Possible to use different chassis?

I have an A8F, and I'm not satisfied with the build quality of the chassis/shell. I have to force the lid to close and the keyboard flexes quite a bit. So, at the risk of sounding stupid, I'm wondering if I can swap a different, although similar Asus chassis (i.e. W3J/A), making use of my A8F's hardware. I know it's a shot in the dark, but it doesn't hurt to ask, right? Thanks.

 

i don't have any of those laptops, but you would have to make sure that EVERY port, plug, dimension, internal part, and hole match between the two laptops with respect to their chassis. some forum members might even know who the ODM is and name a few copy-cat (rebranded) notebooks like yours.

in theory i think it might be possible, but i would take a lot of work and i have not clue as to the chances or your success.

 

The dimensions, such as the motherboard, etc. are manufactured differently, so I really doubt it will fit into the chassis, and as night mentioned, there are ports the A8f has that the W3 doesnt, and vice versa, as well as the placement of the optical drive, and even the ventulation system.

 

I guess I won't be making the swap. Is the any way to purchase W3J parts individually, like just the chassis and mobo?

 

I wish I could tell you yes, but it's deffinately a no. If you wanted to part together a new system, but keep your screen, hard drive, cpu, ram, wifi, etc...... you'd be looking at getting into about $600 for just the parts you need... plus a new battery. I'm not found of the A series chassis', as I've mentioned various times on the forum, although I'm sorry that you don't find it that great either, at least I'm glad someone else can see what I've known for a while. The best way you could go about this would be to sell your A8 for a decent price and get a W3 perhaps.

 

Laptops chassis do not have a standard design for the mainboard. They don't like a desktop chassis that have a AT, ATX and BTX. The mainboards for desktop are standardized for ATX, then all the ATX mainboard can be fit in a ATX cases. We can realize that different models' USB, firewire, video, PCMCIA/Express slot have different location. End up the manufacturers designers will not create the same size or standard style for this!!!
Cheers

 

I purchased the A8 on a whim after I had trouble with a d620's grainy display. In retrospect, I would have shelled out the extra $700 for the W3 and its killer chassis and video card. Now, I'm stuck. It looks like no matter what direction I take will cost me. You live and learn.

 

My hope was that Asus would have a standard sized motherboard for the A8 and W3, given they share hardware and displays. But, alas, they don't, and my conversion won't work. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

One more question: If I were to sell the A8F, what price can I expect assuming 2 months of use and minor wear (2 or 3 light scuffs/scratches)?

Would this forum be a good place to sell? Or Ebay?

Thanks.

 

Yeah, well "standard" doesn't really fit the designer...... Intel wanted to standardize notebook chassis' with their I3 program.... where Asus and other ODM's create motherboards and chassis based on the same size and layout.... what that creates is BORING....... one reason the W series is so nice is because it's not like anything else on the market........ The A series on the other hand could be confused for many different makes and models.... I know YOU wish it were standardized, but if you weren't in the position you were - you wouldn't really want it that way.

Any scuffs and scratches in a couple months bring down the value. You must consider that with us for example, during out return period, which is 15 days, a notebook that will be returned must be returned in just out of the box condition and a 15% restocking fee is accessed... about 8% of that is credit card fees both ways...... but then we'll discount the notebook 10%. So, considering that, I'd say you'd probably need to take a 20-25% hit to sell it. You may be able to get more as we don't get a lot of returns, but those that are returned are usually picked up in house for employees or their family and friends.... knowing that given shipping times and the condition the notebook must be in to return it - those that are returned are as good as new..... so the 10% is like a steal for them... so I may be going a little extreme. I'd say start out at 15% under what you paid for it and it *should* sell quickly.