Legit Reviews

Are any of our forum members interesting in building a notebook? While this is not a contest I want to try out something new that has not been done before. I am willing to GIVE on of our forum members many of the major parts to build a notebook if they are willing to purchase the chassis and write an article on how to build it and what their expierences were like to do it. I would also like to see some benchmark numbers when it is completed.

I currently have the following:

1 - Intel Pentium M 760 Processor - Cost: $310
2 - Kingston DDR2 512MB SO-Dimm's (Total 1GB) - Cost: $111
1 - Seagate Momentus 100GB IDE notebook hard drive - Cost: $184

Total Parts Cost: $605

If someone is willing to take the time to write up an in-depth article on how to build a white box notebook like the one I wrote here: How To Build A Sonoma Notebook. If someone is willing to put forth the effort to do an article like that on a different notebook chassis the processor, memory, and hard drive are on me.

Basically we are offering someone $605 in free hardware to write an in-depth article on how to build a notebook of their choice.

Requirements:
Must have digital camera to take pictures
Must write an in-depth article on the installation, performance, and general thoughts on the notebook
Must be located in the United States

holly cow. I wanted to build a notebook! to bad you have the US residence restriction...

DAMN!
I'd totally be in but I just don't have the funds for a chassis!

i'd TOTALLY do it... only problem is that i'm not experienced in writing as good of an article as you guys. i'm afraid i'd write a crappy article...

That is a concern. This is really like finding a needle in a hay stack, but hey it's worth a shot.

Im totally interested in this. What other notebook chasis offer as good or better graphics than the Asus Z71V. I mean i wouldnt really want to build something that isnt as good as the previous article...would be kind pointless imho.

Count me in!

I'm not sure if you're looking for a long-standing member or not; I just found this site a few days ago while googling for barebones notebooks. I would be very interested in doing this, if the opportunity is available to newcomers. I've got a decent amount of writing experience from school and work, and I would enjoy writing the article. Also, if you're interested in the viewpoint of a relative newcomer to the art of building a computer, the only work I've done inside a computer is swapping out a hard drive and upgrading RAM. If you would like some writing samples, I'd be happy to send them along.

This is a great idea, and I look forward to seeing the article, no matter who writes it!

Paul

A piece of serendipity if I ever saw one! Inspired by your previous article, I am in the process of ordering the parts for a new laptop for my wife. While I was tempted to build a monster, when I finally listened to her I realized it is carry-weight and ease of use that were her main priorities. After researching, I have decided on an Asus Z63a as the basis. Your offer of freebies is a grade sexier than what I had planned, so consider me a candidate.

At 1.5 inches thick and 5.2 pounds but packing serious Pentium-M horsepower, I'm thinking of the 14.1-widescreen Z63a as the ideal cross between a high-end PDA and an 8-pound laptop. I myself am interested as to benchmarks with the new 915 chipset, as well as how the new 900-series integrated graphics will stand up to modern requirements. I figure anybody can build a 'desktop replacement' - it's going to be a lot harder to get it right when size and stealth are the key priorities.

I have MS in Engineering and Geology, and have an extensive technical publication list (can email pubs list and resume'). My only computer-related tech articles have been for Overclockers.com (can supply links if you need) a few years back, concerning watercooling mostly. I also write for 'clubchopper.com', as I also build the occasional Harley chopper. I have built and tested many, many desktops.

I am a self-employed consultant to the oil industry and just back from overseas, so the new laptop project is my only focus for the next few weeks (I tinker to 'unwind':-). I'm also willing to post a 'bond' or pay for the hardware up front, pending your complete approval of the article. Only downside: I have done lots of benchmarking, but may not have the latest/greatest BM software you require.

I had hoped to get started this week, but will hold off on the cpu/ram/HD until I might hear something from you.

Welcome to the forums peeps, I just built a asus z63a and i love it, its under 5lbs the screen looks great and with the second battery i get around 9hrs of battery time, just enough to make it so i can really get through a day of classes.

infinitevalence wrote:its under 5lbs the screen looks great and with the second battery i get around 9hrs of battery time, just enough to make it so i can really get through a day of classes.

I wish I got this much time on mine. I get an hour and a half tops.

Nate, I wish I had the time and money. I want to get another notebook together, as you know, but just lack the resources right now.

i get 2.5 on my powerbook.... i was kinda upset whenever a month after i bought it, they changed them to take batteries that allowed 4 hours of life or so...

god I wish I had the coin to buy the chassis.... that and my writing skilz are not the best...

if I had a digital camera, I would sell my unnecessary body parts to get that chassis, lol. It's not everyday you're offered over 600 worth of parts just for an article and pics in return.....crazy, but frickin awesome

Is this offer still open. I would be very intereted.

wow, I'd love to do this, but currently have no funds in my bank account. Guess I should've wrote one up when I was building my Dell 1150 from scratch ,but I'll try to do one when I get funds and do a 600m or something else..

Well, I plan to build a notebook based on the Uniwill 259EN3, but I still have to get the money for the chassis, as I just started a new job. I probably wont be able to acquire the chassis for about a month or so. I don't have a digicam, but I know someone with a nice digtal rebel that I could probably borrow. Once I get the chassis and parts I wouldn't mind writing an article anyway, so if you choose someone else, I still can write an article on building a laptop with that chassis.

OgreMustCrush wrote:Well, I plan to build a notebook based on the Uniwill 259EN3, but I still have to get the money for the chassis, as I just started a new job. I probably wont be able to acquire the chassis for about a month or so. I don't have a digicam, but I know someone with a nice digtal rebel that I could probably borrow. Once I get the chassis and parts I wouldn't mind writing an article anyway, so if you choose someone else, I still can write an article on building a laptop with that chassis.

I like that chasis.. Pretty sweet. I noticed that the HD is SATA and the one being given out is IDE. I emailed uniwell to see about campatability. ill let you know what i find out. Also, the max capacity on the chais says 80gb. think there would be any issues?

I asked uniwill about the HD and this is what repsonse i received. I also asked about the average battery life...

"Hi,

259EN3 will only support SATA hard drives.

Depending on your system configuration, the actual battery life will vary.

From our testing, the battery should last at least a hour and 45 minutes.

Regards,

Leon Yu
Uniwill Technical Support
Email: [email protected]
URL: http://www.uniwill.com"


WOW, 1hour 45 min...doesnt sound too great.

Yeah, wow -- that battery life does suck... When I was looking in its user manual, the battery did look pretty small, guess I should have figured. Curse, it had taken me so long to decide on a barebones. Back to the search...

You know, I could even give up discreet graphics for this beauty.
http://www.msicomputer.com/NB/product_s ... el=MS-1012
It's only ok in black, but it's damn hot in white.