Anyone ever make the leap of building a custom laptop? I don't mean building the OS. I mean hardware, and OS. I have found a few kits I want to try but not sure if I want to invest. I mean laptops are so cheap but you seldom get what you want out of hardware. If you have done this I would love to hear it. I want to build like 10 and sell them under my own brand. Then go from there.
Had a friend who wanted to, but the parts individually cost more than the laptop itself. I'd suggest just going with Alienware. They are "build your own", but it's more like select from options. But they do have the most powerful laptops available.
That is a good option when it was Alienware. But now that Dell owns them I shy away. I am thinking of an i7 with ASUS boards and skins.
It doesn't matter who the parent company is, they still have the same top-of-the-line hardware. Now, though, they might get a bit cheaper by having the purchasing power of Dell behind them.
Your biggest problem will be finding a mobo with the "exact" hardware features you want that are "integrated" on the mobo. To get that, you're talking to Hong Kong and 500 min. units. Your second will be the case that can hold it, have port holes in the right place, and ventilate it properly. LCD's are easy, they all fit each other and have a standard pin out configuration. Unless you want to invest in a case design, and the cost to fabricate them, your only option is a White Box kit. My favorite laptop mod was a customer who's kid trashed his high dollar 17" widescreen laptop to the point where the plastic wouldn't stay together. But the components were still working. I put all the parts into a custom 2 1/2" deep picture frame, and rigged it for a waterproof wireless keyboard and mouse. He put it on the wall over his jet tub in the bathroom.
