Can You Build Your Own Laptop?

[sefton]

I recently built my own PC for the first time and it was a huge success, so much so that my Dad wants to know if I can build him a new laptop. Can you build your own laptop or is it much more complicated than building your own desktop, as far as getting parts?

 

[Deuce65]

You can build anything you want to, if you have a. The technical ability\knowledge and b. access to the correct tools.

 

[sefton]

You can build anything you want to, if you have a. The technical ability\knowledge and b. access to the correct tools.

In terms of building one from scratch are there standardized form factors and modularized parts across manufacturers akin to building a desktop or if I say buy a shell for a laptop am I going to have to buy most of the rest of the parts from that same manufacturer and maybe will only be able to customize one or two things?

 

[USAFRet]

You can build anything you want to, if you have a. The technical ability\knowledge and b. access to the correct tools.

In terms of building one from scratch are there standardized form factors and modularized parts across manufacturers akin to building a desktop or if I say buy a shell for a laptop am I going to have to buy most of the rest of the parts from that same manufacturer and maybe will only be able to customize one or two things?

No, there aren't standard form factors. Every laptop and shell is different.
You pretty much can't build one from scratch. Unless you're ordering in batches of 10,000+.

No, you can't build a laptop from scratch. Unfortunately.

 

[computernewb]

besides the laptop case you can pretty much customize anything at sager.
http/www.sagernotebook.com/index.php

 

[Deuce65]

You can build anything you want to, if you have a. The technical ability\knowledge and b. access to the correct tools.

In terms of building one from scratch are there standardized form factors and modularized parts across manufacturers akin to building a desktop or if I say buy a shell for a laptop am I going to have to buy most of the rest of the parts from that same manufacturer and maybe will only be able to customize one or two things?

No, there aren't standard form factors. Every laptop and shell is different.
You pretty much can't build one from scratch. Unless you're ordering in batches of 10,000+.

No, you can't build a laptop from scratch. Unfortunately.

Nonsense, of course you can. I did of course put the stipulation that one would need the technical ability; you don't have this ability so that would exclude you, but just because you don't know how to doesn't mean it can't be done.

Anyways, to the OP. Two approaches you can take. One, you can do a google search for barebooks, essentially a bare notebook shell. Or two, you can go on ebay and look for old laptops that people are selling for cheap. You can then strip them leaving you with just the shell. If you do this with a major brand like lenovo, you can get a really old shell for like 50-100 dollars and then put whatever components in it you want, purchased directly from the manufacturer or from a parts reseller.

What cracks me up most about this is that everyone is telling you to just buy a premade, while those same people will call you a moron if you said you were going to buy a premade desktop.

 

[USAFRet]

Can you? Yes. Can you build what people think of as a 'laptop'? Not really.

You can buy a shell, and you'll then have to put in pretty much the exact same motherboard it originally came with. Said motherboard would then have the same chipset, and a very, very limited range of CPU's.

Show me two different laptop shells with all the ports and holes in the same place.

There is no standard spec like ATX for desktops.

 

[Hazle]

there are barebone laptops that you can assemble yourself, though those always come with limited choices in terms of hardware and tend to be more expensive than the pre-made alternatives.

but in a majority of cases as USAFRet has mentioned, there's simply no universal standards between laptop manufacturers aside from RAM & HDD/SSD. a motherboard on an Asus isn't going to have the screws and ports align perfectly with a Toshiba casing, if it fits at all.

unless you're an enthusiasts/hobbyists, the best choice here if you value your money is a prebuilt notebook. most desktop pc builders mock prebuilts not because of some blind devotion that they should only run on something they assembled with their own hands, but because it is overpriced most of the time. it all comes down to the bang for your buck, and in a notebooks' case, especially for someone like your dad, sefton who i assume will NOT be gaming or doing any CPU intensive tasks, a $500 i3 notebook would be more than enough with the added benefit of a warranty for the full set rather than individual parts.

 

[tiyoo]

I am in the same situation. I have two project laptops that I am looking at right now. I have an old IBM 380 and and NEC Versa LX. I am going to gut them and see what I can put in there.

From what I have been told you might have to drill a few holes but it should work just fine.

As far as everything else goes. Yes, if you can think it, you can build it. This is the great new reality of 3-D Printing. My guess is this is what you would need to do.

1) Figure out what parts you are going to be wanting to put in and take measurements
2) Look at other designs of form laptop cases and where they put certain parts
3) Design a Laptop case using Google Sketchup or AutoCad
4) Buy a 3-D Printer or take it to a professional shop.
5) Fit all your parts into the laptop

 

[atroiani]

I am also looking into building a laptop. What I have found is that you pretty much can't build one from scratch... BUT you can get an MSI barebones laptop and buy your own processor, ram, and storage! This is still "building" your own laptop. The only bad thing about it is that bios updates are very infrequent and that lots of these barebones laptops arent very thin or sleek looking. Still a great alternative and you still get to customize your build and do it yourself. Look for them on amazon and below is a list of all MSI barebone laptops. Also, some come with discrete nvidia GPUs while others will rely on the integrated graphics in your CPU

http/www.msiwhitebook.com/

 

[Sekrit_Skworl]

besides the laptop case you can pretty much customize anything at sager.
http/www.sagernotebook.com/index.php

Way to slide in a sales pitch... LOL

 

[majikwands]

I recently built my own PC for the first time and it was a huge success, so much so that my Dad wants to know if I can build him a new laptop. Can you build your own laptop or is it much more complicated than building your own desktop, as far as getting parts?

You're better off buying a laptop, taking it apart, and putting it back together again.. then tell your Dad you "built' it. Laptops are not as modular as PC components are.. most parts are proprietary except the RAM and hard drive. In other words, you couldn't put a HP laptop component into another (Asus, Gateway, Apple, etc.) laptop.

 

[Joey_4950]

The original owners of ALIENWARE used SAGER, CLEVO and ASUS for their builds before DELL bought the company back in 2009...so I would start with those 3 and see what you can do...

NOTE: You will need to know how to wire every component you want into it, fit everything in, & see what can be done. You need A LOT of technical skills to pull it off though.

 

[zamkam]

You can build anything you want to, if you have a. The technical ability\knowledge and b. access to the correct tools.

Wow, thanks for sharing such brilliant piece of wisdom.

 

[Xebis]

besides the laptop case you can pretty much customize anything at sager.
http/www.sagernotebook.com/index.php

Yes you can, for a hefty price, My desktop cost me 1,000 bucks, Not bad, however a computer of the same specs cost more like 3-4 grand at sites like razor, alienware, ect