$9.01 Mod - My first mod(if it is a mod?)

[lominono]

This is the first time I have done anything to my computer. I got tired of looking at my really ugly dimension
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/jmjselect/3000_chassis_3qtr_left_314.jpg

So I went over to walmart and got some spray paint and the end result came out not that bad.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/jmjselect/Untitled-2-2.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/jmjselect/Untitled-1-2.jpg
I forgot to take a pic of it but I have 2 drives and I painted the trays white(looks cool btw)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/jmjselect/Untitled-3-1.jpg
I painted the harddrive enclosure, cd and dvd drives, cpu fan duct, part of the power unit(I couldn't take off all of the components because I stripped a screw taking it apart), than those covers at the bottom left

I wanted to paint the inside and back white but I couldn't take the mobo off because I would of have to have taken the heat sink off to access some screws but I didn't have any of that paste stuff.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/jmjselect/Untitled-4-1.jpg
and you can see those covers here, I wish I could of painted the back of that power unit and could of painted the back side white.

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so what do you think?

oh and does anyone know of any way/type of paint that is more durable than spray paint? for instance I put on 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of metallic blue on the cd n dvd drives and it just got scraped off putting it into the bay. I didn't put any clear coat on, would that make it more durable?

[mercerman318]

Nice, The colors really do make it better, but now you need to cut a window in that thing and throw some LED's in :D

[LiTHiUM0XiD3]

mod = modification altering anything from its stock form.... yup its a mod :P
good job man i dig

[Spawn-Inc]

ya nice mod, you need ID to buy freaking spray paint?!@!?!? also why did you give 20.10? but ya very nice painting.

[Mitternacht]

ya nice mod, you need ID to buy freaking spray paint?!@!?!? also why did you give 20.10? but ya very nice painting.

Same thing here, kids get high off of it, And he did that so he wouldn't get 99 cents in change.

[Spawn-Inc]

oh what a place the states is... though it probably happens here too. though we don't need id.

[Zephik]

That looks really good! I wish I would of thought of doing that before I trashed my Dimension 4700 awhile back. ^_^

I hope you get to do more painting on it in the future! Painting the back side, insides, etc would really put the finishing touches on it.

ha, I bet if Dell had seen that white front panel when they were building those they would of adopted the idea. ;)

[lominono]

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/jmjselect/Untitled-5.jpg
sorry for the picture quality, it doesn't like low light. but these are the cd and dvd trays(they use to be black)

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thanks for the compliments all

@spawn n mitt: I think it was because of graffiti, people started to get really pissed because it was costing them a lot money so they pushed politicians... I don't know if wal-mart or others are required to card or if they do it for good will.

I don't really care either way... I'm not under 21 anymore :smile:

and yeah like mitt said, I don't like change and getting the max amount of change out of a dollar is really annoying to me.

[Drum Thumper]

Looks good! Now go get some bondo and some sand paper and fill in the damn advertisement on the side! :D

[Spawn-Inc]

the white trays look really nice +rep

[Bucko]

Nice simple way to improve your case. Welcome to the world of modding. It only gets more addictive from here.

As for ID for the paint, you get that over here in Australia too. Under law the paint can't be accessable to everyone and is either locked up in cages, or kept behind the counter. It's a royal pain in the arse.

[SgtM]

Looks really good man. I esp like the metallic blue. Welcome to the world of modding. Next, you should cut out the dell logo on that side panel, and put in a window.

+rep.

[lominono]

Nice simple way to improve your case. Welcome to the world of modding. It only gets more addictive from here.

As for ID for the paint, you get that over here in Australia too. Under law the paint can't be accessable to everyone and is either locked up in cages, or kept behind the counter. It's a royal pain in the arse.

Whoa that's pretty anal. I've never seen anyplace do that here... but I wouldn't be surprised.

[Spawn-Inc]

Nice simple way to improve your case. Welcome to the world of modding. It only gets more addictive from here.

As for ID for the paint, you get that over here in Australia too. Under law the paint can't be accessable to everyone and is either locked up in cages, or kept behind the counter. It's a royal pain in the arse.

wow locked up... i thought Canada was tough selling only clear airsoft but locked up spray paint?@?@!? if you go to canadian tire (local hardware place) where all the spray paint is they its all multi coloured because people spray it.

[.Maleficus.]

Well, I read everything pretty thoroughly, and I don't think anyone has answered your question yet, so here it goes. 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint will scratch off very easily. Like you said, clear coat will help prevent that. The more clear coat, the farther the scratches have to penetrate to hit paint, so do a bunch of coats.

It's very nice BTW, the contrast is very cool. I definitely like it.

