Can this be done? I build my own PC's whith generic parts such as ASUS
motherboard etc. But I don't see parts such as motherboard and casing
being sold for laptops. If this is done where are they sold?

Not really. Evey so often "bare bones" laptops are offered; they are
laptops that are missing the memory, hard drive and CPU, you supply your
own. But the motherboard dictates the CPU choices, and you really don't
save anything by supplying your own hard drive, CPU and memory.


triniatlarge******.com wrote:

> Can this be done? I build my own PC's whith generic parts such as ASUS
> motherboard etc. But I don't see parts such as motherboard and casing
> being sold for laptops. If this is done where are they sold?
>

<triniatlarge******.com> wrote in message
news:1161609442.051405.151760@m73g2000cwd.googlegr oups.com...
> Can this be done? I build my own PC's whith generic parts such as ASUS
> motherboard etc. But I don't see parts such as motherboard and casing
> being sold for laptops. If this is done where are they sold?
>

Unlike a desktop where all the parts are more or less generic and can be
swapped around at will, laptop components are all entirely proprietary. See
the thread where there is a discussion going on about how one manufacturer's
optical drive is completely imcompatible with another (and even between
different models from the same manufacturer).

Anyone store that contemplates parts for laptops has many problems. The
motherboard quickly becomes obsoloete and the nearest replacement is has the
interfaces in a completely different layout rendering the cases obsolete
(and so on). Once the case is redisigned and produced, the optical drive is
obsolete, rendering the stock of motherboards useless ... and so on.

Thanks All, The reason I was asking is I live in Trinidad & Tobago so
prices are high here so the same way it is cheaper to build your
computer I assumed it would be cheaper to build your own laptop. From
what you are saying there are only propiotory motherboards that would
only work with their brands? I find that amazing. I am thinking about
starting a business building laptops (noname). You are saying this is
impossible?
Thanks
M.I.5¾ wrote:
> <triniatlarge******.com> wrote in message
> news:1161609442.051405.151760@m73g2000cwd.googlegr oups.com...
> > Can this be done? I build my own PC's whith generic parts such as ASUS
> > motherboard etc. But I don't see parts such as motherboard and casing
> > being sold for laptops. If this is done where are they sold?
> >
>
> Unlike a desktop where all the parts are more or less generic and can be
> swapped around at will, laptop components are all entirely proprietary. See
> the thread where there is a discussion going on about how one manufacturer's
> optical drive is completely imcompatible with another (and even between
> different models from the same manufacturer).
>
> Anyone store that contemplates parts for laptops has many problems. The
> motherboard quickly becomes obsoloete and the nearest replacement is has the
> interfaces in a completely different layout rendering the cases obsolete
> (and so on). Once the case is redisigned and produced, the optical driveis
> obsolete, rendering the stock of motherboards useless ... and so on.

triniatlarge******.com wrote:
> Can this be done? I build my own PC's whith generic parts such as ASUS
> motherboard etc. But I don't see parts such as motherboard and casing
> being sold for laptops. If this is done where are they sold?

There are some "barebones" notebooks (ASUS sells them), but you have to
start with the basic motherboard and chassis. You add your CPU, memory,
hard drive, optical drive, etc.

These days, most other components are interchangeable (disk drives,
optical drives, wireless cards, etc.). With optical drives, you'll
sometimes get a connector adapter and a face plate that you have to use.

It is more expensive to do thing this way. You will be paying retail for
every component, versus paying the tiny profit margin on a complete system.

The white box notebook makers use a standard chassis and have bunch of
different motherboards that they design to fit in the chassis. However
these notebooks are best avoided, as they often consist of "parts from
all over the world that no one else wants."

No, it's not correct that there are only proprietary motherboards ....
it's more like there are just no motherboards at all ... that you can
buy without just buying an entire laptop.

