Laptop open standard

[_Nauht_]

As much as some of us may hate big name PC manufacturers... why hasn't there been some kind of open standard for the laptop so that people could build their own? :| I'm sure partly the reason why there isn't is because everything has to be integrated in order to be as small as a notebook. Even so, I do believe there is a way around it...

 

[Charles]

You can do that if you are in Japan. But you have to do it in one company.

 

[superbaby]

Charles I'm not sure what you are saying.

Japanese stuff is as "closed-source" as they ever get. Open source means nothing to them. Just look at any PC-compatible electronic deivces that they make. Extremely proprietary, no flexibility.

 

[_Nauht_]

*.*

 

[Gunbuster]

They are standard up to a point.

HDD's are easy to swap
DVD\CD same form factor (most use the same ATAPI connector)
Ram is mostly just SODIMM
CPU's can sometimes be swapped within the same line.

If you try to force a standard more than that you will just end up with a bunch of pizza boxes trying to be laptops

 

[ElFenix]

space for slots for swappable components would make a notebook really large... remember "portable" computers?

 

[Charles]

A Japanesse friend of mine have a notebook with many custom stickers on it. I asked him where did he buy it, what's the brand name and how much he paid for that. He said it's very cheap cause my notebook is different (He doesn't know anything about hardware). It's not branded computer, I went to a store, choose all the components I want (including screen and the laptop case) and they build it for you.
It's fully customizable as long as you buy everything in that store!

WTF? I want to do that.

 

[ktchong]

I live in California and there is a computer store in Northridge that customizes laptops and notebooks for customers. However, their customized products are so much more expensive than brand-name mass-produced one. I don't think the customization is worth its price tag at this moment.