[ChevronX]

New Zealand has the same identification spray paint ban as well.

Nice job on the paint work; take it slowly and change it bit by bit and it will look l33t.

[psychowit]

I'd say it's definitely a mod... good on you mate

[Andr0m3da]

yeah the white really sets it off not exactly boring to look at it anymore.

+rep

[alphastryk]

the white trays look really nice +rep

agreed :) +rep

[lominono]

hey another atlantian!

I'm in gwinnett, where you at? oh and thanks for the rep

[luciusad2004]

Looks excellent. +Rep

I think a nice next step would be some cable sleeving. It would clean up the inside of the case a lot. I'm not sure how much work you would want to put in to the stock power supply though. It also can be a little bit of work.

[lominono]

Looks excellent. +Rep

I think a nice next step would be some cable sleeving. It would clean up the inside of the case a lot. I'm not sure how much work you would want to put in to the stock power supply though. It also can be a little bit of work.

did, done, finished. although it still looks messy, just a little bit more cleaner.

I also cut a window but I fudged on that 2x. I snapped off a piece of plexiglass so a little piece is missing in the corner and I accidentally cut a corner wrong, I wanted it to be rounded but cut it straight. It looks okay though I just cut the corners square.

and I couldn't find u-channel. home depot, lowes, ace hardware, even auto zone... none of them had u-channel.

I'll take some more pics later

[luciusad2004]

Cool, look forward to seeing some more pics. : )

[stewart123]

I have a very similar case to that one which I would like to Mod. I can quite figure out though how I want to do it - due to the stupid setup Dell has with opening these cases.

[radar]

wish i had time to do stuff like this...

[moon111]

For anyone looking on a manual that shows how to take one of these apart, see:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4700/sm/parts.htm#wp1055121

I thought it was strange you'd have to take the heatsink off, but there it is with 12 screws holding the motherboard in place, including 4 under the heatsink.

[chaksq]

Looking cool. Very nice work. Soon I will be able to buy spray paint myself.

[lominono]

@stewart123: the dimensions are really easy to take apart, not sure about the other models. some of the newer ones look a bit more difficult.

@minty: na, I dont know any chaz's. 20 coats??? lol I got tired of painting so I just left it. as long as I don't mess around with the parts it won't chip.

@moon: hey thanks for that link. Yeah I got pissed trying to figure out how to take off the mobo... 20 mins later I looked at the heat sink and could barely see the screw heads and was like WTF??? I guess so that they can cry foul if someone sends back a computer with the heat sink loose.

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I'll take better pics later, I was just too lazy to move my computer into a room with better lighting.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/jmjselect/IMG_0141.jpg
you can see the chipped part of the plexiglass in the upper left corner

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/jmjselect/IMG_0142.jpg
I'll take the cover off later to get a better pic of the guts.

I still need to find u-channel and get another sheet of plexiglass(oh yeah home depot no longer cuts to order: BOO!)

[moon111]

Great looking window.

Suggestion: I've seen some pretty cool stickers being sold at our local automotive superstore. One pasted on that heatsink shroud would look good.

[luciusad2004]

Looks great man keep up the excellent work. : )

[lominono]

A mouse to match.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/jmjselect/IMG_0143.jpg

I forgot to paint the dock to match but that'll soon be done

[Cool1Net6]

Nice job dude. Makes me want to do my own $9.01 mod. :D

-Cool-

[Chev86]

I agree good job I work with computers and I see alot of thous blah Dells come in good job

[Greco101]

Looks good! I'm usually not a fan of pure black/pure white because sometimes it looks too......"cowish?" But that is bad ass. The matching mouse is the cherry on top.

9 bucks for a new 100 dollar case. Not bad :D

[XxRiddleOutxX]

Nice! Congrats on your first mod!

[Elenril]

wow locked up... i thought Canada was tough selling only clear airsoft but locked up spray paint?@?@!? if you go to canadian tire (local hardware place) where all the spray paint is they its all multi coloured because people spray it.

I went to the hardware store earlier to get some spray paint, it was all locked up and I had to walk around for 20 minutes trying to find a salesperson to open it for me. Then I discovered I couldn't buy it because I'm 16. I had to go back in the evening with my mum so she could buy it for me. SO annoying.

Anyway, about the mod: Great paint job! It actually reminds me of Alienware, with the black and white theme. Maybe another thing for you to do would be to get rid of that hideous Dell logo smack bang in the middle of the front of that case. Looks like it could do with some lighting and LED fans ;)

[Rankenphile]

good stuff. Looks like you gave that old Dell a brand new tuxedo.