Build Your Own Laptop - Is It Worth It?
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I discovered that a company by the name of OCZ Technology has a unique offering for their laptop models dubbed the DYI. The system comes with a case & 15.4″ screen, dual layer burner and it’s own video and sound built in. You the user are than required to supply the cpu, RAM, hard disk and operating system.
If you have never worked on a laptop system before, this can be a challange. Not knowing how OCZ Tech. setups up the access covers for ease of installation, I can not comment on how easy this may or may not be. I do know that one Dell model I once worked on [I don’t recall the model #] had two separate RAM slots. One was easy to get at. The second was under the keyboard, which yes, required the keyboard be removed. Thoughts were going thru my head that I’d bust the keyboard trying to get at the 2nd RAM slot.
OCZ Tech. states on their site the following:
Building your own gaming desktop can be complicated and meticulous so who would think that building your own gaming notebook would be any easier or even possible? OCZ introduces this exciting initiative to the enthusiast, gamer, and IT professional with the new Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Gaming Notebooks. Designed to make it easier than ever for consumers to take full advantage of the benefits of building their very own gaming notebook, OCZ?s DIY program is one-of-a-kind, and allows consumers to build a truly high performance notebook with their own ideal configuration in just a few easy to follow steps.
This is an interesting concept, especially if you have a legal copy of Windows XP or Windows Vista as I do. I have a brand new copy of Vista Ultimate looking for a home and buying a system without an operating system may be the way to go.
What’s your take? Good or bad idea?
Comments welcome.
PS I just noticed something. I don’t see a price for this barebones system.
OCZ web site is here.
Tags: laptop, ocz technology, barebone, system, cpu, hard disk, memory, operating system, install,
6 Comments
Jeremy
May 17th, 2008
at 9:25am
A friend of mine found something similar at a site called Microexpress. He seems to be pretty happy with the laptop he built.
hacked360
May 17th, 2008
at 10:02am
Well if you dont know the price of this particular barebones system then maybe you should find the price. Also if you dont know how to setup a barebones system, then I would recommend going to youtube, they show everything there! They can give you tutorials on what to do. They can probably show you that exact model.
Bruce
May 17th, 2008
at 10:18am
Hey, Ron - Thanks for the link as this is something I have been interested in doing. If you go back to the page you have linked us to, you will find a PDF manual of how to assemble the notebook. Looks pretty simple as everything is accessible through panels - no removing keyboards! OCZ has a pretty good name for its memory modules, what troubles me is: where’s the price? Is it labeled under: “If you have to ask … you can’t afford it!”
Jeez - you’ve already caused me to buy a Dell Vostro for my wife - now you’ve got me looking at barebone laptops! Your blog is unhealthy for my checking account, man!
By the way - the Vostro is very nice … but I’m glad my wife got it and not me! It has all the high end goodies, it’s rock solid and trouble free but it just doesn’t rock my boat. In fact, I like my aging Asus A2V a lot better than the Dell.
Ron Schenone
May 17th, 2008
at 2:26pm
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for the comments. I emailed OCZ sales and requested a price on their laptop unit. Once I receive a reply I will post it.
Heh Bruce,
I’m glad your wife is enjoying her Vostro. I’m just trying to get you to spend your stimulus money and help the economy.
I already have mind spent.
Thanks all, Ron
Aryeh Goretsky
May 18th, 2008
at 12:27am
Hello,
OCZ has been in the memory business for a while, and branched out to other areas as well (power supplies, processor coolers, et cetera), however, I am a bit surprised by this leap and all that it entails, maintenance-wise. Will they support non-OCZ memory? What about non-Microsoft operating systems, such as BSD and Linux? How will they handle in-warranty and out-of-warranty repairs, spare parts (batteries, keyboards, plastic panels) et cetera?
It is not a bad idea, but given OCZ’s newness to this space, it might make sense to buy a gaming notebook from an established vendor. If one really wants the DIY experience, I believe ASUS has a line of notebooks which can purchased without CPUs, memory and hard disk drives for customer installation.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
Ron Schenone
May 18th, 2008
at 6:35am
Hello Aryeh,
Good point. I received this link from OCZ support this morning:
http://www.2cooltek.com/
Cost of the barebones system is $699.
I would guess if one shopped wisely you may be able to keep costs under $1,000 if you already have an OS. This is one of those situations where buying from an established OEM, when a gamer laptop is on sale, may just be prudent.
But than again, you would miss the thrill of building your own box.
Regards, Ron