Building my own notebook?

I don't see anything around here that gives me any info about building my own notebook. I assume that it's much cheaper than buying it in store like building a desktop is but I need more information than that. I'd really appreciate any help.

 

Not really the case anymore. It used to be cost effective to get an Asus barebone and build yourself, some MSI barebones are pretty cost effective, but for the most part the best way to get bang for your buck is to get from a whitebook distributor that sells rebranded Clevo, MSI, Asus, Compal, etc.

 

Here's a recent cpu article with some info (the april 2009 print issue had more detail)

http://www.computerpoweruser.com/ed...rticle=articles/archive/c0904/32c04/32c04.asp

 

You take a look here for prices of barebones notebooks: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc...ubCategory=773&N=2010030773&SpeTabStoreType=1

As you can see, the price to build your own system really isn't worth it, unless you can get the components for dirt cheap.

 

Pretty much. The MSI barebones are pretty nice from what I see.

 

Thanks guys, building my own notebook doesn't make sense to me. I'll stick with building desktops for now, thanks!

 

For me creating a notebook would be a headache,risky and expensive. Also most of latest GPUS are not available from local market.

 

Why so, especially when most (read: all) barebone laptops come with a graphics card (which is often not swapable) out of the factory?

As for the financial side of building your own barebone laptop, the initial build may be cheaper because the rebrander sales margin is absent. Bear in mind that when the system fails, then it is you who has to sort it out.

 

Yeah but if the GPUS are integrated. But what if you have like M1730 9800m,8800m GPUs?
They are hard to find..specially 98m are unavailable everywhere..

 

Building notebooks isn't meant to be cost effective, but meant for users to get a slight level of customization on what parts they put in. Arguably, the GPU, which is probably the par most people want swapped/changed, is usually not changeable in some barebones lol

I don't think notebooks are headed the way of desktops, where making your own is better in nearly most aspects. The industry just doesn't seem to want to make that accommodation.

 

Also custom built laptop doesnot have maximum warranty or any tech support so will be hard to sort out the problem.

 

More likely, notebooks aren't going the way of desktops because it's not economically feasible to commoditize notebook components in the same manner as desktop components. Also, a desktop has a lot more room for error in terms of thermal budgetting, notebooks do not; I doubt if notebooks will move in the direction of desktops until "the industry" - or some bright up-and-comer who wants to break into the industry more likely - figures out how to modularize notebooks without also having to worry about whether or not the end-users are proficient in thermal budgetting and analysis.

 

I had the Asus C90s Barebones for a year. I thought the same also and at 2007 it was cost effective, I had a fully loaded one and cost me around $1400.

Driver support was really annoying and hardware issues took months to be solved. Support is basically user based, so solutions were hard to come by. I had 2 years warranty which was nice.

However, nowadays it would be cheaper to just buy one from the major brands.

 

I've decided to just buy from System76. They have Ubuntu and it's at a great price.

 

You may want to watch out a bit, some of their systems are Clevo barebones and pricing can be cheaper at other locations

 

No way man, I'm getting the Pangolin Performance laptop. Best deal ever, especially since I don't have to pay windows tax.

http://system76.com/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=86

 

lol i wouldnt call that the best deal ever

 

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np7682-built-clevo-m762tu-p-2571.html

There is the same notebook for almost 100$ less and you can install Ubuntu yourself bud

 

Guess we have to starting calling that $100 diff. the linux tax, then.

 

I lol'd.

10char

 

I think this is the solution to the economic crisis - we should tax things that are free. By the way, if you read this, tax on this post is $5.67, so cough it up.

 

Just so people know, when an OEM has Windows COA stickers with their company name on it, that company doesn't pay Microsoft per license, rather, they pay per computer out the door, regardless of what OS is on that computer.
So if you buy a laptop from Dell with Ubuntu on it, they still have to pay Microsoft the same as if Vista was put on it.
So that confirms the Windows tax, but may also mean when you buy a computer with linux you're not avoiding the Windows tax. Take it as you will.

 

I think when you're at the level to build your own laptop, you're in a better position to sort out your own problems than most technicians that work for large corporations. The actual components will have their own manufacturer guarantees, and since you swap everything out yourself, there's less downtime for you.

 

Holy crap. I almost didn't believe you until I saw it for myself. Well smack me silly and call me Sally, this is quite a surprise.

 

Check's in the mail (or was that Czech's in the male? )!

 

Hi ..Sally.

 

System 76 does not seem to be any better deals than any other notebook running windows.

I have an acer aspire 7720 running 3 gig ram, 300gig hd, core 2 duo processor, vista home premium and some other extras that came with it for 799.99 can. do the conversion and its about 689.91 american....

much better than the 795.00 for the system 76.

 

Except that it's a Clevo (high quality) versus an Acer (about the lowest quality you can get...)

 

potato potatoe!

I never have any problems with acer notebooks....its just as fast, as anything comparable, and works great. I have 4 acers running right now and none give me problems or are slow.

When it comes to computers, there is no such thing as high quality/low quality anymore...all the parts come from the same place now. its all garbage...your just paying for a name using the so called "high end" stuff.

 

You keep telling yourself that. You're right that there are far fewer manufacturers than people believe, but let's straighten out your facts a little:
-Acer is manufactured by LG. LG does not produce laptops for any other company.
-We have multiple people making laptops, MSI, Compal, Asus, Clevo, Uniwill, Arima, Quanta - to name a few. So while Dell and HP might both be buying Compals and selling the same laptop with slightly different cosmetics [tomato, tomatoe], this does not mean that an Asus and a Uniwill can be put side by side and looked at with the attitude that "They're both equally fast! There's not a difference between the two." In fact, if they're all the same, why bother buying business class notebooks over consumer level?

If you've had Acers and had no problems, power to you and the money you saved. But to claim that Acer is equal to other brands is an untrue claim. It certainly works for some people, but you need to prioritize what is important to you in a computer. Personally, I will stick to quality systems.

PS - You keep saying "just as fast" and "not slow." Besides the fact that you provide no benchmarks, and I do not think most people could visibly notice a difference between a T6400 and a P9500, I'm going to point out that you can configure most laptops in a number of ways. I am not talking about speed at all here - everyone's using chips from AMD and Intel, and those are identical. I am talking about build quality - hinges, cosmetics, frame. Can you drop it? How shook resistant is the hard drive mount? Does the paint wear down? Does the keyboard wear out?

As for paying for the name on "high end" stuff, you're talking about botique brands (Falcon Westbook, Alienware, Voodoo) and I'll agree with you 100% there. Total waste, many are rebranded Clevos, and worse, lots are Arima or Uniwill, who I'm not really a fan of because I feel the quality is lacking on their systems too.

 

I can see where you're coming from kojack, but Hep has a good point. I have to agree with him.