Truly Custom Laptops

[TheGreatSatan]

I would love to order a custom laptop. The problem is that every site I go to that supposedly has custom laptops, really doesn't. They all start off very high ($800 range) and you can only add to the price. I would love a basic dual core with 2GB RAM, 100GB drive tops and good graphics. I've been to cyberpowerpc, ibuypower, and pctorque, overram, and powernotebooks.com. All are the same....

[Luke122]

Didnt OCZ offer some barebones laptop kits?

[Outlaw]

OCZ Barebones on Newegg. Just add CPU, RAM and HDD. Oh and OS of course.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856172010

CPU Supported: Intel Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Quad
Graphics Chipset: NVIDIA GeForce 9600GTS
Memory Slot: 2 x SO-DIMM
Memory Type: DDR3 1066 (4GB MAX)
HDD: SATA

[Luke122]

If it used a swappable GPU, then it would be MORE custom. :D

*edit: Spelling. WTF is a "swapple"? hehe

MXM gpu's are what I'm talking about.

[Outlaw]

That is pretty slick. The only problem I could see is with the heatsinks. If they make the cards interchangeable, the heatsink for one card may not work for the other or may not cool enough.

At least in my HP, they connected the CPU, GPU and chipset heatsinks with heat-pipes to make one big one.

::Update::
Found a site where they did the upgrade in an Alienware.
http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/m15x.html
Two links at the bottom allow you to purchase an MXM-260 or MXM-280 and starts at a low low price of 350€ ($478.5 US) for the 260 or 450€ ($615.28 US) for the 280.

I think pricing is still an issue. :D

Here's a LINK (http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/Table.html) to few PC's, their models and which version of XMX is supported. Some of them also have a 'Buy' link to show a purchase price. **Keep in mind, this is not a US based company so prices are not in Dollars**

[x88x]

From what I've seen of the (much too infrequently used) MXM format (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MXM), the heatsink is part of the unit. It's a lot like a graphics card for a desktop, really, just smaller and a weird shape.

[Outlaw]

At least in the case of the Alienware and what I've seen in my searches, it is just the chip requiring the use of the OE heatsink.. The Alienware review stated the OE heatsink was not enough for the card they put in and if it wasn't for the 22c ambient room temp, it would have shutdown to overheating.

I think my update was done while you were posting. The link to the website for a list of laptops and mxm compatibility show just the chips without heatsinks but I am by no means an expert on this.

Picture from mxm-upgrade (Type B ATI HD4870 - 1GB GDDR3)
http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/Pictures/HD4870_B.jpg

[x88x]

Interesting; good to know.

[crenn]

If Manufacturers actually had a low spec laptop with high end GPU, they wouldn't make any money ;P

[x88x]

You can get a Geforce 9400 or a GTS 230 with low end CPU, but that's about as high as you're gonna get.

[TheGreatSatan]

Even if I bought the barebones and put my own stuff in, it'll cost $800 anyway

[knowledgegranted]

If you are looking for a high performing laptop, you really shouldn't expect to pay anything under $1000. With a few exceptions being the gateway laptop series, and a few others.

In reality, I have been looking for a very nice laptop for under $3k for a while now. I'm looking at the OCZ ati crossfire barebones, but to put graphics processors in it is just another $1k!!!

[Luke122]

You might be able to pick up a used Asus G51 or something like that for under $800, and that's still a plenty potent machine.

[Zephik]

Get a bunch of modders mesh and build your own using desktop parts. Then all you need is to carry around a backpack of batteries... Okay, thatveas just a bad idea to begin with. I just think an all modders mesh laptop would look cool. :p

Your best bet is to just by used, if you're looking to save $$.

[knowledgegranted]

I just found this site, and it's amazing. I don't know how safe it is though.


http://rjtech.com/shop/index.php



-------------------------------------------------------------------EDIT--------------------------------------------------------

A "whois" look up finds and a simple call finds it to be safe, but I'm still not sure.

http://www.networksolutions.com/whois-search/rjtech.com

[x88x]

Nice find. They even have MXM cards. :D

For anyone wondering, Clevo is kinda like Compal; they make laptops for a bunch of different OEMs. IDK who all sources from Clevo, I know at least Sager does, and they're very well built machines.

EDIT:
Found the lists on their product pages on rjtech. Not comprehensive, but gives a good ballpark:
Clevo:
Sager, VoodooPC, Falcon Northwest, Eurocom
Compal:
Acer Inc., Dell, Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard, Fujitsu Siemens, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Compaq (also, Apple, I happen to know)

[Kayin]

Clevo and Compal FTW. Both are solid (when sold as their own branding.)

[arnoldarever]

Hello friend,
I think you will have to compensate with the price of an custom laptop because since they are fixing the device as per your configuration(like assembled pc) which is a rare thing.Hence the total cost prise is definitely gonna increase rather then getting within your budget.

[TheGreatSatan]

How do you add parts to this (http://cgi.ebay.com/M570RU-U-NB8E-GTX-8800-SR7-17-1-Notebook-New_W0QQitemZ220455252970QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLaptop s_Nov05?hash=item33542833ea)?

[OvRiDe]

I dont think this is the OCZ bare bones kit, but I imagine it would be very similar.

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[Luke122]

How do you add parts to this (http://cgi.ebay.com/M570RU-U-NB8E-GTX-8800-SR7-17-1-Notebook-New_W0QQitemZ220455252970QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLaptop s_Nov05?hash=item33542833ea)?

Hard drive, CPU, Ram, and Wifi card are just bolt ins. Most (if not all) components are installed through removable bottom panels.

Then just install your OS and software, and go go go!

[x88x]

/\ What they said. Just make sure you get the right CPU. Just like RAM, there's a slightly different physical socket for mobile chips. I believe the barebones you linked to would use socket P :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&SubCategory=759&N=2010340759&SpeTabStoreType=1