Putting stickers on laptop

I bought the XPS 15 not too long ago and the ugliness is getting to me. I want to cover the entire lid with random stickers. Does that sort of thing hurt or enhance resale value, and would I be able to remove all that residue without damaging the finish? I plan on selling this laptop after 2 years

 

It hurts resale value. As for removal, it depends on the sticker.

 

I can understand having a skin for your notebook; but putting stickers all over it is very tacky.

 

To each their own I guess. I went from a T61p to a dv7 and dislike the flashiness of the dv7 (mainly just the touchpad light which is off and the hp logo on the lid)

 

I'd say that having a bunch of stickers hurts resale value and makes the computer look like crap. In my book, the only stickers that belong on a laptop are the ones put there by the manufacturer.

 

lol, some people might not mind the stickers, if they are tastefully done. The majority though won't like it!

Are the stickers easy to take off?

 

NO, you can't stick your "bro" stickers on the laptop if you want to sell it...


/sarcasm

 

I wouldn't if you really think you'll sell it. The reason is what is cool for you might not be for the person you are selling to. Meaning, let's say you like a band and put the sticker on and the only potential buyer you have hates that band, now your potential buyer is potentially looking elsewhere.

 

Try finding a removable skin for your XPS 15, and then if you like, put stickers on top of that. Some stickers can damage laptop paint coatings if left on for too long/exposed to heat/etc, so personally I'm leery of them. That, and I always remove all the stickers off my laptop immediately after opening it for the first time

Thread moved to a more appropriate subforum--let me know if you would like it moved back, however.

 

Any modification will hurt resale value. Personally though I have a jeep sticker on my t400 and I really dont care as my laptops either get junked when they die or get passed around the family so resale means nothing for me.

 

I had a bunch of stickers on my Toshiba Satellite L505, but I only did that near the end of its life because I knew I wasn't going to resell it; I was originally going to pass it down to my little brother, but the power connector crapped out, so it's dead and useless now. As for my current laptop, my answer would be "HELL NO"

 

This ^^

...because it was raggedy anyway. Other than that, unacceptable.

 

For me, I wouldn't do it. I would just get something from skinit.com..: )

Maybe this...?!?: :laugh:
g

 

This reminds me of a guy we used to jam with years ago, he had a ton of random stickers on his Les Paul Cherry Sunburst. Ugggg.

 

Unless you have a Mac and get one of those cool snow white princess stickers that goes on the front near the Apple shiny logo, no.

But it would not look "bro"

 

I knew someone that just plastered any piece of mobile electronics with stickers. Their stuff just looked so horrible. Apparently they couldn't be bothered to clean their stuff either. I handed them their phone once and it felt like there was years of dried up boogers and reproductive juices all over it.

 

Ah, so it was those nefarious Mac clones that are responsible for this trend? I should have known.

http://youtu.be/XO3ZUV7ciLQ

 

Well er, I think if you just have a couple of small ones it can look pretty alright. A lot of my fellow young college students seem to put a lot of stickers all over their MacBooks and MacBookPros and stuff and it doesn't exactly look very good I think.

I just have a very small sticker on my SR from a Hello Kitty candy thing I got for Christmas a couple of years ago. I put it on the inside right side below the keyboard. (Just to sort of break the boringness I suppose.) I have no interest in ever reselling any of my computer gear so it doesn't matter in my case. (Do I like Hello Kitty? Not so much, but it's a nice looking little sticker so I'm not going to complain.)

 

Hey! Who are you calling clones? Those stickers come in a variety of looks

 

I got a few of the Intel badges and stuck them on a few places on my laptop, those are probably the only ones I would imagine that wouldn't hurt resale value...

I considered getting a Pentium 3 one and putting it on just for lulz though, but decided against it.

 

I purchased a skin for my laptop from Cretouch.com. It's a nice texturized skin with a sturdy adhesive. It comes off fairly easily though and doesn't leave any residue.

Put stickers on it if you want to, but it will hurt the resale value.

 

I put carbon fiber sticker on the lid and some parts around the keyboard.

 

Where'd you buy the carbon fiber sticker at? Looks very classy.

 

I think you bought yours in a certain size and custom fit it yea, neat job man!
For people who want to get them in the right size and stuff, I got mine here.
SGP Store - Stylish people's Good Partner

 

I bought it from local car accessories shop and then custom fit myself.

Yup, but the problem is, the sticker only covers the surface and not including the sides due to I don't have hair dryer.

This sticker easy to peel off on rubberize surface like Sager NP8150 without leaving the sticker residue.

 

I personally wouldn't purchase it if it had additional stickers, I like it to be as clean as possible but that's just my five cents.

 

That's different because that's a covering, and tastefully done. Not at all like those gaudy stickers.

Unfortunately, unless you distress the surface, they will eventually peel off. Hopefully, that would be at the life of the laptop.

 

It's stickers, guys.

If you intend to resell the laptop, just take some Goo-Gone to it. Good as new.

 

I don't think adding stickers is all that attractive tbh.

 

Well I put stickers on the lid of my laptop. Mainly, I got a bunch of dents on the lid of it while it was in my book bag in school. Then, to cover the dents, I put Southern Tide stickers (I work for them) and other brands such as Vineyard Vines, Southern Proper, High Cotton, and Patagonia stickers. But I would not be caught dead with a sticker that would be trashy such as Lil' Wayne (Heaven forbid, I cannot stand him), other rappers, or anything like that. Yeah, stickers look trashy when they are not done correctly, but when they are actually done correctly, yeah, they can add some personality to your computer. And lets be honest, how many people buy a laptop and think about when they are going to be able to sell it? Most people keep their computers until they die... I think that resale value should be the last thing on your mind because, like what was said earlier, a little thing of Goo-Gone can do the trick.

