Building your own laptop

>>1028916
>Any advice on that front /diy/?

Stop, its not practical in the least bit
You just have to deal with the whole technology world shitting on you, with their non free, closed source consumer laptops with locked down bios and CPUS with backdoors in them.

Buy as many T400s you can, install libreboot and Trisquel to free yourself.

Yeah I bought a "select your own parts" laptop build from msi. Big waste of money.

Get a desktop for a self build and a cheap t400 for your office work on the go.

I thought I'd need a graphics card for work as I render models a lot, but in reality when you're out and about you just need a word processor and internet

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>>1028916
>Any advice on that front /diy/?
If you're cool with the machine being thicker than a girly lap top, then I'd suppose the build would be quite easy.

If I was going to do it; I'd select a low power Mu-ATX board as the basis-- as who wants to haul around an 80 kg back pack of lead acid batteries + a 2 KW inverter? fug, your 'lap top' at this point would be a component of a mobility scooter armed with solar panels and shit.

Next, I'd get some offset ribbons so I could mount a decent graphics card parallel to the board for better geometry.

Water cooling would make sense, as heat transport can be done far more effectively with tight geometry this way. if you can't build custom water blocks, err--yes you can; laminate assembly makes it easy as pie.

The case i'd build in two units; the base would just be a thin profile Mu-ATX with a custom I/O panel.

The 'top' of the case, I'd take a nice mechanical keyboard and remove the bezel and use it as a template for the cut out and mounting in the 'top'

Same with a track pad.

The monitor part of the case, I'd build the same-- take TFT, remove bezel, use as template. A couple of spring tensioned hinges, or a ratchet mechanism. The interface cables from monitor

- The signal cord, I'd attempt to route thru a chase; or just let it dangle ghetto style.

- Power, I'd re-wire the wall wort to take DC input from a pulse chopper + booster to interface the circuit just past the rectification bridge-- 60hz 180vDC is what the circuit expects at this point, so it's a really easy tweak.

If unclear-- this lets a AC->DC switch mode circuit run off a battery without a stupid (and lossy) inverter. You can also do this with an ATX power supply

- Battery, derp; Li-Mg, LiFePo. Whatever; man.

I'd also agree with anons raging about laptop kits. Fuck that shit.

And OP, how are you building your custom case? Materials, tools, fab techniques? This, I think is the INTERESTING part. So many possibilities!

>>1028916
>Any advice

Yeah we get this thread almost on a weekly basis now and is generally wrapped up in two or three posts saying no. So no.

OP, if you really like the Thinkpad's (which you are right to do) you should look into the W5**. They are solid widescreen PCs, so you'll have a bit more real estate. Unfortunately, to make this any sort of solid custom build, you're pretty much going to have to retool the entire case to fit anything in it. Thinkpads have weird dimensions because they are super narrow. The W series is wider, so you may be able to fit a standard 15.6 inch laptop mobo in, but it ain't gonna be easy to get good airflow because every laptop manufacturer fucks with fan and heatsink placement. Watercooling is... possible? Maybe? you would probably have to retool a custom case for it so you have room. You might just want to modify the case you have to replace the vent location depending on the board you use.

Easiest way to set yourself up with a kickass case (in terms of performance) as long as you are ok with being an edgelord is to modify a briefcase. You can use pretty much any battery as long as it's the same Wattage and Amperage draw. Lithium batters are the best to not be carrying around a car battery

>>1028961
Also interested, got a i3 Lenovo that shat it's hinge and took half the casing with it, would love to rehouse it and make it usable again. Maybe routed pine.

>>1029054
Lenovo organ donors and parts are cheap on Ebay. Many Thinkpadders build themselves Pads from wrecked units.

Go to /g/ and check daily Thinkpad thread!

>>1028916
I don't see building a laptop as a viable solution. Built desktop rigs for a long while, love customizing everything, building custom things, but there's no way I could build something nearly as robust as a pre-__30 thinkpad.

Buy slightly newer thinkpads, up to W520/T420/X220, build frankenpads, etc. Moore's law is dead, so it's slightly more sustainable now.

But I don't know what happens in the future. Hopefully the promise of a legacy line / model won't go unfulfilled.

(Also, holy shit, who cares about thinness? Even X220 is stupidly light for what it offers, and what's the difference sub-one inch? If you're an artfag with more cash than brains and you need a tiny Mac to get girls in college, I guess. I was wooing an IT guy's daughter in college, and she had a ThinkPad and a sense of humour. Shit was cash.)

>>1028961
>battery
> derp; Li-Mg, LiFePo. Whatever
No.
A hundred times no.
It's a computer, not a fucking cordless drill. LiCoO2 or NCA chemistry is where you want to look, those have the highest capacity per weight and volume. Also they last long if you're not a fucktard.
Usually the most expensive though.

>>1029376
Thats why every cosumer laptop uses li-ion, shits super common and easy to source