Just made my m15x black

After hearing all the horror stories regarding the hinge of the m15x. I decided to reinforce the hinge. I didn't want to open up the LCD, so I went for the next best thing. Covering the whole laptop with gmask wrap and adding extra protection to the hinge area.

I don't know if gmask is available in other countries, but here is a link to their local promo here in the Philippines

http://www.gmask.com.ph/promos/laptopwrapvsskin.html

I decided to make the lid all black, leaving the alien head as is. The LCD part was covered with the transparent skin. The adjoining part between the transparent and the black skin was reinforced with an extra layer of transparent skin.

The end result? The creaking totally disappeared. The wobliness of the screen also disappeared. Needless to say I was very satisfied with the result.

I will be posting screenies in a bit, with my cellphone camera first. Tomorrow I should be able to give you guys a clearer picture with a digicam.

I'm just so happy that the creak and wobble are gone

 

Sorry about the quality, it's late at night and I only have my cellphone camera handy I'm still thinking about how to make the touch control area black as well. But this will do for now. I'm just real glad that the wobble and creak are gone

 

That looks ****ing awesome!

I want one, would you be able to get me one and send it to me, if I pay you money?

 

that does look quite pretty, would it not peel off tho?

 

Thats pro work you did there,great results..

 

Gmasks have a 5 year warranty, I have seen cellphones with gmasks used for more than 5 years without em peeling off Oh and just to clarify I did not do this myself. There is a company based here locally that does apply gmasks to cellphones, laptops and other gadgets. Let me check with them if they can do international orders

 

Does it void your Alienware warranty?

 

I don't think it does btgman, since it's only a skin which can be removed without hurting the original chassis of the laptop

 

Cool. So it's removable? It does look good. What's it made of? Does it make the lid/screen feel more sturdy? The flimsy lid on mine really bothers me, I'm always concerned I'm gonna damage the LCD

 

looks great im jealous

 

Yes it is removable. It's a filmlike material, best thing about it is it's guaranteed to leave no residue when removed.

I was so happy when I flipped the lid open after we placed the extra reinforcement. It felt way way more solid without the creaking. I don't know how to explain it but it seems to open a whole lot more smoothly too.

I will try to post a video of it soon.

 

Excellent, thanks for the info Cha. Anyone know of a company doing this in UK?

 

****, I'd love that.

Edit: ****, the only location gmask is available at in the US is in Las Vegas. Too far for the East Coast. Anyone know of anything similar? I don't have the luxury of time to send them my laptop.

 

Wow very nice cha! I didnt know your one of my "kababayans" till I red this . Sent you a pm btw . Thanks!

 

looks sweet. might send them mine if I ever get the freaken gift card!

 

I don't understand, if it's just a sticker ,howcome did you manage to remove the creepy sounds of the hinge ?
i mean did you put something around it ?

 

the sticker might keep two pieces of plastic from flexing and rubbing against each other (creating the squeeking).

 

that is great then ,i know a shop nearby who can do it.
gonna check em up.
btw ,can i do it myself Cha ?

 

I would recommend against doing it yourself dexxe. It was a rather arduous process, took us close to 4 hours to get it done right.

Let me try and explain how the sticker did hold the hinge together. The m15x lid is composed of 2 parts, the silver part with the alien head, and the black part with the LCD screen light pipe and Alienware lighting up.

The whole "silver" part was covered with the black film, while the whole black part was covered with a transparent film. The part where these 2 different colored films imeet was where I added some extra sealer to hold the two parts firmly in place.

I will try and get higher res photos later during my lunch break at work.

Thanks for all the compliments

 

What shop exactly? Please tell me you're East Coast US? Haha

 

That really a great work. Gratz.

 

Looks nice, might be worth the try... Las Vegas here I go!

 

It looks awesome.
But in my opinion I would have just done the lid and the sides. The keyboard area just looks funny. But overall great looking. Why can't AW give us a black M15x?

 

Maybe it's a super secret chassis for employees only.

/shrug

 

nope i am in middle east

 

The reason I went on and did the keyboard area was because I loved the feel of the film. Not only is it for aesthetics, but the film itself is great for protection

I'm sorry I wasn't able to get the camera for some better quality pics, I'll try to get it done this week.

I will be meeting with drew later tonight, didn't know he was from the Philippines as well. I will try and see if G Mask can help in his case where there is already a small gap in the hinge.

 

I've never hear dof Gmask before. I'd go for it, too but Google hasn't brought up any places inthe UK where I can get it. Shame.