The parts are just not sold separately. Period.

triniatlarge******.com wrote:

> Thanks All, The reason I was asking is I live in Trinidad & Tobago so
> prices are high here so the same way it is cheaper to build your
> computer I assumed it would be cheaper to build your own laptop. From
> what you are saying there are only propiotory motherboards that would
> only work with their brands? I find that amazing. I am thinking about
> starting a business building laptops (noname). You are saying this is
> impossible?
> Thanks
> M.I.5¾ wrote:
>
>><triniatlarge******.com> wrote in message
>>news:1161609442.051405.151760@m73g2000cwd.google groups.com...
>>
>>>Can this be done? I build my own PC's whith generic parts such as ASUS
>>>motherboard etc. But I don't see parts such as motherboard and casing
>>>being sold for laptops. If this is done where are they sold?
>>>
>>
>>Unlike a desktop where all the parts are more or less generic and can be
>>swapped around at will, laptop components are all entirely proprietary. See
>>the thread where there is a discussion going on about how one manufacturer's
>>optical drive is completely imcompatible with another (and even between
>>different models from the same manufacturer).
>>
>>Anyone store that contemplates parts for laptops has many problems. The
>>motherboard quickly becomes obsoloete and the nearest replacement is has the
>>interfaces in a completely different layout rendering the cases obsolete
>>(and so on). Once the case is redisigned and produced, the optical drive is
>>obsolete, rendering the stock of motherboards useless ... and so on.
>
>

"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:453CFCAE.4050002@neo.rr.com...
> No, it's not correct that there are only proprietary motherboards ....
> it's more like there are just no motherboards at all ... that you can buy
> without just buying an entire laptop.
>
> The parts are just not sold separately. Period.
>

There are shops in the UK that have had a go at selling the parts (including
one near me) so it can't be impossible for shops to obtain them. But they
had problems along the lines I stated, much like anyone else.

If people didn't top post, this thread would follow logically, which, due to
two top posters now doesn't.

> triniatlarge******.com wrote:
>
>> Thanks All, The reason I was asking is I live in Trinidad & Tobago so
>> prices are high here so the same way it is cheaper to build your
>> computer I assumed it would be cheaper to build your own laptop. From
>> what you are saying there are only propiotory motherboards that would
>> only work with their brands? I find that amazing. I am thinking about
>> starting a business building laptops (noname). You are saying this is
>> impossible?
>> Thanks
>> M.I.5¾ wrote:
>>
>>><triniatlarge******.com> wrote in message
>>>news:1161609442.051405.151760@m73g2000cwd.googl egroups.com...
>>>
>>>>Can this be done? I build my own PC's whith generic parts such as ASUS
>>>>motherboard etc. But I don't see parts such as motherboard and casing
>>>>being sold for laptops. If this is done where are they sold?
>>>>
>>>
>>>Unlike a desktop where all the parts are more or less generic and can be
>>>swapped around at will, laptop components are all entirely proprietary.
>>>See
>>>the thread where there is a discussion going on about how one
>>>manufacturer's
>>>optical drive is completely imcompatible with another (and even between
>>>different models from the same manufacturer).
>>>
>>>Anyone store that contemplates parts for laptops has many problems. The
>>>motherboard quickly becomes obsoloete and the nearest replacement is has
>>>the
>>>interfaces in a completely different layout rendering the cases obsolete
>>>(and so on). Once the case is redisigned and produced, the optical drive
>>>is
>>>obsolete, rendering the stock of motherboards useless ... and so on.
>>

M.I.5¾ wrote:
> "Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:453CFCAE.4050002@neo.rr.com...
>> No, it's not correct that there are only proprietary motherboards ....
>> it's more like there are just no motherboards at all ... that you can buy
>> without just buying an entire laptop.
>>
>> The parts are just not sold separately. Period.
>>
>
> There are shops in the UK that have had a go at selling the parts (including
> one near me) so it can't be impossible for shops to obtain them. But they
> had problems along the lines I stated, much like anyone else.

Yes, we had that in the U.S. as well. There were a few of the higher end
chop shops that had a few of the barebones systems, including a
selection of motherboards you could choose from, with different graphics
chips. I still see some MSI and ASUS laptops sold like this, but the
reality is that it's not a cost effective way to purchase a notebook.

The build-to-order systems of HP and Dell are so efficient that you're
better off getting a system built in a factory, with a warranty. The
same now holds true for desktop systems.

"SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:453e2508$0$88688$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net
[...]
> The build-to-order systems of HP and Dell are so efficient that you're
> better off getting a system built in a factory, with a warranty. The
> same now holds true for desktop systems.

As far as I know, it has always been true of desktops too.
--
Bill

Re: "There are shops in the UK that have had a go at selling the parts
(including one near me) so it can't be impossible for shops to obtain them."

I'd argue that they are selling "bare-bones" laptops rather than laptop
parts; you don't buy the motherboard as a separate component from the
case and keyboard, for example.

