Upgrade/Mod Vaio A190?

Well the title pretty much boils it down. I'd like to know if it would be possible to upgrade, modify or completely revamp my Vaio A190. Current hardware is inadequate for what I would need it for. And I do like the looks of it. Maybe gut the chassis and start from scratch? I don't know..lol..you guys tell me!

Looking to make a system that can handle rendering software and 3d Modeling software... Solidworks 2008 at the moment.

I'm not sure if any component would be salvagable or interchangable with an aftermarket motherboard or drives, etc. At the top of my head I'm thinking of the LCD. (serious newbie here.) Based on Solidworks 2008 rendering requirements, I would need to design a system that had at least an Nvidia Quadro FX GPU... But that's just NVidia, other recommended GPU's are acceptable so long as they are comparable. Vista Ultimate would be ideal, given the fact that XP is inevitably going to be phased out I imagine...

In any case, this is something I've been thinking about for a while. All questions are appreciated, and I apologize in advance if I have not provided sufficient info. I will provide additional info upon request of course! Thanks everyone...

-Kent

 

You can start by listing your current hardware.

However, it'd be cheaper and easier to buy a new laptop over upgrading a very old one - which can't be upgraded much in the first place.

 

It uses a Pentium M, older AGP bus, and a DDR (not DDR2) memory. There is basically no way to upgrade this system to even come close to what you want.

Time to fill out the "What Should I Buy?" FAQ.

 

Hi Greg,

Yeah, I was afraid of that. lol Still no way to salvage the chassis and LCD for a "white box" sort of system?

 

No other motherboard will fit in it.

 

I understand that no current motherboard is designed for the same housing, but I anticipated a necessary chassis mod in that regard. Only thing I could think would be a problem would be the keyboard and mouse assembly. I suppose you could say this is a "project" I'm interested in undertaking, if only to see what I could do.

I'm an aspiring product designer, so it's kind of a reverse engineer/mod job that seems like it would be fun..

 

I also have a HP Pavilion dv6275us in perfect working order that might be an option for a mod given it's only a year old. Might find more compatible components...

But the appeal of the A190 was the 17 widescreen!

-Kent

 

I don't know what you plan on doing.

A laptop isn't like a desktop, you can't just start stuffing pieces together and hope that it'll work. You have the basic size restraints, then power and heat. Finding all the parts is going to be a very hard task, making sure that the parts work together is even harder. Plus it'll be a complete waste of money given that your budget would soon overtake the cost of a new laptop. There's a reason why people build their own desktops but not laptops.

 

Again, thanks for the replies...

I really just want to see if it can be done I guess. Like I mentioned before, it would just be a project. Of course it would take a considerable amount of re-engineering the chassis to provide plenty of clearance for components as well as accounting for heat issues, power, etc. That's why I have been thinking of modding the larger Vaio with components found in the smaller 15.4 notebooks I've been looking at now.

I guess I just want to know if:

1. ...it's possible? (regardless of anticipated cost)

2. What hardware would I need to start with?

3. Could the LCD be salvaged?

 

And please forgive the "cross post?"

-Kent


*EDIT* ...I see what you guys did there.... re-routing.

 

Of course it's possible. People have modded the 360 and PS3 into laptops. However, the question you need to ask is "are you capable of doing it".

What's known is that you will have to modify the case, in which case, which means changing the LCD - in which case, why do it at all? If you're going to have to change out every single component, then it'd be much easier to start with a new computer over a bunch of parts.

 

Okay, well first off, provided I'm able to retain the original LCD, I imagined the only mods necessary would be within the main "deck" if you will. "Relocating" mounting points and arranging components accordingly.

In regards to my mechanical capabilities, I am quite capable of taking on this challenge. My reason for posting was to find people who have knowledge in areas that I do not. Hardware/tech compatability. Right now I've got all the time in the world to fuss around so why not?

thanks again

 

Relocating "mounting points" on a laptop is maybe 20 different screws, all different heights and lengths, which would make the bottom of your case resemble swiss cheese. After that, cut new holes for the HDD and RAM compartments, which take up half the area of the bottom side. Be sure to "repair" the previous "mounting holes" and compartments. Then you have to relocate all the external ports, which means replacing the top shell of the "deck".

 

Okay. I suppose I need to be more specific as to what I am requesting from this forum.


I have no working knowledge of hardware compatability in regards to "building" a white box notebook using a chassis from an old notebook.

Old notebook has a large 17" LCD in prefect working order which i have no idea if it would be compatible with any new components.

In the event that this is not something that can be salvaged, I am still interested in seeing what I "could" do with the available notebook.

I am not seeking information or responses pertaining to the viability of my design based on forseeable modifications to the chassis itself. I am aware of what would need to be done in order to accomodate a completely different componant than this chassis was designed for, as well as the state of disrepair said chassis would exist once mount-mods were performed. The swiss cheese would not be an issue as this will already be taken care of when redesigning mounting points.

Part of this is an exercise in design modification. I'm not simply interested in buying a new notebook. I want to see if I can modify the existing notebook to what I need.


Past that, if anyone is open to a discussion regarding hardware components, tolerances, heat issues, etc.. please contribute.

Thanks again..

-Kent

The first guy to put a Porsche motor in a VW Bug probably got a lot of weird looks too!

 

You still haven't given anything to start with. All you've said is "build me a notebook, but I'm keeping my chassis".

I've already told you that your LCD is most likely unsalvageable if you plan on replacing the motherboard, which just leaves you with the chassis. Since you're going to have to tear up the chassis and rebuild that as well, you're not really keeping the chassis either.

Thus with those removed, you're starting with absolutely nothing, so step 1: either find a barebones chassis, or find a motherboard. Once that's done, get back to us.

 

Fair enough. I'll be back!

thanks
-Kent