 

Just met with drew and showed him my m15x. I let him try to open and close the lid now that it has been solidly wrapped.

I've already recommended him to the Gmask store where I had this done. His hinge does seem to be beginning to break. Let's hope the Gmask can help contain it.

 

It was nice meeting you cha. I can attest that with this modification, creaking sound and wobbliness of the screen are totally gone with his laptop! The texture of the film is very nice! Black combined with a bit of glittery small sand like spots makes it look elegant.

I will have mine done soon! Hopefully tomorrow or the next day... whenever I get the chance to sneak out of our office . Though I havent decided yet if I will go all black like yours or black on the back of screen, all sides and transparent on the keyboard side. Or maybe all transparent! Just for hinge protection and get rid of the annoying creaking sound / wobbliness of the screen. Coz Im still inlove with the silver color of our m15x.

BTW thanks for calling them for me...

 

This just makes me wish I could get it even more now. Great to know it's working out though.

 

No problem man. If you love the silver color of the m15x, going with the transparent skin all around is a good option. Just make sure you get to wipe the chassis clean before applying it.

Let's just hope it can stop the hinges from breaking

 

Ok guys, just got in contact with the owner of Gmask here in the Philippines. It seems that the main office of Gmask is in Singapore. The material they use for the wrap is called a vinyl film.

I asked about international orders regarding the film. He is still working it out with the main office. If there is any news regarding the matter I would post it here.

The wrap has done wonders to the hinge problem of the m15x. I'm hoping that I can share this fix with the rest of you guys.

 

I was able to get in touch with their marketing assistant. Here are their outlets worldwide.

http://www.gmask.com.ph/outlets.html

 

anywhere in the toronto area i could get this done?

 

Dude, that's awesome!

 

i like the overall effect...but i am not liking it simply due to the keyboard area. they seemed to have taken care of details elsewhere, but to have it stop at the top just below the speakers is a bit 'lame' for lack of a better word...
nice though...

 

I'm still thinking of a way to make it all black even up to the touch controls. The black wrap won't do, since I wouldn't be able to see the touch controls that way.

I will try and look for a way to get it done. If I can't, I may remove the black part in the keyboard area, and replace it with a transparent wrap like dwend suggested.

Will keep you guys updated. I'm really happy with the results in opening the lid.

 

Here are some more high quality pics for you guys to see.

Edit: Hmm I have to resize the others, I will try and post them and the video of me opening and closing the lid by tomorrow

 

first off amazing. i always thought about doing somthing like that but was too scared. but seriousily i would have made the speaker/bezel area black

 

Thanks Lethal Lottery. I might go over there this afternoon, might try to get the touch pad black first. But not with the same glossy black of the chassis, I might use something with a more flat black color and see how the touchpad reacts to it.

Hey great suggestion, hmm the speaker area can be done. I will post the results once we finish up

 

I envy you for being close to them.

 

I'm still trying to ask around for similar products available for the US and Europe customers. Will keep you guys posted.

Anyway, I did change the touchpad to black. I'm sorry for the low quality shot. The touchpad area was covered with matte black, while the clickable area remained glossy.

I'm quite happy with this combination already

 

looks nice, shame you didn't cover up the topmost part as well.

 

Yeah, but I have absolutely no idea how to get that part done black now haha

I could have it painted, or air brushed.. But that would not be removable anymore...

I think I'll stop here for the meantime. I'm most interested to see what happens in drew's case, where the hinge has already begun to break. If this thing can hold it together, it would be great news

 

Yeah, looks hot. Touch pad still as functional?

 

make a blueprint (with masking paper or something) of the top part, and use a crafts knife to cut out the speakers grilles, AW head etc. then transpose that onto the gmask stuff.

 

Yeah Ennea, I like the feel of the touchpad better now compared to the one before with the sticker with Alien Caret

Whizzo, the shape of the speaker and the Alien Head is easy. It's the touch controls I'm worried about. Not only that, the 3 parts that light up when used also pose a problem ( Scroll Caps and Num Lock )

 

Is that matte black or glossy? I always prefered the glossy look, no matter if its a fingerprint magnet.

 

It's a glossy black qaz333. Though I did use a portion of a matte like feel film for the touchpad area to make it responsive

 

I found this site in Europe. Is this the same thing?

http://www.skinmania.com/default.aspx?partner=Skinmania&lang=en-GB&gclid=CMeD2_rX4JYCFQuY1QodrhdNOw