Fabrication Mod questions

I'm buggered about laptop selections because I need something that is small and light, but also capable of doing CAD AND software development. So I need a decent CPU and a dedicated GPU, but I also want a small screen size (13.3" or so).

The monitor determines the size of the laptop, but the motherboard typically doesn't occupy much space, so I was thinking about buying a cheap high-spec 15.6", gutting the keyboard and replacing the monitor with a 13.3" (replacement monitors/keyboards are easy to find). This machine will be used ONLY as a portable workstation, so I'm even considering leaving off the battery entirely (or using something small for 30-60 minutes)... I also don't need an optical, so that should make plenty of room for cooling.

I ride my bike as much as possible, so having a rigid frame capable of absorbing a fair amount of shock is also important, but even semi-rigid notebooks are ridiculously overpriced. I have access to fabrication tools (for cars) and raw materials are pretty cheap, so I'd like to see if I can make my dream come true and bring together all the elements of the notebook that I want.

Oh, I also want it to look very pretty- if I'm going to do this work, it's gotta pick up the chicks at the local cafe. Under an inch, something slim and sleek...

I have a few questions-

I'm not that familiar with how picky a notebook BiOS can be. Are they typically designed to only support the components that they ship with or will after market components work more often than not?

What materials would you guys recommend? I have some ideas for unifying internal structure, airflow and rigidity, but I'm not really sure what material to use. I'm not talking about anything generic like titanium, aluminum, nickel or carbon fiber- but rather, specific grades and qualities. There's a good deal of information on tempering and how well they migrate heat and their physical durability, but all the information is giving me a headache. I don't need something that isn't going to fracture at absolute zero and can withstand the surface temperature of the sun, but I don't want anything too cheap. Stuff like thickness recommendations would also be nice.

What kind of resources are there for after market cooling components? They seem pretty much tailored for the mobo of the laptop, but I'm sure there are some replaceable parts out there... I haven't found any good resources though.

I don't think many people try to tackle stuff like this, Any general suggestions? Any stories you've heard of others trying something similar?

Finally, any recommendations for a starting notebook or whitebook? I don't need the bleeding edge, but a CPU with a passmark score of 2k+ and a GPU of 450+ are as low as I'll go. 4 GB of memory is also a must.

 

The motherboard does occupy a lot of space. It takes most of the space in the chassis. The other main uses of space are the optical drive bay and the disk drive bays.

Remember the motherboard is always as wide as the laptop because there are ports on both sides, so you can't shrink a larger laptop.

Why are you getting a large laptop and adding a small screen, can't you just get a small flimsy one and then mod that?

After market parts will work mostly. Be careful when swapping things like the inverter. The LCD can be replaced easily if the connector is compatible.

• Buy a laptop
• Take it apart
• Measure the pieces you want to keep
• Make a cad drawing
• Laser cut parts
• Then build it

How much is your budget anyway? Wouldn't the fab work and the original laptop cost more than a better laptop?

 

No! I have serviced _many_ notebooks (>10) and none have had a motherboard as wide as the chassis. The motherboards are very expensive due to a massive amount of layers so the designers try to compress everything together and have external small PCBs for the extra ports.

I agree, the costs would be high.

Modern machines often have a standard LCD-connector except for (perhaps) the backlight. Screens with LED backlights often use one connector for both data and backlight so should theoretically be plug & play.
The keyboard is more complicated. They are a "dumb" design where all logic is in the motherboard-monted keyboard controller. To make it work one have to either:
. Get a keyboard with (at least partially) the same key matrix.
. Modify an existing keyboard to get another matrix - this would be hard work!
. Do some kind of translation between the two different matrices. Using a microcontroller or programmable logic is a possiblity but out of reach for most people.
. (Perhaps) Use a keyboard from a Apple Macbook Air, I _think_ they use a USB connection with a shared controller for both the touchpad and the keyboard. If so the big problem would be to map the signals to an internal USB port.

 

Holey, moley- fantastic information. I am positive that I will need to do a good deal of research on whatever components I end up using, but I don't think my fab work is going to be expensive. The aluminum used in the macbook pro, for example, doesn't amount to much- .05" 6061 aluminum costs $6 per square foot per .05" inch (IE .1" = $12). I won't be doing any awkward sloping angles or anything too complicated and I have free access to all of the tools necessary to do the job- in other words, that only expense for the fabrication will be raw materials, and those don't amount to much. I'm not really sold on 6061 Al, but it's probably the best choice.

