So realistically, how impossible is it to build your own laptop?

[fuzzybabybunny]

I remember back in the golden age of desktops people could start businesses solely by buying components from Newegg and selling the desktops that they put together.

Nowadays, how impossible is it to build your own laptop, as in a laptop that has a specific form factor and can be user-upgraded in the future?

Do all the cards and motherboards just have no set form factor at all? As in the PCI-E slots are just all over the place and in different locations each and every time? And the physical card shapes and sizes are always different?

 

[Zap]

On most notebooks, most components are integrated with a few exceptions such as WiFi and storage. It also depends on the size. Larger notebooks may use socketed CPUs, but smaller notebooks may have both CPU and RAM soldered on.

The most "build your own notebook" I've seen were the occasional barebones notebook, such as OCZ used to offer.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

On most notebooks, most components are integrated with a few exceptions such as WiFi and storage. It also depends on the size. Larger notebooks may use socketed CPUs, but smaller notebooks may have both CPU and RAM soldered on.

The most "build your own notebook" I've seen were the occasional barebones notebook, such as OCZ used to offer.

Would it be possible to have a standard 15" notebook using a socketed CPU and upgradeable graphics? The other components like bluetooth, wifi, USB, are not necessary to upgrade really. Mostly it's just HDD, memory, video card, and CPU. Are the graphics cards even a standard size and shape and mounting holes?

 

[ericloewe]

Would it be possible to have a standard 15" notebook using a socketed CPU and upgradeable graphics? The other components like bluetooth, wifi, USB, are not necessary to upgrade really. Mostly it's just HDD, memory, video card, and CPU. Are the graphics cards even a standard size and shape and mounting holes?

In theory, it's possible. Nobody makes them though. Laptops don't have graphics cards, they have the GPUs soldered to the motherboard, perhaps a small, non-standard daughterboard.

99% of WiFi adapters are theoretically interchangeable. Some include bluetooth, some bluetooth adapters are somewhat proprietary.

Memory is standard, as long as it's not soldered in. Same goes for SSDs and HDDs.

CPUs can be socketed, but a non-negligible amount must be soldered.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

ericloewe covered it pretty well. In general, nothing is standardized on most laptops except for RAM and some mini-card slots. Because of the desire for low weight and thinness, they really pack stuff in there.

That said, there are specific laptop "barebone" kits around. But you're going to probably end up with a product with worse characteristics and at a higher price than a good machine built by a corporation. So it's something probably only worth doing if you are doing it for fun.

 

[IntelUser2000]

But you're going to probably end up with a product with worse characteristics and at a higher price than a good machine built by a corporation. So it's something probably only worth doing if you are doing it for fun.

Yea, I think this is why. It's the race to the bottom that makes an upgradeable laptop unfeasible. It's probably why 1366x768 became a standard with most laptops, and only with Tablets and Ultrabook push its starting to turn around.

It's hard to differentiate with DIY Notebooks as a manufacturer of parts. You can't put things like 12-phase voltage regulators or aluminum heatsinks on half of the motherboard. Overclocking is heavily limited because the size is small, so no go there either.

 

[TheStu]

There was the MXM standard for GPUs a while back, but that still had some restrictions based on cooling capacity, sort of like single/dual slot GPUs in desktops. Though at this point, most high end GPUs are dual slot anyway.

I'm not sure if that standard still exists, and then there was the matter of securing the replacement card, which was almost always a system pull anyway.

 

[Talaii]

MXM still exists. Clevo makes barebones laptops and sells them through a bunch of builders (Sager is the big one in the US). Their higher-end gaming laptops (the PXXX series, not the WXXX series) have MXM cards and socketted CPUs, and are fairly upgradeable. I know a lot of people with the older P150HM/P170HM laptops are upgrading to the newer video cards.

Other gaming laptops tend to do the same thing - it lets them use the same chassis/motherboard/etc, and just swap the GPU cards between different models. You'd have to do some research on each particular model to work out how nicely it'll play with other video cards, however - sometimes you need a different video card BIOS for a particular laptop type, which may be difficult to flash, and sometimes they use a slightly nonstandard connector to make it harder to upgrade.

If you're after a Barebones for yourself, ask around at various Clevo builders/sellers, some of them sell them, and you can often source the video cards and other bits and pieces (heatsinks for different model video cards may not be interchangeable, and heatsinks from one laptop probably won't work in another) as well.

And yeah: the Clevo builders are basically doing what you seem to be interested in: buying a bunch of components, building them into a laptop, and selling it. It does mean they are on the hook for providing support and the like themselves, but there are enough companies around reselling them that it must work well as a business model.

 

[xSauronx]

sounds like a huge headache, are you concerned with wanting to upgrade that often? seems like itd be easier to get a decent, capable laptop now, with warranty support, and just upgrade and sell the old one every couple of years when youre no longer satisfied with the performance.

 

[Zap]

MXM is a great idea, but lacks in execution. The cards are rare, plus just because the interface fits (and there's different revisions to deal with) doesn't mean the cooling solution will fit. Also, there's the issue of sourcing the replacement card, and at what cost. And usually you find MXM in notebooks bigger than 15".

 

[WildW]

Back when I was only using a gaming laptop I looked at MXM cards for upgrading the GPU. The only source seemed to be importing them via far-east eBay sellers, and what I read said that there were various different MXM standards/slot types, and that even if a card fitted it wasn't guaranteed to work.

I think we're at the point with laptops that the integration is so specific to the model that it will always be cheaper and have a better outcome to buy a new one when you want an upgrade.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

sounds like a huge headache, are you concerned with wanting to upgrade that often? seems like itd be easier to get a decent, capable laptop now, with warranty support, and just upgrade and sell the old one every couple of years when youre no longer satisfied with the performance.

Not me personally, no. I was just thinking about whether or not this would be a good business to get into. Be the laptop manufacturer that actually produces laptops with upgradable components. I thought all it would take would be to find the standard form factors and interfaces for the cards and just build a system around that. Get a solid motherboard and just go. Even replacement of the screens and stuff could be done.

We'd have to contact actual card manufacturers and ask them to produce standard form factor cards for us that will play nice with other standard motherboards.

 

[Zap]

I was just thinking about whether or not this would be a good business to get into. Be the laptop manufacturer that actually produces laptops with upgradable components.
...
We'd have to contact actual card manufacturers and ask them to produce standard form factor cards for us that will play nice with other standard motherboards.

No, it wouldn't be a good business to get into, because most people would just buy the cheaper notebook with the same specs. Unless you were doing huge volume, your costs would be way too high.

The notebook manufacturer usually makes the MXM graphics cards for their notebooks, not "graphic card manufacturers."

 

[cl-jeffrey]

I agree with Zap you will not be saving money but wasting money. You must also take into account people who don't know what they are doing and buy your barbone laptop and problems start to arise.

How will you cover the repair and the shipping cost when people have problems with the laptop. Huge mistake just too much competition.

But good luck with your idea. Maybe that's why you don't see too many barbone laptops anymore.