Idea: Notebook.

[Omega]

Alright. I purchased a laptop from a fellow TBCS member before the school year and I've been using it for notes and sometimes gaming since. It's served me well, but since the day I opened the box, I've noted something.

I simply hate how it looks.

I have bumper stickers on it to cover up that horribly large blue rectangle on the cover. It's annoying.

Luckily, I got hold of another, although not properly functioning, Inspiron 5100. Same model and everything. The idea was to pull the panels off of the broken one, mod them, then when they're completed, assemble it onto the working one.

Another mod might be swapping the mainboards -- my school laptop has no functioning audio whereas the "broken" (it needs a hd and a battery, I have both, and the screen could use replacing, again, I have one) laptop might have working audio.

On to the good stuff, the design.

The mod will be pretty centered around this one patch, as it's the only real place that's visible at all times and pretty much worth it. I might paint the keys so you can only see the slightly raised lettering and I might put a design on the inside, but I really just want to do that outer cover. The multiple ideas I've had are:

Industrial-ish. Put panels and make them look like they're rusting. The only problem with this is that the laptop lives in a backpack with things like... spiral bound notebooks. I might be getting a new backpack (one with a place for laptops to be safe), but if I don't, this is a concern. I don't want it falling apart.

Camo paintjob. Simple, easy, effective. I'd do this, clearcoat it and off we go. Not the most unique thing but whatever.

Stenciled logo or something. Paint the blue section black or white (yet to decide, or maybe even a better blue), then make a stencil to put on it. It'd have to be something cool that I wouldn't mind having for quite some time.


All three ideas mean bondoing over the Dell logo (it's inset so this isn't a problem), as well as paint, sanding, clearcoat, etc.


The laptop looks like this:

and it's a 15.4" laptop iirc so I've got a bit of room to work with (13" diag probably, I'll get better measurements up later).

Any and all ideas and comments are welcome. Help me make my boring, bland laptop something that people will envy. Something unique.

If I get a good enough suggestion (and some dosh, although I have sandpaper, bondo, and razorblades here, three of the five things needed for stencils), I'll go ahead and kick off this project. Oh, and I'm taking an Art class now with a pretty chill teacher which means I might even get to use the school's supplies, which is a whole slew of stuff. As long as it can be clear coated we're good.

Cheers,
Omega

[Zephik]

Get a large chuck of Aluminum with the dimensions of your laptop. Then have it cut in two pieces, one for the base and one for the screen. Then have it machined and hallowed out to match all the mounting holes and whatnots exactly.

Voila, a notebook disguised as a big chuck of aluminum!

lol I need to go to bed probably. I'll agree with you on that its not very easy on the eyes though. It definitely needs some modding. I would probably just bondo over the dell logo, then paint that blue piece camo. That would definitely make it less ugly. But I don't know how much. The shape of the laptop itself is kind of bubbly and rounded and all around not that desirable. Meh, maybe that aluminum block idea isn't so bad after all. It would probably cost an arm and a leg though. lol

What I wanted to do with my laptop before I fracked it up was stick the lcd panel between two pieces of plexi. Maybe you can do that to the whole laptop. Just frame the whole thing in plexi. Might be kind of cool to have a clear laptop or clear parts on the laptop.

Just be careful about taking them apart. Easy to take apart, retardedly difficult to put back together. At least with my model it was. I had an inspiron 9200 or something and another.

heh, just had another wacky idea. Cover the entire thing with bondo, like how Bucko did his case where it kind of looked like solidified lava or something. It knows its ugly! Let it embrace its inner ugly self! :p

[Omega]

eh, the edges aren't a concern. That's the only part that's rounded. The rest of it's pretty flat.

[Omega]

bondo'd over the logo and I'ma sand it tomorrow. Still need to think up something to put on the damned thing.

[b4i7]

why not give it a spiffy paintjob, then add a personal logo to it like say an omega, or as you had in your sig for a while decibel designs?

side thought that just came about, why not make a raised omega symbol in the center using some acrylic or more bondo, the fill in around it and radius the bottom edge where it meets the laptop... so it has a kick ass 3d surface?

[Omega]

why not give it a spiffy paintjob, then add a personal logo to it like say an omega, or as you had in your sig for a while decibel designs?

side thought that just came about, why not make a raised omega symbol in the center using some acrylic or more bondo, the fill in around it and radius the bottom edge where it meets the laptop... so it has a kick ass 3d surface?

Liking the raised Omega logo. Except my laptop's name is Sigma... So I'll probably do a raised sigma. decibelDesigns is also a pretty good idea (that's what I'm labeling all my graphic design type stuff with. decibelDesigns. 'Cause I'm a sound geek.)

[Cannibal23]

i have a 5150 wich essentually uses the same case plastics probably only a few little diffrences. i have taken my laptop apart countless times now with desires to modify it. there isnt alot of space between the lcd and the acctual top cover of the notebook and it can flex a little. be carefull not to put back pressure on the lcd panel or you might need a new one. i will be watching this mod intensely.