Such thing as a TRUE Custom Laptop?

Hi Folks, you are the experts.
I want to upgrade to a new laptop. My only requirements are processor=i7 and screen=15.4 or 15.6 or 17" WUXGA (1920x1200) in a relatively thin shell. No one seems to offer 15" in WUXGA with an i7 processor, and the 17" versions are behemouths and clunky. I have a dell precision with 15.4" WUXGA which I love, but it's 5-6 years old. I would buy a MPB 17 WUXGA but i JUST want to run windows. I will do this as a last resort, but can anyone build what I want?
tHANKS in advance

 

You could possibly transplant the screen from your current laptop into your new one. It has been done before.

 

I did a quick google search and this popped up. It's a ASUS G51JX-A1. Has i7 and a 15.6" WUXGA screen

LINKYLINK

 

I almost had a divine moment. When I checked the link, their "WUXGA" is 1920 x 1080, which is only full hd. wuxga is really 1920x1200. Thanks for trying, though.

Can anyone suggest a laptop builder?

 

Because the difference between 1920x1200 and 1920x1080 is 16:10 vs 16:9, you're going to have a really hard time finding that resolution in a modern laptop, due to the massive migration to 16:9. Also, I doubt you can swap out a 16:10 screen from an older laptop into a newer one, since they will have different shapes.

there were a couple of posts with people looking for something similar. Try searching the forums for 16:10 monitors.

 

Why would that matter, 1920x1080p is full hd...

 

More vertical space with 1920 x 1200 and yes it does make a difference.

 

>Full HD

<_<, come on man.

 

Yeah, there is a difference between 1200p and 1080p...but not that much as to write off the Asus...its either that or nothing for what you want. Take it or leave it.

 

No full hd is not wuxga. I'm used to my 1920x1200 and MacBook makes that in a compact form factor. No PC makers seem to offer the 15.4" that I already have with a decent i7 processor. i am willing to make a completely custom one, but still can't find a cust maker. Help me before I go nuts

 

If you knew what was involved, I know you would not. There are few actual manufacturers of laptops. There are a number of big brands and then a plethora of small scale and 'custom' brands, but they are all based on mass produced designs made by a limited number of manufacturers, regardless of how custom any brand tries to make it seem. If no 16x10 screen laptops are available with a core i processor, it will be nearly impossible to procure one through any means that even resembles something that comes close to the idea most have when they think of 'laptop.'

The easiest way to do this may be to make a sort of cyborg. This would mean making a new screen section for a laptop that will mate to an existing laptop. It will not fit well and may involve some trick software and bios work to get the screen to be supported. If you aren't talented enough to do it yourself or have friends who can help, you might as well forget it.

So it looks like your only realistically possible option, unless you find another mass produced laptop, is to go with that MacBook.

 

A Thinkpad W701 might fit your needs. Pricey, but top-of-the-line; they support up to 16GB of ram and i7-920XM cpu, use 1GB Quadro cards, and even have optional toys like built-in WACOM or a slide-out second screen. It's ~9lbs vs the MBP's 6.6, and is 1.6" vs 1" thick. That said, the lowest config is WAY more powerful than the MBP's highest, at about the same price (quad vs dual core, vastly superior gfx card, 2x the RAM capacity, etc.)


I've been searching for a new WUXGA laptop as well, although with a different secondary requirement - I don't care about size or weight much, I just want high RAM capacity and ATI graphics. Unfortunately the only WUXGA+ATI option seems to be the Alienware m17x, which among other things maxes at 8GB RAM.
WUXGA+nVidia is limited (as far as I've seen) to the Thinkpad W701, the MBP 17", and variants of the Clevo D900F (Falcon NW DRX, Sager NP9285, lots of others). The D900F is a monster with desktop components, but only 3 slots (12 GB RAM), and it's 12lbs, >2" thick.


I do graphics-intensive research and a lot of programming - that vertical space is critical for me as well. I've been using an ancient Thinkpad with a 15" UXGA screen and mourning the new trend - 1920x1080 has only slightly more pixels than 1600x1200 (8%), and is markedly less usable.

