Notebook Mod: Ideas on how to do it

Hey

Well I am thinking of modding the lid of my Vostro 1500. Currently I am in the planning stages and thought I should get a few other opinions/ideas on how to go through with this.

Well I am planning on trying to get the classic alienware "bony look" onto my lid and deal with the dell logo.



To



Currently I have two paths that I am thinking. Modify a older alienware 15 inch lid to fit which I think will not work.

or to find a fiber glass shop and get it molded etc.

I do not mind what logo is on the lid if its alienware or non as long as no dell.

Any ideas if either of these methods have a shot at working and any suggestions please!

 

Are you going to skin the top with the fiberglass or actually try to replace the top completely?

The complete replacement will be tough as you'll need the whole thing to fit perfectly to reconnect to the other side of the face plate for the moniter. I'm not sure how easy that will be.

If your just wanting to "skin" the cover with the fiberglass that will probably be alot easier as your really just going to have to figure out how to attach the fiberglass to the existing lid (probably epoxy glue)

 

If you have a warranty do not do it
I just painted my voodoo laptop and now the motherboard is dead. Now I am told by the same person it was fine to paint your laptop, that I voided the warranty. I am now screwed and have to pay to get my motherboard fixed. It is really terrible the situation I am in, and I wish the people their wouldnt go back on their word. I am never trusting anything they say, cause I spent a ton of money to have that extra warranty, and now they decide and tell me I voided my warranty when they said it was fine.

Just keep it the way it is, only mod it after the warranty is gone.

Buy a new lid, cause if you screw yours up, you will not like the results.

I did a lot of bodywork on my laptop, so dont expect molding that is cheap, you are probably looking at $500-800 for that to be done. and thats without paint. It will also add a significant amount of weight to your lid, so to let you know.
My lid alone weighs 8 lbs, I did all of the work myself, but it was 2 weeks of work, maybe 50 hours of work with bondo/fibreglass, molding and sanding.

K-TRON

 

Thanks for the responses.

Well I will have to think about it. 5-800$ make that easily 1200$ in japan due to inflation prices. I am ok with the weight but I may hold off on this mod I would be ok if it was in the 2-300$ range. Price is a bit high... I could almost just buy an alienware for that price + money made from selling current notebook and change the logo

 

@ K-Tron

It voided your warrenty to paint your case? On your voodoo? I've always thought case mods were fine and the only reason the warrenty wouldnt cover it is if you screwed up and damaged the parts yourself during the disassembly/assembly process... thats a bummer to hear

Sorry about your loss though that really stinks

@X2P
As far as price... your in Japan? It should be pretty cheap really. For something that small i wouldnt think it would really be that much for a bit of fiberglass work.

I had custom rear vents made for my RX-8 and i think i paid about 250 for the set...and that was alot more fiberglass work than making a ribbed look to something as small as a laptop. And with the tuner market in japan i would think it would be pretty easy to find someone that could do a really good job pretty cheap.

But now that i hear about it could void out your warrenty i dont know if i would do it either... there goes my custom bat symbol cover for mine if thats the case.

But maybe i could try to get a warrenty acceptance in writing. i dont know

 

no offense but unless you're a professional that skull cap casing looks extremely difficult to pull off. the only reason why that alienware skullcap looks good as it is, is because it's perfectly symmetric.

 

Japan = fiber glass heaven... about 1/3 cars you see here have had some sort of tuning done with fiber glass and japanese are very picky with quality (grocery prices are through the roof since its all grade A food) so I am sure I could find a shop.. Ill go and find a quote

 

K-Tron, don't tell me it's the one with the custom paint job that voided the warranty? That thing was looking amazing...

Really sorry to hear that...

 

I was under the impression that warranties are not void if you only mod the lid.