 

I am going to get a band music sticker, a skin they call it, that is easily removable and something you can change without hassle. There are all kinds of 'device skin' sites out there, so that's what I would suggest. checking into one of them. They come in all sizes too, so at least search for laptop skins and check'em out before you use regular stickers. That's my 2 cents. Hope I am not too LATE to the party to add a POV for you to consider synce.

 

If you intend to keep it forever and not resell, why not, but if you're considering reselling stay awayyy unless you want to search long and hard for a buyer who has the same "sicker interests" as you do

 

I intend on keeping my laptop for awhile (may or may not resell; depends on how much a W520 would be worth in ~4 years), but I still wouldn't pul stickers on mine simply because I like the simple, clean look of Thinkpads.

 

I was thinking, maybe you could buy one big sticker that's high quality and can be easily removed, and then put all the others on top of it... Is anybody selling anything like that?

 

Could probably get a solid color from a vendor like Skinit and just apply the stickers to that. Maybe they might even sell a clear sticker or something.

 

Well, they would need to be stickers that add style without too much specifications. Like tribal is a little weird, but more acceptable than an X-rated graphic on a lid.

 

Lol, that reminds me of a guy in my economics class with a star for his desktop wallpaper.

EDIT: "dirty movie" star. Forgot about the filter.

 

k so I decided against stickers, what about vinyl decals? Do those come off easily? Thinking of ordering a couple small ones from ebay

 

I don't even like the ones that the manufacturer put there. Yet another reason why I'm looking at Alienware, all the info is stuck on the bottom where it belongs. Sure put them there if you want to, but I like the natural look of the machine better. Find one you like and enjoy it, that's the way I see it. If you don't like the way it looks or feel to start with, then don't buy it in the first place. Now it's different if you are putting your school or business's logo on it or something, I can see that, but defiling the natural look of a machine like that?

 

I would go some sort of skin. right now you can pretty well design a skin to look like a bunch of stickers but still be easily removable. I was going to get an android for my notebook lid but I can't come to stick it on. My lid is so clean right now.

 

It's Called 3M Di-Noc, Its not cheap but its used for wrapping car parts mostly. Some people use it to cover expensive fruit based phones.

It canbe manipulated using heat to adhere better. It can become even more permanent by using the correct primer adhesive.

 

Are skins different in comparison to stickers? I've always wanted a skin, but I am worried of residue upon removal... Stuff from gelaskins, etc, will they cause that problem at all?
I have friends who have had skins, and its either they peel off or leave residue on the laptop...

 

would you put a sticker on your laptop like a sticker for your car window, is that a good idea? i mean, its been done, duh, but is that a good idea? Is there a way that you can take it off and not leave marks?

 

I just had to remove my old university parking permit from my window and slap on the new one. After taking off the old one with a razor blade and careful peeling, there was still a bunch of sticky residue on the window. It took a lot of scrubbing to take it off (had to wash my car anyway).

I think it mainly depends on which particular cat sticker you're talking about, because my understanding is that some companies will use a different glue than others.

 

If you use a notebook-specific skin then there's not really much chance of long-term damage. You'll notice these have a sort of textured backing.

I use skins from Infectious, Decalgirl and Gelaskins. I have looked at SGP skins, who do a lot of carbon-a-like ones, before - and have had sets for previous VAIO's - but they don't always have the models or the styles I want.

 

Most of you are pretty anal retentive for no real reason - you can remove any kind of sticker before resale. I go through moods where I want my laptop stickered, and then I decide to remove them all. Never had a problem taking them off, and I always get top dollar for my stuff when I resell. The computer will be okay, I promise.

A little personalization can be fun. Some of my MBPs over the years:

 

Well, I like clean, simple designs and notebooks. Adding stickers ruined it for me, though I did go through a phrase where I did put a bunch of stickers on my laptop (but only because I knew it was going to die soon anyway).

Spoiler

I like the designs that notebook designers come up with, why mess with it with stickers? I believe that personalizing a notebook should mean putting on a nice wallpaper/dock combo (like in Show Off Your Windows 7 Desktop) and the accessories that you buy (mice, bags, etc). I am pretty anal about my notebook though

 

When stickering, I prefer not to display the crApple logo

This was last year. I now have Specks, for that slight additional permanent-bend / impact resistance that Apples *need*, without a giant weight penalty (although it does make e.g. the 11-inch Air heavier than the Z2 in the process - but structurally speaking this is logical, aluminium is a crap material to make a lightweight notebook from given all the other options).

 

^^^ Nice skins, and I definitely agree with hiding the glowing fruit.

I'm sure that if Apple used a better metal alloy for construction (eg. HP or Dell business lines) then it would be structurally sounder, but then I suppose it wouldn't make their laptops as pretty (the main reason for purchase).

 

It's more how it's made. The unibody construction is the problem - and there's a good reason its not aped on the business-line notebooks. Apple to their credit has taken it further than anyone else, but it's a relatively inefficient and weak way to make machines. However, to the layman the 'it's metal and rigid' feel trumps all, especially when allied to the good work on the surface anodising. It does *feel* solid when you buy it, unlike e.g. a (n ultimately significantly more durable) Sony. Once again, Apple knows their clientele inside out.