Painted my Inspiron e1705

I painted my laptop and here she is! The first two pics show what it looked like before (silver & white). I am writing as a way to payback the community here at Notebook Review for all of the information that others provided and that I used during my research for this painting project.

As you read this description, please realize that I have never used spray paints, primed a thing in my life, or taken a computer apart (except for an LCD screen on an old Dell 8200). I hope this bit of info will inspire those that are teetering on the edge of deciding whether or not to go ahead and take their ‘puter apart and paint it.

After completely taking the computer apart I used automotive Bondo on the computer cover to fill in the grooves and Dell name badge. I sanded it all down and used primer. The gray primer seemed like a good color to stick with, especially after I had so many problems getting a solid yellow color to look perfect and professional. I also tried a variation of Swedish camouflage (very geometric and easy to mask off) using flat black, primer gray, light gray, and white. In the end, a solid coat of primer gray (Krylon), flat black (Krylon), and flat yellow (Krylon Fusion), seemed like the best choices so that maintenance in the future will be easy – just take off the scratched component, spray again, and put back an hour later (no polishing necessary). To finish it off I experimented and found that lightly rubbing in straight lines with a green scouring pad (like those used to clean pots) would give me an even finish with very, very light lines that resembled those found in stainless steel finishes. Primer gray is a color that won't be so reflective or show dirt & dust.

As you can see in the pictures, I painted the buttons and LED covers, too. I did this by removing these components, sanding the icons off, and then, painting them with just enough yellow Fusion to cover them evenly. To remove the buttons I used a small drill bit to drill off the top of the rivet-like stud on the undersides of the hinge cover and palm rest. If you are a metal worker or have ever drilled out rivets, you know what I mean. I thought about using a razor to cut off the circular top of the stud that holds the buttons in place, but I was afraid I would slip and gouge out the plastic. As for the LED covers, I just gently pushed them out from the underside. It seems that some kind of weak adhesive, similar to rubber cement, is used by the factory to hold them in place. After the buttons were painted, I just put them back on the plastic studs. I was going to epoxy them into place but I got lucky and they just tightly snapped right back onto the studs. I did put a few spots of epoxy to make sure the seven media buttons (the ones that are on the front edge of the computer in front of the touch pad) stay in place. And, yes, I can see the LEDs through the yellow paint on the LED covers. Looks kinda cool.

I also painted the touch pad, mouse, and USB devices but on these I finished them up with rubbing compound and car wax. To be honest, I had wanted the computer to look just like the mouse - all shiny - but it was such a pain to get it p-e-r-f-e-c-t, and I knew that it would be difficult to maintain. In other words, if a piece got scratched, it might take days to get it perfect and back in service. In the end, I did not use clear coat on any of the computer parts because I was having so much trouble getting a perfectly even coat that I wouldn’t rub through with the rubbing compound. This creates rings as each layer of clear coat begins to show. Instead, after using 1500 grit wet sandpaper, I used rubbing compound directly on the Krylon paint and got it very shiny after using car wax. FYI - I wrote to Krylon and asked which clear coat they would recommend with their line of Fusion paints. Their response - NONE!

Something that I did that really helped with reassembly was to take pictures as I took the computer apart at the beginning of the project. It helps to make sure everything goes back together just like before, especially if it has been weeks since you took it apart.

Whew! This is not a project I care to repeat anytime soon. It took weeks to get it to a point where I was happy (I admit that I am an insane perfectionist). I did it this time to repair a crack in the palm rest. Also, one of the media buttons in front of the touch pad was losing its chrome.

 

Here are some more pics of the computer.

 

WOW, that looks AMAZING man. COMPLETELY AMAZING. I open computers alllll the time and I don't know if I'd feel comfortable doing that, kudos.

 

Yeah that looks very professionally done! Nice work.

 

hey congrats on finally takin the plunge. it turned out great man.

where u goin for the flat-type color? doesn't look like u used alot of coats or clear.

 

houstoned:

I didn't use any clear coats, partly because Krylon specifically said in a response to me that there was no clear coat product that they could recommend using with their Fusion line of paints. As for paint, I put on as many coats as necessary. The gray was the easiest to do. The touch pad was more difficult to do since I wanted a slick feel on my finger tips. In order to achieve that I had to use rubbing compound and car wax on it. I'm happy with the flat color. I think it shows less dust, fingerprints, requires less time to repaint if it gets scratched, and doesn't have a distracting reflection. The last reason is especially important to me since I often watch movies on my laptop. I figured that a highly polished palmrest would reflect the screen a lot; It would be like watching two screens - one of them upsidedown.

 

thats pretty cool. i'll have to look into that paint some more when i have some time. i gotta brace up for hurricane ike

it came out real nice tho. i was just wonderin if u did that on purpose or not.

 

I have done work with krylon fusion, and it really needs clear, or else it gets all scratched up with the gentle touch. I brought my dell lid to a spray shop and they sprayed some auto grade clear on it and that was all.

Nice job, the touchpad keys look a little funky,

K-TRON

 

Thank you for the comments.

Yes, if you want a shiny look, then I suppose you would probably want to go with clear coating your parts. However, you can see that the mouse in the pictures I submitted is very shiny and has no clear coat. I simply wet sanded the mouse with 1500 grit (that was the highest available in any store I visited. I live in Guatemala), used rubbing compound, and then finished with liquid car wax from 3M.

I have to disagree that clear coating is necessary from a protective standpoint. I conducted tests with clear coats and found that parts with Krylon Fusion paint had a more durable surface than those sprayed with clear coats. I found that it was more difficult to press my fingernail into the Krylon surface than the clear coated surfaces, even after weeks of drying and curing. I tested two brands of clear coat, which again, was all that was available to me here in Guatemala where I live. My tests found that the clear coats were more susceptible to scratches. I also tested different methods of spraying - spraying on thick coats and spraying several thin coats. I did not have the option of taking my parts to an autobody shop for painting or clear coating as I have never found one that has a paint booth. The workers here in Guatemala just spray the cars out by the curb in the street (lots of dust, including that which comes from the volcanoes in our area).

I know that my argument against the necessity of clear coating (for protection purposes) smacks in the face of popular opinion here at Notebook Review, but I did not clear coat for the following reasons.

(1) If, as you say, I get scratches, I can simply remove the piece and spray it again. An hour later it can go back on the computer. I need “nice looking” but I also need “practical”. Clear coating would just add another step in the whole process. Furthermore, I don’t want a shiny look for my computer (I admit I did in the beginning) because I find reflections distracting. In fact, near the end of my painting project the plastic bevel around my LCD had a kick-*** perfectly shiny surface and I painted over it with flat black because I just didn’t like the shine.

(2) My computer is perhaps subjected to less abuse than those that belong to other users here. My computer goes back and forth from home to the office with me in a padded case. For the most part, it sits on a desk. How much protection am I going to need? I would argue that clear coating for protection is not worth the trouble in my case.

(3) Clear coating for protection as if it were an automobile does not seem worth it to me. My computer doesn’t get hit by bugs at 60 mph, sit in the driveway during rainstorms, roll through salt and sand, or get baked in noonday sun.

 

Here's something I tried on my lid before deciding to go back to just gray. It's kind of a hybrid based on Swedish camouflage and the razzle dazzle camo that ships used in WWI - both very geometric.

 

the lid reminds me of a sager, nice work!

 

Very nice looking, I'm getting ready to open mine up.

 

Nice work