 

I feel you. I get annoyed using my 16x9 screen even for what I do to. Reading PDF's is very annoying when the screen limits vertical space. Working on photograps in lightroom and photoshop is the same way. I do miss the 4:3 aspect ratio of my CRT, but I would be far less annoyed with 16:10 than I am with 16:9. Pretty much the only time I like having 16x9 is when watching movies.

 

Well, the other nice thing about the 16:10 is that a full HD 16:9 screen fits inside - you watch the movies at exactly the same resolution, just with the extra screen height letterboxed away (and with subtitles, it's perfect - nothing covers the video!!)

anyhow, I have found other options! :-D


Unlike lenovo, Dell and HP hide their mobile workstations separately from notebooks: both the Dell Precision M6500 and the HP EliteBook 8740w are WUXGA and offer ATI (FirePro) options as well as nVidia. They're both ~8-9lbs and ~1.5" thick, have four RAM slots, etc - similar to the W701 spec-wise and at first glance price-wise; the Dell has a nice metal look, closest to the MBP, and again will blow it out of the water.


Anyone have experience with Dell or HP mobile workstations and/or comments on their general build quality and service?

 

Dell Precision M6500 is pretty much awesome.

Plus it comes in orange. How cool is that?

 

Check out falcon northwest. They are pricey but the closest thing to a custom laptop you can get these days.

http://www.falcon-nw.com/

 

The issue is that a fair number of people have UXGA laptops (1600x1200) that were fairly widely available (including plenty in small form, like my 6-year-old 15"), with a lot of options, before everyone went widescreen. Initially there were tons of 1680x1050 screens (MUCH smaller, but often sold as "ooh wow, new & improved"), and now 1920x1080 is the biggest you can get most places - while it's marginally bigger, it is still significantly inferior, particularly for some graphics work and any programming work. There appear to be only 4 machines offering WUXGA with current-generation hardware (counting all the Clevo D900F brandings as one), and they're all very pricey (and only the 2 priciest have ATI options). It's not that we specifically want to put anyone down, but it is very irritating that the market has supported a near-complete move to worse screens at often higher prices.

Many of us find the move toward reflective screens similarly irritating, although that's more an issue of taste (they *do* have brighter colors).


@liquidxit2: There is a WUXGA (glossy) Falcon NW - it's the DRX, which is nVidia only and has 3 RAM slots. It's been mentioned - it's a Clevo D900F, available for much less money from Sager, Rock, etc. For the OP, it's a no-go because it's massive.
(Just so you know, you can always find out what the current DRX/TLX is [generally a Clevo or MSI model] and buy it for much less from other vendors - Falcon does do amazing paint jobs and has stellar service, but the markup is very high.)

 

Because the screen aspect and form factor is so important, if I could be assured that the MBP 17" with antiglare wuxga would function perfectly as a pc, I would go with that. I keep reading about subtle incompatibilities that make me hesitant, as I know zero about mac.

I wonder if one could replace the motherboard on a Precision M60 or other wuxga body with new HD (solid state), etc, new ram. Would this be too difficult?

I don't understand; if MAC can make the form factor out of PC compatible components, why can't anyone else? I don't care about the unibody aluminum thing, just the height, depth and beautiful 17" wuxga screen, the entire dimensions of which are just about as big as my 15.4" wuxga M60, with the option of i7 and solid state drive

The closest I have seen is the envy 17", which still only has the FullHD option. Come on... Those monitors seem squished to me and this is supposed to be an improvement.

 

For one thing, the Mac uses significantly less powerful components in several categories (low-end i7, only dual-core; midrange, last-generation graphics card) - these are the two primary heat sources, so that probably helps with compactness. Also, thin is a big deal to them, and possibly a part of why you pay so much more for said weaker hardware - it's not *all* markup for the name and OS, part of it is actual engineering and manufacturing cost. They are also kinda famous for getting really hot and having rather noisy fans under load, despite the lower-power hardware and the entire body being a heatsink.

However, if you don't care about power or value, the MBP's weaker hardware (and it's not weak by general standards, just compared to other machines in its price range) will also mean longer battery life.

I'm really hating on the Mac here, but really the primary thing it has going for it among the other options mentioned here is that it's thin.


You might look around to see if there are any previous-generation Thinkpad W500 machines for sale used or somehow backstocked . . . I am now kicking myself for not buying one. They're 15.4" and had a WUXGA option (VERY sharp screens). They have switchable graphics too, v. helpful for battery life. Uses DDR3 RAM, up to 8GB. Video card is a workstation one, same vRAM but older than the MBP - will do better in some pro apps, worse in games. Has hardware HD video decoding.


