Posted on 05/31/2009 3:15:59 PM PDT by Netizen
Is is worthwhile to try and build your own laptop?
Our son is going to college in the fall. The college sent out a flyer and you can purchase a Dell Latitude from them for $1054.00. It would have Vista Office pre installed.
I had spoken to one of my cousins and we went through the Dell website and the same system would have cost an additional $600. So, $1600.00
Now, a the high school graduation, the father of the son that our son will be sharing a dorm room with says that he built his son's laptop and that he can build one for son too, if we want to save money.
My cousin who also does this sort of thing says building your own laptop isn't feasible. Parts or too expensive and everything is too proprietary.
If you want a legal copy of a Windows OS, it is far easier to design your own and then have HP, Dell or Lenovo build it for you and ship it.
I customized an HP laptop so my daughter could use it in college (architecture degree) and I could NOT have built it myself for less, and included Vista.
Look here for specials:
http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/deals/
and choose from multiple manufacturers. You can customize your laptop to take advantage of specials (free memory upgrades, etc) and get upfront discounts.
I did buy a laptop recently from the clearance pile at Micro Center which matched these specials, but it is truly rare that I save money over these deals.
I haven’t done it, but lat me say this: He will learn a lot about the mechanics of laptops, of drivers, compatibilities between various equipment etc. than if he were to read of them in a book.
I’ve lost count of how many desktops I’ve built for me, friends, family, and work. I won’t even attempt to build a laptop/notebook. Just go buy one. And $1600 is about $1100 too much for a notebook just for college.
Toshiba 17” Satellite L355-S7905 Laptop PC with Intel Celeron Processor 585 ($398.00)
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11040413
I recently took my old Apple Powerbook and Macbook apart (they were both ruined by spills) out of curiosity and to recover the hard drives. Judging from the way everything fit together, I seriously doubt anybody is building a laptop from scratch and saving money. Perhaps they are dumpster diving for Dell Inspirons that many corporations give to salespeople, etc. and making some kind of Frankenstein laptop. It might work, but how much is your time worth?
My suggestion is to get your son an iMac (not a laptop) for his dorm room. Laptops are fragile things and are lower on the value curve than a comparable desktop. He can easily put it in the back seat for summer break. Yes laptops are “cool” but I once coded a few projects over a 14” laptop screen and my neck and back suffered greatly.
If I can keep my old Averatec laptop going the rest of this year, I hope to be able to get a new one. The tips about the refurbished Dells and Macs are appreciated and bookmarked.
Your statement is probably misinformed. I do not know the specifications on the laptop so I cannot sure in my analysis. You can buy a powerful laptop for $400 to $700. The prices that the college quotes seem rather dated. For example, you can purchase a laptop with dual core (Intel or AMD processors), 4GB RAM, 64 bit Vista Home Premium, 15.4 inch screen, 320GB disk, rewritable DVD, HDMI port, media reader port, and built in web cam for under $600 (perhaps even under $500).
You don’t mention what he’s going to be studying, which does make a big difference in recommendations. If it’s computer science, math, or lit, I’d suggest picking up a 904 or 1000 series Eee PC for $400. Buy a wireless keyboard/mouse for use in the dorm room, install Eeebuntu Base as the operating system, and use the included software to download and install OpenOffice, Firefox, Abiword, Amarok, Totem Player, Pidgin, and Skype. Keep $400 in reserve, in case he somehow nukes the laptop to buy a replacement, and give him the rest of the budget to buy an Xbox if he likes games, along with a netflix subscription for entertainment.
The little laptops are extremely portable, relatively durable, can use wifi or cell phone tethering, and has more than enough battery power to handle classes from 8am to 5pm, without plugging in.
As for building a laptop - sure, it’s possible, but usually it’s building a transportable, not an actual laptop, and honestly gives poorer performance than a commercially purchased product. Upgrading, on the other hand, is possible with laptops, and that might be what he was talking about.
I own a lot of computers. The best desktop for the money is a Dell, in my opinion, but only if running windows XP. A laptop sounds great, but studying in a dorm room ain’t a bad idea...full size keyboard, all that jazz...and they won’t “walk away” with someone else...XP with SP 3 is out and they are stable as can be. If you will be using older software, you might have compatability issues (still) with Vista. Windows claims the new version will be out at Christmas.
My personal laptop is a 17” Toshiba with XP and killer graphics for web work (I travel a lot) but I am a pretty big guy and don’t mind carrying it - it is HEAVY...it has never failed me - but I am not a kid in college. Take care of them and they will be great...the school deal might be your best bet...
> Whatever you do, price in the 4 year warranty on whatever you buy.
It’s acceptable to be put in ‘contract/warranty’ for ONLY 2 years. WHY? The pc co. that Freeper eventually chooses could be a lemon and he/she might be stuck for 4 years, dealing with the same people/problems..just like cell-phone companies.
I’ve had 2 year warranties with Dell, HP and Gateway and couldn;t wait to to break away from them once the warranty was up. except for Gateway though. They were surprisingly professional in most cases.
In a word: NO WAY!
Yes but there’s really no point. And not to be snarky but if you has to ask you probably shouldn’t do it.
Yes but there’s really no point. And not to be snarky but if you has to ask you probably shouldn’t do it.
And what happens when the student needs to use some proprietary Windows or Mac only software that the school requires?
The answer "just go to a campus computer lab" won't suffice because, here at Virginia, for example, computer labs are being eliminated due to budget cuts!
rotflmao
Agree with a poster before me.
What’s he studying?
Depending on whether you really need Office and Vista, you could probably spend half that. But some of it will end up being open source. Open Office. Firefox.
Does he have any thoughts on preference? Would he be comfortable tweaking and updating as he finds out he needs?
Does the university require a Microsoft operating system?
Do they have a list of acceptable machines?
Or, I will second the other poster here who suggested Apple notebooks. [If you go this route, make sure you get that service contract and look into academic discounts.]
Do not skimp on the service contract. If you can get accidental or theft damage coverage, go for that too, unless your renter's or homeowner's policy already covers those sorts of situations. Last year, my sister's notebook had "unexplainable" screen damage that rendered the notebook completely useless, and we had to pony up over a grand to buy her a new ThinkPad.
Oh, one more thing: if you have to buy Microsoft Office, your son can purchase a retail copy of Office '07 Ultimate directly from Microsoft through their Ultimate Steal promotion for about sixty bucks. [They also offer Vista Ultimate upgrades and copies of Visio.]
Congrats and good luck to your son!
I understand Toshiba has a pretty good laptop on sale for 400 dollars. Not sure you could build one that cheap. I’m not even sure how one goes about building a laptop.
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