# Building a custom Laptop **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-custom-laptop/693483 "2014-07-18T20:50:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![therealyankey27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@therealyankey27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/therealyankey27)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-custom-laptop/693483/1 "2014-07-18T20:50:39Z")
A friend and I are going to build a custom laptop. Now I need a case, not a carrier case I mean the outer plastic shell, where can I buy just the case of a computer, not an entire laptop. Sites, links, whatever could help. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-custom-laptop/693483/2 "2014-07-18T21:38:38Z")
Yeah - it’s not going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-custom-laptop/693483/3 "2014-07-18T21:55:14Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > Yeah - it’s not going to happen. +1 ---
**Author:** ![WPA-Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WPA-Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WPA-Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-custom-laptop/693483/4 "2014-07-18T22:09:16Z")
Try this site: [http://www.computershopper.com/feature/build-your-own-laptop-preparing-your-build](http://www.computershopper.com/feature/build-your-own-laptop-preparing-your-build) ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-custom-laptop/693483/5 "2014-07-19T01:24:06Z")
The approach that site takes is to tell you to buy a cheap laptop then upgrade parts. Laptops tend to be more proprietary design compared to an ATX desktop. > [@ComputerShopper.com](#): > > No matter which model you go with, it will likely come with a few built-in components that can’t easily be swapped out—most notably, the motherboard and the optical drive. You still get a decent dose of DIY from the parts you can assemble yourself, however, including the CPU, memory, graphics card, hard drive, and wireless card. ---
**Author:** ![therealyankey27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@therealyankey27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/therealyankey27)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-custom-laptop/693483/6 "2014-07-21T15:34:31Z")
> [@WPA-Guy](#): > > Try this site: [http://www.computershopper.com/feature/build-your-own-laptop-preparing-your-build](http://www.computershopper.com/feature/build-your-own-laptop-preparing-your-build) That’s actually one of the firsts sites we looked at. I realize it would be easier to buy a cheap one and upgrade but we’re trying to self make it, and I may end up making one myself. Still accepting help, and thanks for any help. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-custom-laptop/693483/7 "2014-07-21T16:23:01Z")
And where would you get a motherboard?? There are no industry standards for laptop motherboards (size, connector locations, screw hole locations, etc). Hence no standard for cases. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-custom-laptop/693483/8 "2014-07-21T16:36:59Z")
> [@WPA-Guy](#): > > Try this site: [http://www.computershopper.com/feature/build-your-own-laptop-preparing-your-build](http://www.computershopper.com/feature/build-your-own-laptop-preparing-your-build) Do they still publish Computer Shopper–as in an huge, oversized magazine/catalogue that you can pour over for hours on end? Or is it small format or web-only now? ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-custom-laptop/693483/9 "2014-07-21T18:42:47Z")
In a nutshell there is no such thing as a custom hand build laptop. You can get bare bones “whitebox” units (unbranded units made by a variety of manufacturers) with no CPU, ram, OS, hard drives, etc. Just a motherboard case and screen. One of the wonderful things about desktops is most are compliant to standard screw and plug styles anything that might go wrong, and any computer shop in town has a part to fix it. Laptops OTOH are the wild west, every manufacturer is free to do whatever floats their boat as far as how the parts fit in. ---
**Author:** ![therealyankey27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@therealyankey27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/therealyankey27)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-custom-laptop/693483/10 "2014-07-22T23:24:06Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > [/snip] You can get bare bones “whitebox” units (unbranded units made by a variety of manufacturers) with no CPU, ram, OS, hard drives, etc. Just a motherboard case and screen. > > [/snip] Yes, but where would on get these then. Also, I may have figured out how to make an acrylic one. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-custom-laptop/693483/11 "2014-07-22T23:31:21Z")
> [@therealyankey27](#): > > Yes, but where would on get these then. > Also, I may have figured out how to make an acrylic one. See WPA-Guys post above ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-custom-laptop/693483/12 "2014-07-23T02:40:59Z")
> [@therealyankey27](#): > > Also, I may have figured out how to make an acrylic one. I would design the system first and then design a case that will fit it. You can get motherboards in the small form factors like Pico-ITX, NUC and 3.5"/ECX and then work up from there. It all depends on what you’re trying to accomplish, but if you’re building a laptop for any other reason than you want the fun of solving the challenge, you may be setting yourself up for a disappointment. I suspect you’ll spend more to get less compared to what’s on the market. PCs are a different beast and building your own can make economic sense, but a lapper… I’ll have to see it to believe it. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-custom-laptop/693483/13 "2014-07-23T03:34:54Z")
Desktop cases have standards that they adhere to, and these standards include enough spacing for a variety of component layouts. These parts are also mass produced, which makes it cost effective to build your own system. No such standards exist for laptops. There have been a few companies over the years that have made interchangeable laptop parts, but they have never been very popular. The best you can end up from one of these is a laptop that is larger and heavier than an off-the-shelf laptop, and unlike a custom-built desktop, it costs a lot more than an off-the-shelf laptop. The only things interchangeable in a modern laptop are disk drives, displays, and RAM. There is no laptop equivalent of an ATX case. You can buy “barebones” type laptops (as already mentioned) but these aren’t really custom built laptops. It’s usually not much more than a laptop with a slot for a custom graphics card. You can choose the processor (within a family that fits on the laptop’s custom motherboard), the graphics interface, and the disk drive. If you want to call that a “custom build” then go for it.