-- edit: oops, see what you meant now about replacing mobo --

Laptop motherboards tend to be very very custom, not particularly interchangeable. Mobos *do* limit what processor and RAM speeds/sizes you can use, but generally don't limit the HD (interfaces *do* change though - you can't put a SATA drive in a PATA bay).

Basically, your choices are to suck up the Mac tax, any potential incompatibilities, the lower power hardware, and customization, or accept a machine 40% thicker.

 

Thanks, Lost Buyer.
I would already have bought a new laptop (upto $4000) but there's still not anything out there to make me stop using my 15.4" precision that I've used for 5 years.

Remember the Dell Precision M4400 but they seem to have discontinued that also.

I think part of the form factor for 1920x1080 is that it looks different from previous models, supposedly "cooler" looking, futuristic... From a practicality point of view, I don't find it as ergonomic.

For those that argue that this screen size "fits" HD movies, HD movies will fit in a 1920x1200 display with horizontal black bands. How horrible! I'd rather have the bands temporarily if I'm watching a movie than to have plastic bands above and below the squished screen!

I've not begun to whine as there doesn't seem to be any perfect solution for me.

 

Yeah - I'd look out though, because the way things are going, it is entirely possible that when the next generation of machines comes out, you will have *no* options. This is what worries me.

I got more worried recently when I found that there are only 4 suitable WUXGA *desktop* screens on the market - if it's phasing out that much there too, our screens are a very endangered species. I want to think that there will always be enough of a market among CAD/CAM etc folks who want that vertical res, but I am concerned about the increasingly realistic possibility that screen manufacturers will decide it's not worth the trouble and expense.

. . . and as a result I'm probably going to buy a pair of screens right after the laptop. My poor poor wallet!

 

The Precision M6500 has a WUXGA screen, but it's not that thin. The trade-off is that you can get a monster video card and processor in that system.

I've used one and I like it a lot.

 

The Dell currently offers a better top processor (HP claims they will soon offer a Core i7-9xx of some description), but the strongest graphics card is in the HP EliteBook 8740w, unless you need CUDA (or are doing CAD-type work, for the most part), in which case you're stuck with the nVidia (same options on both).


Another thing to consider is that while laptop lids have different form factors, the screens inside are pretty standardized, and the connectors are apparently as well - you could try a screen swap into a 15.x" laptop you like, using something like the "good" LG screens from the W500 (apparently some had Samsungs that sucked): the lp154wu1-tlb1 is a 15.4" WUXGA, and you can find it for under $300. [I'm sure there are other screen options, but that's the one of which I know.]
Look up "screen swap" or "panel swap" and any model in which you're interested to see if it's been done successfully.

 

i believe you can get a screen from samsung (1920x1200) for the MSI gx640 or the barebones model, which is what you would want

 

How about the OCZ DIY Gaming laptop? LINK HERE. I have no idea where to get them, but I think you can put two hard drives to start.

 

Here: DARK.

 

is DARK legit ? it looks so "dark"

 

woah these dark laptops are expensive

 

There is my laptop 15.4" and very customisable. Not an i7 but similar in performance. In fact more powerful than some of the mobile i7's!

Laptop is the Asus C90P 15.4" desktop replacement notebook.

 

Heard that some of their laptops are missing the wifi adapter and you can't put a new one into it because the slot is missing, that's the 17" 130m geforce model though.

 

Ah, every generation will replace the previous. It's just a fact of the universe. And those that cling onto the past will be forced to let go eventually, begrudgingly or not. When 16:10 first came out, it was a much bigger change from the 4:3 screens, and people raged, but now you wouldn't find a 4:3 screen ANYWHERE. Except maybe on a cellphone.

 

I'm still using a 1280x1024 LCD from like 2004 on my desktop, and I don't plan on giving it up until it quits working.

I know it's not "technically" 4:3, but it's close enough and I like it so much more than 16:x for anything other than gaming. Though I suppose 1920xanything still has more vertical pixels, so I'd probably be happy with that too.

 

yeah its only like 230400 more pixels...... what good is 11.1% more screen space? .............