They were actually one of the main reasons I opted to get a apple 27 inch cinema display over a dell ultrasharp. So personally, I would stick to a simple screen protector rather than anything antiglare.

 

I guess its down to personal preference - I dont like the glossy display on my M18x but I do like the matte finish on my ultrasharp and the image on that is crisp and clear, not grainy like you might think. I find that with glossy displays such as the Alienware's and Cinema Displays, there is simply too much reflection from external sources. I would have got a cinema display too but the fact that it too is like a mirror put me off right away....

 

They sell some clear ones on ebay though i am not certain on the quality.

Green Onion only has the Anti Glare and yeah they diminish the screen quality to much to even make it worth it.

I pulled the glass off mine getting the best of both worlds but that is not for the feint of heart .

 

Yeah - I saw the pics - looks awesome, I must say. I would do it myself if I had a spare lid assembly

 

Forget eurocom if you value your money. The model is canceled by Clevo (the manufacturer) due to motherboard issues. Clevo is going to redesign the beast in 6-8 months. Those still selling it, are breaking the agreement and tricking the customers into buying an unstable product.

Furthermore, the beast is still subpar to M18x as it has no overclocking option (CPU), while the M18x can hit past 4.5ghz on all cores. So, performance wise the Alien will still win overall. Same goes for features and warranty. The price is always negotiable on Dell products

 

Awesome advice to the uninformed, Aikimox +1

SOS4DELL - If it's the same Clevo model I am thinking of, what appears to be a 4th fan is merely a blank opening and you are correct.

 

that looks awesome mate
did it reduce the weight of your laptop?

 

omg the white paint is sooooooo SICK, how to get/do this

 

Brother Quadzilla bought an extra lid and chassis base and had them powder coated. He talks about it in some of the posts that follow. LINK Continue reading from the link forward.

 

I installed the carbon vinyl twice. The first time I had raised bubbles that wouldn't push out (small ones, like an oat).

The second time I took my time and carefully laid it out over the palm rest and smoothed it down with a credit card and a worn down plastic drywall tool (Rounded edge, no worries). Showed ZERO bubbles then a few minutes later tiny bubbles popped up. ARG!!

I found out this is no EASY project, did anyone say anything about removing the track pad completely !? lol, it had little glued or melted tabs I had to break.. I should never have attempted this 3 Jack's in! (J/k) Anyhow I have it all back together with a somewhat better looking job.

I have just enough carbon vinyl to give it one more shot for that PERFECT look. Any pointers and or advice would be incredibly helpful as I think a small part of me wants to cry lol.

Thanks!

 

I've never done the vinyl thing so I could be totally wrong here. I have covered other various surfaces with different kinds of films and you may have already done this BUT if you are getting tiny air bubbles rising up afterwards, chances are there is some grease or dirt under it stopping the vinyl adhering to the palmrest.

You could try giving the plamrest a damn good clean with something gentle to remove grease - maybe something like isopropyl alcohol but, I would seek advice of others who have done it first, as I dont know for sure how the soft touch of the palmrest would react to that kind of product being used on it.

 

Thanks Steviejones! That's on my checklist now. That's a reasonable deduction. I saw some 3M installation videos where they used some special type of cleaning chemical but as you said, I also was concerned with how something might react with the palm rest.

The only cleaning I applied was a damp towel then quickly brushed with with a very minimal amount of rubbing alcohol.

The Bubbles are going to drive me nuts though. I almost want to poke them with a pin and use a blow dryer to suck the heat out.

(haha! I was trying to type " p r ick them with a pin" and tried to edit my post like 6 times before I realized what was going on)

Hopefully some of these cosmetic experts will be around today.

Here is a couple photos to add to my first post concerning help with application. Not the best resolution sorry. I think it came out okay. however there are still some small bubbles Is there a way to remove these ? Or a way to prevent them when applying ?

 

Use a heat gun at a low temperature or a hair dryer to soften the vinyl when applying it.

 

To be honest I have never experience that problem with the bubbles and I don't use a heat gun to apply it on the flat surface only on the edges and curves but like Stevie mention could be grease stock between the vinyl

also what brand vinyl are you using ? I always use original 3M stuff and never had any problem with cellphones ipads laptops

 

Speedy! Thanks for the reply.

Funny thing the bubbles are beginning to disappear. However there are still a couple small ones. I think I might still give this one more go.

What could I use to clean the palm-rest real good and pull the dirt and oils out that wont create a problem for the application?

And by the way did you remove the track-pad and the grill ? I kinda snapped the grill down a little but had to completely remove the touch pad which required a small amount of plastic tab removal. I taped over the grill with painters tape. I wasn't sure how the vinyl would apply but it actually didnt seem hard to pull off and didn't leave a mess at all. The second time around went super smooth.

Thanks. I tried the blow dryer at HIGH heat the first time and noticed the vinyl was creasing.. lol. i didn't use at all the second. Ill try low setting after I figure out how to prep the surface.