And don't forget the cost of Windows, which is virtually free in an OEM
system but which would cost $100 to buy.


BillW50 wrote:

> "SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
> news:453e2508$0$88688$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net
> [...]
>
>> The build-to-order systems of HP and Dell are so efficient that you're
>> better off getting a system built in a factory, with a warranty. The
>> same now holds true for desktop systems.
>
>
> As far as I know, it has always been true of desktops too.

BillW50 wrote:
> "SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
> news:453e2508$0$88688$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net
> [...]
>> The build-to-order systems of HP and Dell are so efficient that you're
>> better off getting a system built in a factory, with a warranty. The
>> same now holds true for desktop systems.
>
> As far as I know, it has always been true of desktops too.

Then you are very young.

Well into the early 1990's you could cobble together a system yourself
for less than the equivalent system from a PC manufacturer. Of course
you had no warranty, no FCC Class B approval, no UL approval, and no
support, but it was still popular. The chop shops started disappearing
in the late 1990's, with very few left.

Judging from the number of motherboards that Fry's sells, it's still
popular to build your own, even though there is no cost savings.

I like building my own because I am building for the long term, with
minimum support, using mirrored drives, high-end chassis and power
supplies, and some legacy features that most people don't care about,
such as MIDI, serial, and parallel ports, integrated memory card
readers, and improved cooling. But I'm under no illusion that I'm saving
any money, like when I built an 8088 clone in 1985.

"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:453E3460.9060809@neo.rr.com
> BillW50 wrote:
>
>> "SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
>> news:453e2508$0$88688$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net
>> [...]
>>
>>> The build-to-order systems of HP and Dell are so efficient that
>>> you're better off getting a system built in a factory, with a
>>> warranty. The same now holds true for desktop systems.
>>
>> As far as I know, it has always been true of desktops too.
>
> And don't forget the cost of Windows, which is virtually free in an
> OEM system but which would cost $100 to buy.

Good point! Also when you build your own, you can have hardware and
software drivers conflicts. And maybe wasted hours trying to get things
to work together (although for some of us, the challenge is the fun part
<grin>). Although buying a complete system, if it doesn't work right,
you just return the whole thing and nothing to fuss with. <grin>

--
Bill

"SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:453e3668$0$88665$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net
> BillW50 wrote:
>> "SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
>> news:453e2508$0$88688$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net
>> [...]
>>> The build-to-order systems of HP and Dell are so efficient that
>>> you're better off getting a system built in a factory, with a
>>> warranty. The same now holds true for desktop systems.
>>
>> As far as I know, it has always been true of desktops too.
>
> Then you are very young.
>
> Well into the early 1990's you could cobble together a system yourself
> for less than the equivalent system from a PC manufacturer. Of course
> you had no warranty, no FCC Class B approval, no UL approval, and no
> support, but it was still popular. The chop shops started disappearing
> in the late 1990's, with very few left.
>
> Judging from the number of motherboards that Fry's sells, it's still
> popular to build your own, even though there is no cost savings.
>
> I like building my own because I am building for the long term, with
> minimum support, using mirrored drives, high-end chassis and power
> supplies, and some legacy features that most people don't care about,
> such as MIDI, serial, and parallel ports, integrated memory card
> readers, and improved cooling. But I'm under no illusion that I'm
> saving any money, like when I built an 8088 clone in 1985.

Nope, I am 50 years old and I was building my own digital circuits
starting back in the 70's. And I always saw pre-built computers as
cheaper, but less fun. As the big manufactures buy tens of thousands of
parts while us build your own guys can't get the price breaks that they
can get. I'm speaking about the least expensive (low-end) computers. If
you want to go expensive, build your own is thus cheaper.

And it is IMHO that building or buying a computer to last longer (by
spending more money on it) is in the long run is more costly. As
computer technology becomes so outdated so fast. So I have found it is
better to buy cheap and replace the whole works more often than to build
on to last. I don't know, it always worked for me. <grin>

--
Bill

Barry Watzman wrote:
> And don't forget the cost of Windows, which is virtually free in an OEM
> system but which would cost $100 to buy.

Huh? How is it virtually free? It's actually one of the most expensive
components for the manufacturer. Large manufacturers pay around $45 per
copy for XP Home. It was a big deal two years ago when Microsoft was
offering a stripped down version of Windows for use in developing
countries, and was charging only $35 per copy.

Dell gives you a $30 discount for no OS, but they save more than that of
course.