Building a Whitebox Notebook PC

mrplow · Post by **mrplow** » Tue May 25, 2004 2:16 am

user wrote:made a quick guest account guess the password =)

Anyway, I have been considering a barebone laptop for quite some time, and does anyone know where to find a barebone with trackpoint and not a trackpad (trackpoint is the little eraser looking nub mouse) cause I hate those pads with a passion.

I cant seem to find one anywhere ='(

I think most manufacturers phased those out in favour of the pads. How can you like those little things? Bleh!

I think thinkpads (IBM) still use them (one I just looked up on the IBM site had one)

derekh13 · Post by **derekh13** » Tue May 25, 2004 11:29 am

Thats a start. Doesnt really matter what brand to me. Just looking into all the information I can get for now. Ive been building my own systems and systems for friends for a while. just wanted to start looking at building laptops.

Ill take a look on that brand and see where it takes me.

Good information though, thanks.

Cabot_Teg118 · Post by **Cabot_Teg118** » Tue May 25, 2004 4:24 pm

I'm glad to see these finally come out. When I get my laptop for college I don't want some stupid dell or gateway, I want a real computer

bbzidane · Post by **bbzidane** » Tue May 25, 2004 6:37 pm

just curious
where would i be able to find asus whitebox notebooks?

mainly interested in model S5Ne

Post by **Apoptosis** » Wed May 26, 2004 3:25 pm

I just did a search on the Dealtime search engine and came up with this.

I also just did a search on pricewatch and came up with 7 stores that carry it.

BklynKid · Post by **BklynKid** » Thu May 27, 2004 12:15 am

When is part 2 coming out?

I'm building a laptop using the Z9000.

Also, Pricewatch > Dealtime.

Post by **Apoptosis** » Thu May 27, 2004 9:25 am

working on it now... I'm going to Taiwan and China for two weeks and two of my staff members are out of town right now. Kinda slammed ;(

user · Post by **user** » Thu May 27, 2004 4:44 pm

do you know what other companies sell whitebox notebooks, besides asus?

Post by **Apoptosis** » Thu May 27, 2004 4:48 pm

AOpen, Mitac, ASUS, Gigabyte all sell them for sure. I'd bet money that ECS, Chaintech, MSI and others are doing it also

user · Post by **user** » Thu May 27, 2004 4:53 pm

do you plan on building others? also, why did you choose the asus? i'm looking at the m5n (thin and light) but i am still hesitant.

user · Post by **user** » Thu May 27, 2004 4:59 pm

the s5ne is really slick, but i've never had a laptop with an external drive--not sure if i could handle it.

AMDGuy · Post by **AMDGuy** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 10:48 am

Has anyone seen a barebones laptop kit for AMD Athlon 64 Mobiles?
I'd love to start pricing one!

viro · Post by **viro** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 9:45 pm

what happened to part 2 and 3?

i'm very interested in this

if you're not going to finish it.. then does anyone know a place i can read a guide on how to build it. I just want to see everything before i go crazy and start spending lots of money

thank you, any help is appreciated

Post by **Apoptosis** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 1:16 am

expect part 2 next week... I had a two week trip to china and then the intel 915/925 chipset launch and got really busy. It's started!

viro · Post by **viro** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 1:18 am

thx a lot, i was getting confused, because i saw the date on the article, and then i read that you would have part 2 "later that week"
which obviously didn't happen

thx again

rspektor · Post by **rspektor** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 5:58 pm

is there any way to install internal bluetooth into the laptop?
are there any bluetooth/mini-pci combo cards?

Speed_Mechanic · Post by **Speed_Mechanic** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 10:15 am

In certain situations buildling from scratch is not a cheaper alternative. The whitebook market is pretty bare and most resellers price them on a whim. Taking advantage of name brand (esp. Dell) discounts and widely available coupon codes and common thinking can save one money in purchasing.

Dell Inspiron 8600 (ODM Compal)
15.4” WSXGA+=
2.0GHz Dothan
Windows XP Pro
256MB PC-2700
60GB 7200RPM
24X/8X Combo Drive
128MB M10 Pro Turbo
2200 B/G
Office 2003 Basic
AC Adaptor
1-year Basic Plan
$2,483 Total Plus Tax/Shipping
Save 20% & $100 Rebate & Free Shipping
$1,887 Total Plus Tax
$247 – KingMax PC-2700 1GB
$2,134 Total Price (Plus Tax on $1,887)

Compel CL56
15” SXGA+
128MB M11
AC Adaptor
$879
$639 - Intel 2GHz Dothan
$135 - MS Windows XP Pro
$202 - Hitachi 60GB 7200RPM
$247 - KingMax PC-2700 1GB
$74 - Samsung 24X/8X Combo Drive
$45 - Intel 2200 B/G
$120 - MS Office 2003 Basic
$2,341

Discounts such as Save 20% & $100 Rebate & Free Shipping do not come around every day, but they do come around with some regularity - though not often combined as such. The latest 20% discount on Dell Inspiron laptops expired July 7th, and the $100 discount is almost a permanent thing.

viro · Post by **viro** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 1:50 pm

I plan on building a whitebox, and I'm not doing it for the money saving, because I'm spending quite a bit on it. I'm doing it because it lets me know every part of the system. Most people that have a laptop don't even know what it looks like in there. I am also a modder, and I think that one day (when the laptop isn't as valuable to me as it is when I first get it), I will mod it up

ps: any progress on the next article? I check here everyday for it ;)

viro · Post by **viro** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:17 pm

Awesome!

thats about how i imagined it, and i will be purchasing my whitebook and all the parts necessary within 2 months (thats when i'll have enough money)

I also have a question: I think i read somewhere that the Asus M6's now support Intel Pentium M 2.0ghz processors, is this true?

Post by **Apoptosis** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:21 pm

Yes the ASUS M6000 Series does support the new Intel Pentium M CPU's.

To to go in more detail the ASUS M6N fully supports:

Intel® Pentium® M processor 1.40--1.70GHz
Intel® Pentium® M processor 735/745/755 (1.70GHz/1.80GHz/2.0GHz)

Legit Reviews

Building a Whitebox Notebook PC

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