Has anyone built a notebook?

Hello friends. I come again with yet another thread regarding custom built notebook.

Has anyone on this forum ever done anything like this? I mean buying the parts separately and putting it together yourself. After searching the forums, I couldn't exactly find what I was looking for .

Since my only option for a decent notebook is to build my own, I'd like to get some pointers or help or even a picture tutorial if anyone has one. I searched Google and found this awesome one, however I don't feel that its sufficient enough. Any tips or anything on this will be greatly appreciated. And I know that the forums has done a lot for me, so I'd like to return the favor back by making my own tutorial for undertaking such a task (if I'm successful), if no one else has done anything like this on the forums.

Also, please answer this question: Are there any drawbacks to building your own notebook? A cousin of mine was telling me that there are synchronization problems-as in the HDD won't respond timely .

Thanks for putting up with me once again!

 

Yes, it's called a barebones. You would have to install the main components of the laptop yourself. Keyboard and whatnot.

The only drawback is that a professional isn't doing it, =).

 

Here, a Do-It-Yourself Notebook :

 

hahahaha @ sam.

I know what a Barebone is or a DIY notebook. I was just looking for information on it on how other's made their laptops.

 

While most (read: all) of the notebooks he builds led previous lives as consoles Benjamin Heckendorn's builds are pretty nice.

I thought that the Asus c90's were going to be the first notebooks you could build from scratch, but with picky memory, video card, and processor requirements, it's just like the other notebooks.

 

I havent, but have been thinking about it. But in my case, it ended up to be only $75 less and for that, ill just get it done for me with warranty.

There was a guy on here i saw before with a Custom 20". it had a Core 2 Extreme, SLI dual 8700's and some other cool stuff I cant remember. I asked him what barebone he used, i think he said it was a Clevo case, but im not sure.

 

i know that you could get clevo barebones from rjtech.com

 

Yes. ASUS is pretty well known for their barebones solutions that you can build up yourself. That said, I'd recommend gentechpc.com and have them put one together for you... You select the parts. I remember when I built mine I saved _maybe_ $100 doing it all myself, but I had all sorts of trouble with warranty/support when the barebones went belly up (bought it from mwave).

As to what your cousin is saying... If you know what you're doing, building it yourself won't cause any problems. The hardest part will be inserting the CPU and putting the heatsink on properly... beyond that I think the wireless card install was the next hardest.

Again, I highly recommend going with a company like gentechpc, with a fabulous rep and good prices... who will also _support_ the build. They'll even put in arctic silver instead of the stock thermal gunk if you want.

Krista

 

I built my Clevo D900K back in March 2006.

Story here:
Building your own Clevo (un-branded) notebook

 

I've put together two Asus z96j's

 

wow those barebone laptops are quite expensive, i think your better off buying a customized one at dell

 

Unless you can put in your choice of a dedicated GPU & motherboard, I wouldn't consider it a custom built notebook from scratch.

 

while we're on the subject of custom builds, and I dont see the need to start another thread.

I've been working and upgrading my computer for ages, And now I'll be getting a laptop soon and just wanted to know...

Is it easier to customize a laptop like the Sager 9262 bought at the lowest specs and then upgrade it myself or would this also work if I got something...older..?

and exactly what parts are customizable and what parts void warranty?

 

It is very difficult to match the standard notebook with the DIY barebone based assembly in terms of price and quality.

It makes sense only if you are able to get very cheap parts. The quality of sold barebones is usually below the average quality of notebooks, they are not durable, and are using cheap parts.

However, I am all for the custromization/upgrade of good notebooks! This is what I do for my friends sometimes and for myself.

 

ivar: are you replying to my post or the thread...? lol (sorry if i sound greedy/like an ass.)

 

Do any of you if this service is provided in Australia?

 

Ask user Bwhxeon, he built his own m57ru

 

asus have good barebones notebooks

 

I build my ifl90. I rebuilt a compaq v2000 and a Acer Travelmate 4404WLMi form spare. It's fairly is easy but there is way to much screws in those things... =/

 

Unless you can put whatever part you want and still save a significant amount of money, then its just a waste of time.

I been looking at the barebones for awhile and in the end, its like what someone else said, the price difference just wasnt that big and id rather have that amount be used on warranty

 

For everyone urging to build/DIY a notebook, the company OCZ is going to offer a line of DIY notebooks with warranty.

Details of the first 'barebone' with the standard components;
15.4" WXGA display
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT 512MB GPU
Intel PM965 northbridge/ICH8M southbridge
SATA support for HDDs or SSDs
8x dual-layer DVD burner
four USB 2.0 ports
ExpressCard 34/54 slot and a fingerprint reader
Optional components will include Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, a TV tuner, and a Intel 4965AGN 802.11a/g/n wireless adapter. link

From the press release;
"End-users will be able to purchase the DIY notebook barebones and add components to the machine to build an entire system. OCZ venders, however, will be able to spec the notebooks however they see fit."

The specs look familiar with the Compal IFL90; link.

Cheers, Baserk

/off topic,

And you ended up with a MacBook Pro? Well done!

 

I also thought about that. Has anyone really built a laptop completely on one's own? And not just by assembling parts.

I mean, by going out there collecting ore, forging steel, producing own plastic, welding, melting, burning, constructing, synthesizing, making own chips, programming own operating system, making glass, enamel, LCD screen, keyboard, painting, designing and many other things.

 

Haha, I really liked that Vytautas. "Hey, what are you doing in the mine?" "Oh, I'm just gathering some ore to make my own laptop."

 

that is just the compal jfl92 nothing more.. you can save money by just buying the compal..

 

The Intel VBI program was the first large effort I know of... I built my S96J, then had to send the barebones back for warranty (yep Intel warrantied them) and got an updated S96Jm. I just put all the component parts back in (CPU, wireless card, hard drive, optical drive, memory... and in case of the warranty replacement, I put my old keyboard into the new barebones they sent).

Works very nicely now... I consider getting a new laptop now and then but my S96Jm still has plenty of life.

However... I didn't save that much. Maybe $100-150 dollars. In retrospect I would have had a lot better service by going with a company like GentechPC, instead of buying my barebones through Mwave because it was cheapest there. They wouldn't honor the 2 year warranty (claiming it was just 1). Gentech got it taken care of for me... Their price was closest to my building it myself, and they would warranty their build, put on arctic silver, etc.

Krista

 

if you unsure about building a system. I would suggest Scott Mueller. Upgrading and Repairing Laptops 2 edtions. There also a upgrading and repairing Desktops, Servers, Networks, Windows, If you had problems he supplys a website for owners of his books. He also been on computer Amarica radio talk show.

 

I'd say that if you buy a barebone and build it yourself, you'd save at least $100

 

Barebones(CPU, Motherboard, etc. included + Case)
And you just need to add some more, etc.

 

while we are on this subject . this is what i want to do please tell me which would be the cheapest.
i have a dv7-1135nr that will upgrade to a zm-86. would it be cheaper to just buy a laptop with it already in it or upgrade my current one

i thought about having some1 custom build a laptop with me but dont know what all i would need and also dont know what would work with what

 

K-TRON made his own laptop. Well he is making one. He is making it from scratch as is without a bare bone. PM him to find out more.

 

yes, sounds like K-Tron is making a sweet setup, I have built a few units into Pellican cases with desktop parts for specific applications but thats a whole other story

 

I didn't build mine per say, but about the only parts left from the original machine are the case, WiFi card, antennas and LCD cable/inverter. Everything else from the CPU to motherboard to LCD to optical drive was swapped out from other ThinkPads.