 

I did remove the touchpad but not the grill is a little bit hard working with the grill but I saw you got it

to remove the grease from the palm rest I use a wet cloth with hand washer soap and then to remove the soap just a wet cloth is the best way because the alcohol may leave marks

 

Anbody tried putting stickers/vinyl on m18x

 

Spoiler

 

Thats freaking WICKED cool brother!

 

To get rid of some of the small bubbles in the carbon fiber take a very small pin, like a baby pin, and poke a hole in the bubble then rub it right away with your finger they will disappear.

 

Thanks Speedy. I will try it again this weekend with a well cleaned surface. I cant figure out why it happen. It was completely smooth at first.

Worked! I'm still going to try a redo but that was a good fix. +Rep

 

I bought the cheaper Carbon fiber my second go around which is not the 3M dinoc stuff and also why i had bubbles.

I spent some time investigating this stuff before hand but the price is rather ridiculous for the 3m and what i wanted to use it on, so i went the cheaper route but in turn it takes more work to get it smooth as well and sure enough it was more work.

The 3M stuff apparently has pockets behind it to let out the air so it does not get trapped and the cheaper stuff does not or less of them.

Visually they look the same in person to me which is all i cared about , well that and saving money.

 

I reckon unless you are working in a completely sterile and dust free environment, you always run the risk of airborne debris landing after you have cleaned. I've had some right messy experiences with coating other items....it ain't an easy thing to do but your job looks great thus far from your pics, Brother Matrix. I am certain you will get it to how you want it to look soon enough!

+rep!

 

I was seriously leaning towards a clevo/sager, but all this love and customization for such an amazing machine has changed my mind for sure! Is there any tutorials out there for taking a m18x apart and prepping for a paint job?



Something like that would be such a beautiful machine.

 

Hey guys just got some vinyl for my m18x r2 and wanted to see what you guys thought!

 

I like it.. portal is sick..

 

yeah, it is cool.

 

well you just did lol....

 

Does anyone know where to source a GG3F9 Bottom Case Black?

Found some 13PC8 Bottom Base but, those are for M18xR1

 

lol, love the portal across the pad

 

Yes, very cool! Why didn't I think of that? Is it completely original?

 

I've been wanting to do this for a long time. These designs are absolutely beautiful. I should have picked up spare lid and chasis when I had the chance. With two huskies I can't imagine this being a great place to apply the 3M. Asides from the powder coat what type of paint would work, if any?

 

I am in the process of having mine repainted.

 

I like the Portal Pad" looks amazing

 

I had purchased a spare LCD cover and chassis base some months ago. I intended to do the paint work myself, but things have been too busy with work. Rather than allowing the parts to continue sitting in the box, I decided to have it professionally done. I had a difficult time landing on the color. I wanted something unique, flashy, but not tacky.

[parsehtml]<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/M4p8fn1iJ3o?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='853' height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">[/parsehtml]I know that there are a number of Notebook Review Forums members that have custom paint jobs on their beasts. Thanks to Brother Bill (Dell-Bill_B) for putting me in touch with a gentleman from Dell that would like to do a featured spot on the Dell Facebook page for my machine and others. I know that katalin_2003, DR650SE, Speedy Gonzalez, Quadzilla, inap and perhaps some others have custom paint jobs on their Alienware laptops. If you gentlemen (and any others that I have accidentally forgotten about) are interested in participating in that special feature, please send me a PM and I will coordinate something for us with the person Bill has put me in contact with.

I would like to thank our very own "MonnieRock" for letting me use his music. He is a very talented musician and I think you'll agree once you listen.

The photos from the YouTube slide show are included in the spoiler for those that would like a closer look.

Spoiler: Pre-Assembly Photos of Painted Parts

 

That is a real beauty Fox.

Looks like a factory paint job seriously.

Now when you whip that thing out at the airport everyone will see your Bling! machine .

 

Sick no other words just sick

 

Absolutely Cool, Great Job Fox!!!

 

that's beautiful!!

Mr. Fox, you taking orders?

 

Thanks for the compliments, gents.

Ha, ha... wish I had time. I really wanted to do the paint job myself and there is too much going on at work. Glad I decided to have it done through a body shop or those parts would likely be corroded by the time I would get around to it.

I need to take apart the LCD cover again and use a stronger glue on the front edge molding. The adhesive I used allows a little too much flex when opening and closing the lid and I don't think it will stay. But, I'm happy about the way it turned out. The paint is as smooth as glass and has several coats of clear. Since it was a base color it will be fairly easy to match if I ever need to.

 

That looks amazing, I've wanted a yellow AW for a long long time. Maybe I'll finally get around to doing the same thing. Great job brother Fox.

 

Very nice! I'd love to have mine changed to a bright vivid color. Getting kind of bored with the gun metal...

 

That's an awesome choice of colour, seriously!

*Like* *click*

 

That's some awesome work Fox. I bet that laptop just shines in person. + rep!