When will we see DIY laptops?

Bengaboy · 23 Jan 2009 at 23:29

I am pondering over the idea of getting a gaming laptop - but I cant see the point when the graphics card wont last too long and cannot be upgraded.

So I was wondering when we would see laptops that we could customise ourselves?

95thrifles · 24 Jan 2009 at 00:02

they do already exist, most modern laptops have panels that you can remove to change various components. If you look in the laptops section of OcUK you'll see they offer their own custom built ones

pingwing · 24 Jan 2009 at 00:05

A competetor did custom shells that you could change the basic internals on and assemble your self a few years ago...

Wasnt all that amazing seeing as pretty much everything is strapped to the board to start with

kingy666 · 24 Jan 2009 at 00:14

I think MSI used to make 'barebones' laptops.

vertica · 24 Jan 2009 at 02:25

pingwing said:
pretty much everything is strapped to the board to start with

This is why they dont exist in the format we would all like, the vast majority of laptops have one logic board that everything sits on.

Often even the CPU is physically attached to the mobo in the assembley and isnt removable to replace

alex24 · 24 Jan 2009 at 02:32

One of the main things that holds me back from buying or recommending lappies is the fact that they're hard to upgrade and repair. I'd like to see some truly modular machines come along, but more standards would have to be implemented for it to work, particularly in the gfx.

"andy" · 24 Jan 2009 at 02:37

you can buy mobile cpus, laptop gfx cards and mini pc cards its just that not many places stock them and theyre still expenisve because of this

as said OCUK do custom build laptops

vertica · 24 Jan 2009 at 02:39

more standards in general would be a start!
Virtaully every range of laptops has its own unique motherboard, cooling, chassis, socket layout etc, theres not really a standard like in desktops (mATX, ATX etc.)

alex24 · 24 Jan 2009 at 02:44

vertica said:
more standards in general would be a start!
Virtaully every range of laptops has its own unique motherboard, cooling, chassis, socket layout etc, theres not really a standard like in desktops (mATX, ATX etc.)

Yeah, this is what i'm getting at. I know you can upgrade gfx etc, but it's too specific to be mainstream I think.

It's hard to imagine a world where dell and the like would let you stick a different brand of gfx or even mobo in the machine. I guess it would also mean a lot of laptops designs would have to fall into certain limits, which would reduce variety and scope in designing new machines.

Screw it, just make them cheaper please!

ShakenNstirred · 24 Jan 2009 at 03:37

"andy" said:
you can buy mobile cpus, laptop gfx cards and mini pc cards its just that not many places stock them and theyre still expenisve because of this

as said OCUK do custom build laptops

very very few laptops allow you to change the graphic cards
most have them hard wired to the mainboard
cpu`s can be changed on most laptops

semi-pro waster · 24 Jan 2009 at 10:22

You can buy the shell and internals if you really want to, mainly from trade suppliers but adding up the prices it is usually more than buying a pre-built machine and you've potentially got the additional hassle of trying to calculate the thermal envelope yourself if you want to ensure parts aren't liable to overheat.

I'd suggest it simply isn't worth it for most people and you're still left with the same upgadability problems of a pre-built in most cases.

ShakenNstirred · 24 Jan 2009 at 15:51

semi-pro waster said:
You can buy the shell and internals if you really want to, mainly from trade suppliers but adding up the prices it is usually more than buying a pre-built machine and you've potentially got the additional hassle of trying to calculate the thermal envelope yourself if you want to ensure parts aren't liable to overheat.

I'd suggest it simply isn't worth it for most people and you're still left with the same upgadability problems of a pre-built in most cases.

yeah but only parts made by that manufacturer will fit there case
you cant pick anyones mainboard eg HP/sony/acer etc as there is no standard shape or size like there is with a desktop PC
only universal parts will be DVD drive/CPU/HDD/ram
everything else will be made by the case manufacturer, thats why you cant pick and choose your own parts like soundcard/graphic card/motherboard, like you can on a desktop PC