Classing-up my Inspiron 6000d

Like a lot of people I wasn't thrilled with the new Inspiron's white trim. I got used to it though and with my blue snapon cover it looked ok for the better part of a year. I had considered painting the laptop for some time and today I finally got up the nerve to go ahead and do it.

These are before pics.




I chose Krylon Fusion spraypaint for its superior bonding properties with plastic, or at least that is what they advertise and I like Krylon anyway . For my colors I decided on a high gloss black to capture the look of the XPS2 for the trim. I also decided to change the color of the quick-snap cover and the external keyboard I use with the laptop. While I looking at my color choices I saw Krylon has a version of the Fusion paint that gives a hammered metal appearence, so I went with that in black for the quick-snap.

Eight bucks later I got home and decided to test my color choices prior to painting the real thing. For this I pulled out an old palm assembly from my Inspiron that I had replaced due to some scratches it had developed.



I was very happy with the results, so I proceeded to disassemble the laptop and gather my tools.

In the next two pics I have removed the display from the bottom of the laptop and removed the keyboard and palmrest. I next carefully masked off all the silver components, hinges, LCD and anything else I didn't want painted with maskingtape and newspaper. Finally I removed the Dell logo from the center of the quick-snap cover and wiped everything off with windex per the instructions on the paint can.






Here I am painting the parts. Of course I did this outside where there is plenty of ventilation and used light even coats. I gave the notebook seven coats and the quick-snap 5. One of things I found with the Hammered metal paint is that each coat gives a slightly different look and I liked the 5th coat the best.





I'll post the final product pics one I get everything back together.

Here Is a before pic of my beatup old Belkin keyboard.



and disassembled - Thats alot of keys, well 104 anyway



Ok, be back in a bit with more pics.

 

That is awesome! I plan on doing the same thing in the near future. You'll have to let me know how the Krylon paint looks, I am planning on using the same paint! Good luck!

 

By the way, where did you get your paint from?

 

Wal*Mart, I paid about $8 total for both cans. The paint looks fantastic (the pics don't do it justice) and didn't require any prep beyond what the directions on the can listed.

One word of caution, the paint come out a little heavier then other brands of spray paint I've used. It isn't a problem if you keep the can moving back and forth.

 

Finished product

Here is the reassembled PC open



Cover view


Close-up of the quick-snap


and finally my keyboard

 

That is an amzing job! That hammered metal color is awesome. Once I do mine, which will hopefully be soon, I will post some pics too. I want to get some Artic Silver 5 to add to the GPU and CPU as well, which I think I will have to order offline. That look great though, glad to know the paint can be bought at Walmart!

 

Thats awesome! Look's great. Gives me some ideas. Does the krylon come in colors besides black?

 

Krylon comes in numerous colors. Just google in and you will see.

 

Very nice! Great job! The lid now looks like a latitude and the black trim makes it look a little like an XPS m170.

 

I wish Inspiron can come in a color choice like that, i really like it. To bad theres no way to get someone to do it for me

 

You could try colorware they do dells and apple's for about $400 in a wide array of colors.

 

lets see $8 and a few hours of my time OR $400 and i am without my comp while it is painted.

to quote bill lumberg
"ya ummmm im going to have to dissagree with you".......and go with the first

great job on the painting it looks great, did you clear coat it?

 

Alright, I got my paint at Walmart, now I am just waiting for my AS5 to come in the mail. I will also post a paint guide as well as applying AS5 to the Dell i6000! I am excited! Bye bye warranty!

 

Well I understand the price difference but some people just don't want to try it especially not with a new machine. When a pro does it (I know and work with a guy who does) you get a very nice job no worries of defects etc. not to mention I highly doubt (no offense) anyone could match my ghost in the shell notebook that was a 15 hour job using multiple paints and serious detail.

 

That is incredible.

I absolutely detest the white trim and I think I'm going to be doing this mod when I get my E1505. Don't mind the silver lid (ordered the charcoal leather quicksnap for protection though; which I can't paint since it's "leather") but would love to have my trim in black like your own (would actually like the whole laptop in black) or maybe some other funky colour. Just not bloody white.

My biggest worry is not masking it off properly and getting paint everywhere or masking too much and not covering all the white. I'm not good at such things. *sigh*

Anyway, big thanks for the guide and photos!!

 

Hey Jumbie, it isn't too bad to paint the notebook. Just buy a can of the fusion spray paint and practice a little. I was a little worried that the paint might get through the masking tape too, but it didn't. Just make sure you firmly push on all of the edges. Also, if you do goof a bit, you can get the paint off using rubbing alcohol.

 

Thanks for the advice lmark84l

I saw your own laptop mod as well. Looks great. Nice job!

 

Hey thanks!

 

Thanks for the kind words.

Masking the parts wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. You just have to take your time. I used a hobby knife to trim some of the tape around the edges to get a more "factory" look. there were a couple of tiny spots where I some of the white trim was still showing, I touched those up with a sharpie perm. marker and you can't tell the difference.

 

Not wanting to ***** you, but if you really painted you laptop like in your sig, why can I find the same exact picture, but bigger on the net from smoothcreation.com ?

http://www.smoothcreations.com/images/laptops/22lg.html

 

Great job, I think im gonna go ahead and paint my laptop.