The problem with 13.3" laptops is that they either have atrocious processors or atrocious GPUs, and they NEVER have great ones of either nor are either particularly upgradeable. If I cut out most of the battery space and the optical, I should have enough room to develop a decent cooling system despite having too much power.

I think the cost of modification will be a little over $100 for the screen, fab materials and keyboard... as long as I get a deal on the screen 0_0.

A marginally powerful 13.3" can run between $700-900 when a superior 15.6" typically hits around $600-700. Both are going to have crappy fab work that I would want to replace anyways, so I'm really looking at an $800 project on the high end for something pretty darn good.

 

The motherboards are either take the whole width or the whole height of the chassis. Either way, you won't be able to downsize the the laptop because the screen has a specific aspect ratio.

Couldn't you just buy a laptop, re-enforce the chassis, if you are as good as you say it should be an easy job. Then give it a coat of paint. If you have a spray gun you should get an amazing finish on it.

Get a finish as good as this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/not...ilds/230378-spray-painted-my-dell-laptop.html

Car paints are a LOT tougher than cheap laptop paints, should be awesome.

 

All I can say to this is good luck, and post pictures!

 

Smaller laptops are overpriced for their CPU & GPU, which will pretty much always be better and cheaper in something a little bigger. I want a 13.3" workstation that's an inch tall and around 4 pounds (weight is more important than dimension- but it must be small enough to fit in a carryall, not that I use a man-purse). If I can get a whitebook that doesn't have an obnoxious mobo (which will be the primary limiting factor in my project), then I believe I can get the hardware a little easier without paying for an optical or battery.


I don't want to reinforce, I want to replace. Half the premise is weight reduction and rigidity. Eff paint, I'm thinking gold anodized aluminum with a shiny finish- the quantity of light reflected will be enough to declothe all females cought within the blast radius! Though, your paint job IS also very sexy .

TBH- The amount of work involved isn't that much. I'm just forcing some 90 degree angles and fastening with flush screws and cutting holes in the places they need to be. It'll look nice in its simplicity, but it ain't gonna be no unibody. The rotating mechanism will require some handiwork, but it won't be that complicated.

If I can justify the project in a monetary sense I'm DEFINITELY doing it. If there is a 13.3" with a powerful enough GPU and an upgradeable CPU, I have no qualms going with that...

 

No. This will turn out to be way too much work. I've worked with tons of laptops and unless you have weeks and a fully stocked fab lab, you really won't be able to make anything useful or pretty. Not even mentioning how hard it is to switch lcds, you'll need to custom design mounts, cooling, vents and solve a host of other issues. And even is everything gets done in the end, it'll be bigger than it should be and be less stable than it can be.

 

This is good:

Alienware M11x 11-Inch Gaming Laptop with Core i5 or i7 and NVIDIA Optimus | Laptop and Netbook Specifications

 

UL80VT

or the new one with the i3/g310m

 

I wouldn't build the case (maybe the lid or the bezel) of the computer out of titanium because it is a poor conductor of heat.

if you want to make the laptop survive being on your bike, use an SSD and isolate it from vibrations... I think being in a decent backpack that holds it securely ought to do, and be sure that the screen is properly isolated from the keyboard / body.

personally i would hard - coat anodize, but i doubt you'd find a place that could hard coat gold

 

I was thinking of doing this with no fab tools at all. its pretty interesting to think about.

If you get some aluminum plating of various shapes, strong mesh stuff for vents, i bet it would not be anywhere near as difficult as people are saying. I mean people handmake things out of metal all the time.

LCDS are already shockmounted. literally, once you unscrew one from the hinges, the plastic an aluminum frame is specifically designed to shockmount it.
so if you're already going to do something like this, i'd recommend taking an LCD apart. Get an old one. Replace the backlight with high power RGB leds.
when you get past the diffusers and stuff, its a lot thinner. then you can just figure out how to build effective shockmounting directly onto your lid assembly. literally use the aluminum lid as a reflector.

you could even get some high end LED diffusers, because CFL ones are meant to do it vertically

there is NO NEED to buy a laptop and do this. You need a motherboard, thats all. Think about it. you wont even know how much you can slim it down until you open it up!

I have had a lot of ideas about structural integrity aluminum plating. Honestly I think that heatsinks should be built directly into the casing of laptops but thats not something I can really input here.

good luck.

 

FYI

a 14" 16:10 LCD is almost the same width as a 13" 16:9 lcd