I painted another Laptop... and upgraded it as well.
You can save a LOT of $$$ if you buy a used laptop (1-2 years old) clean it up, (optional) paint it, upgrade and have a laptop that is more powerful by far for a lot less than you would have spent on a new laptop.
Example, early this month, I was drooling over the Lenovo Y50 Laptop which cost $999 for the one with the bottom tier specs. I ended up with much better specs for only $850. Actually a laptop with my upgrades would cost you around $1,500 easy!
Here is how I did it.
(Note: You have to buy online for best prices, buying local is much higher, so shop around)
I got a used Lenovo Y410p (new in Aug 2014) in #9 shape off eBay for $550. It only had a couple scratches on the lid, otherwise like new. First thing I did was clean it up real good and lightly sanded the lid with 2000 grit sandpaper, then cleaned the keyboard/screen area which was already pretty good. Then I ordered I a 500GB Samsung EVO SSD, 16GB 8x8 memory & 9 Cell 7800mAh battery.. While waiting for those, I proceeded to paint the lid and pinstriped it. The notebook seemed bland with just the carbon fiber and I wanted to personalize it to my taste. When the parts arrived a week later, the paint was dry and I disassembled the laptop and cleaned inside (fan & vents too) and installed the parts I ordered. Adding more memory, a SSD w/Win10 Pro made for a much more powerful laptop. The 9 cell battery lasted me 7 hours & 26 minutes with moderate use. See if you can find a new notebook under $1,500 with those specs!
Specs when I got the laptop off eBay:
Intel Core i7 4700MQ, DDR3 8GB Memory - 1TB HDD SATA II HDD
Single/SLI Nvidia 750M + Intel 4600 HD - 6 cell 4800mAh battery
DVD burner - Windows 8 home x64
My final specs: (I can swap out the HDD for DVD burner in Ultrabay)
Intel Core i7 4700MQ, DDR3 16GB Memory - Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5" SATA III SSD
1TB HDD SATA II HDD via Ultrabay - Single/SLI Nvidia 750M + Intel 4600 HD
9 cell 7800mAh battery - DVD burner - Windows 10 Pro x64
I wasn't quite done here as I had to rub it out in a few days and pinstripe gold to separate the carbon fiber & burgundy.
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This is a powerful notebook that I upgraded extensively.
I added a 500GB Samsung SSD, 16GB memory, 9 Cell 7800mAh battery & Win10 Pro.
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You can see some of my other paint jobs & builds here:
http://1-4u-computer-graphics.com/notebookpaint.htm
http://1-4u-computer-graphics.com/Antec900.htm
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Added more pics. I did pinstriping on notebook. Also have matching carbon fiber with maroon Samsung Note 4 that I did.
Last edited: Oct 18, 2015 -
Ran PCMARK8 Home Accelerated and this was the result. Not bad, at the top for notebooks and not too far off from the top PC's.
Last edited: Oct 20, 2015chezzzz likes this. -
Lookin' good.
I was never a fan of the faux carbon fiber finish on the Y400/Y410p.
Did you do anything to the bottom cover? -
Nope, just did the top lid and my phone to match. -
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I updated my 3rd post above with my PCMARK8 score... pretty pleased with that. -
7.5 hours? Well you just talked me into ordering a 9 cell!
Also it lifts the bottom which i presume helps with temps -
Support.2@XOTIC PC Company Representative
The carbon Fiber was a very nice touch, great job
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I hate to bump an old thread, but what battery did you purchase? Looking into some mods myself, and a naturally elevated laptop would give me more room to operate.
Thanks! -
In case you guys are wondering where the battery & MB posts went, they were moved to my older thread/posts where I was complaining about my MB dying on me and what to do about it... I asked John to move it here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...0p-wont-power-on-no-power-light.787084/page-2 -
Hi Mr Jack53, Excelent work with u laptop,i want to make the same If still worth it and not very expensive, for custom my Lenovo Y410P, the keyboard is
without backlight, and i want to change:
- For the Us Version with Backlight, "this is the link "
- also i want to change the cd/dvd bay with this: NVIDIA Geforce GT755M5 Removable Graphics Y510P Y410P, but i do not know its works good with my laptop "this is the link".
- Samsung 850 Evo 250gb solid state drive
- 2 DDR 8 Gb
- and i do not know where u buy the battery: 9 cell 7800mAh battery?
- and my last question is if i can change the chipset original HM86 with the Intel QM87 Chipset
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http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...0p-wont-power-on-no-power-light.787084/page-2 -
Looks awesome!
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Thank you for the nice comment de_dust2
Lenovo Y410p Custom Upgrade & Paint
Discussion in 'Notebook Cosmetic Modifications and Custom Builds' started by jack53, Oct 15, 2015.