Good god these white bands are ugly (New E1705 person)

OK, so the pictures didnt do these white palstic bands justice and they are UGLY. I like the laptops functionality and flexibility for what I need to do with it, but holy moly. I need to do something about this. Are there any snapon replacements for this? if not I'll just go the old school way and take them off, paint them the same color as the case, and be done with it.

Thanks!

 

Yes, just do a search for QuickSnap Kit on Dell's website. I like the leather one myself but at $50 some people don't think it is worth the $$. I know people in the past have bought the casing that comes with the XPS M170 and used it on the i9300 but I don't know if it would fit the E1705.

 

Dell's new look is ungodly hideous, isn't it? We just got demos in at work today for an event this weekend -- the kids who hadn't seen them in person before couldn't believe how bad they look.

 

Haha, they are not shiny like Hp. The quicksnap only takes away the silver that is on the lcd lid. The white bumpers still show through, but they look nice to me. You just have to tell yourself, "She has a bad paint job, but she hums under the hood."

 

I think the laptop is great! The video editing software I needed to run all works perfectly so at least the purchase is justified, but them white strips have got to go. I see a weekend of disasembly and painting in my near future. And if am going to take it apart already. I might as well do teh whole thing. Probably go for a matte black, but I may change my mind.

 

I didn't think you could buy the XPS casing seperately. You got a link?

 

If the white bumpers are plastic you can remove them and use vinyl dye to color them any way you want. the nice thing about vinyl dye is that it soaks into the plastic, unlike paint which just bonds to the exterior, so if you get any scratches it isn't noticable.

Link to new vinyl dye colors: http://www.duplicolor.com/products/vinyl.html

Link to original vinyl dye colors: http://www.duplicolor.com/products/vinyloem.html

 

Hey Genom let me know if you do try to paint those and how hard it is. I have actually been thinking the same thing since I got my Inspiron 6000D. I also think they would look a lot better in black than white. good luck!

 

I havent had the time to take the lappy apart, but yes, they are plastic and I think the vynil dye would work if I got for an all black look.

Then again I may be crazy and try doing something like rede or blue on the white plastic to see how that goes with the silver.

Hopefully I'll have a chance to try this out in the next 2-3 weeks when I have the time to do it.

 

Cool...I am thinking I might look into doing that this summer when I have a little more time away from college...blue and red stripes would actually be pretty cool...ha ha...good luck

 

Go stickers hahahah na I would paint over it, just like ill have to do with my HP speaker grill soon when I have time.

 

Just to point out the obvious. That will probably void the warrenty.

 

darn stupid warranties

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, good god you say, hahahahahaa.

Yes very ugly, but fully functional. You could always order up some parts for it and take those replacement parts to a local body shop or graphics specialist and have them do something to it. Some kind of character, art, or just paint with a high gloss finish to make it look like one of those boutique brands.

I still can't believe Voodoo PC charges so much for their laptops when they only slap paint on them. Jeeeeeeez.

 

About the warranty, I aint worried I can BS the best of them.

About having someone else finish it for me, no need. I've painted for years and while I am no good at stuff like pinstriping, I can handle your basic solids quite well. I think I am gonna go for a matte black all around, just for convenience.

 

It would be really cool if the "bumpers" could be painted black instead of white. I would like that a lot more. And it would match the keyboard.

 

I've been thinking about doing my E1505.. I'd probably redo the whole thing. Paint all the silver a black, and the white bumpers silver, but leave all the media buttons and all that silver so it would be complimented.

 

i had a similar idea like that (painting it mostly black) but then i thought about it and it would then just look like a B series notebook and that would not be that great

 

Uhm.. I don't have my E1705 yet so I have to ask.. what are you talking about? White stripes?

As far as the QuickSnap Kit goes.. I looked it up.. I found the ones on Dell.com, but the interesting one was here:

http://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=2922&prevaction=pricelist

 

We are talking about the white bands that run around the perimeter of the base and lide of the notebook.

 

if you use the paint mentioned earlier in the thread, do you have to sand the plastic first? it says no primer.

 

I am not sure about that paint, but when I get around to painting mine I am going to use Krylon Fusion. Google it and take a look at it. It is specifically for plastics and claims to need to priming or surface prep! Woo hoo.

 

That's funny, the first thing I said when I unwrapped my new e1705 was, "Those white plastic pieces would looks so much better in black!"

 

I feel the same way about the white "stripes". Based on the discussion in this thread, I made a few mockups in Photoshop to see what various paint applications would look like on the e1705. Nothing fancy. Just quick and dirty. You can see them here...

Black

Grey

Blue

Red

 

I think the modified colors would look good depending upon your preference.

 

I actually like the looks of the grey, I don't think I would have ever thought to try painting them grey, but that doesn't look bad at all. It's like the new XPS.

 

At least your white bands aren't starting to get a yellow color to them like mine! Ha ha!

 

haha hey, who knows it might be cool?

 

Ha ha, lol!

 

the black looks good..i wish there is an easy way to make them like that

 

Yea shof515, I agree. One of my goals this summer is to do that to my notebook. I am also planning on painting the edges of the LCD black too. Once I do it, I will post some pics. Not sure when I am going to get to it though.

 

too bad dell cant sell quicksnaps or something like that cover up these white spots

 

ohhhh the black looks so good. i'm thinking about doing that when mine arrives but i dont think id be able to handle the downtime
we should just get all the E1705/1505 owners together and petition dell to make quicksnap covers for it. Theyd be making more money off us that way lol so i dont see why they wouldent, except for them being a corporation. you corporations are just too.... corporationy.

 

Has anyone looked at furniture foil, like in this thread? http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=56501

I would assume since you can take it off, it won't void your warrenty. Plus you can get black, or black marble, or metal styles at the site linked.

 

Am I the only one who likes them?

 

I know it late but... look what i can do...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=84698

 

I agree that these inferno bumpers must go but how long does this have to go on? When will someone make the "down with the white bumbers of death thread" and sticky it to the dell section of the forum?

 

Can someone post a picture of the Dell with the white bands on it, please? I'm wondering what it looks like!

 

Nope! I must say I don't mind them, although they don't take my breath away either. There are many machines with much better looks out there (M1210 for starters) but I do actually like the looks of the E1705, although I did configure mine with a Charcoal Leather quicksnap cover.

 

Getting a quicksnap cover greatly improves the visual appeal. The plain grey/silver back on the other hand is not eactly easy on the eyes.