Restoration Project : Alienware M17 (2008 version)

[halofanman]

I would appreciate any advise for this rebuild! please comment with questions or concerns! Will Be using this laptop For DJ and Mixing purposes (Audio/Video NOT GAMING), money is not really a concern, m17 has been in my family for quite a while, has some sentimental value, great looking skullcap design with matte black finish, I want to Restore it!

Link To Laptop Here
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4824
____________________________________
UPGRADES NEEDED:
Quad Core Processor Upgrade q9200
8gb of ram 2x 4gb Kingston 1066
SSD 64gb/128gb
1TB/2TB Secondary Drive
New Battery
Possible A New Keyboard W/ Changeable Led's
New Graphics Cards, If Older Nvidia Support Cuda (video rendering on the road)

[NKrader]

restore?

blow it out with some air, and add a stick of ram?

what can you do to a laptop?

[halofanman]

It has Cosmetic Damage, and Old Broken Hard Drives, Need Major Overhaul For My Summer Tour
Current Specs Need Upgrading :
[1] M17

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 - CrossFireX™ Enabled!
Processor: Intel® Core™2 P8400 2.26GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Chassis: 17-Inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology
Keyboard Options: Illuminated Keyboard – Alienware Exclusive Design - Astral Blue
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
Memory: 4GB« Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM at 1066MHz – 2 x 2048MB

System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 160GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® Ultimate N 5300 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card with MIMO Technology
The World's First 450 Mbps Wi-Fi Adapter!
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with Surround Sound
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Onsite Service and 24/7 Toll-Free Phone Support
[1] Free Shipping; Limited Time Offer

SubTotal: $2,099.00
Shipping: $70.00
Discount: $70.00
Tax: $162.67
Order Total: $2,261.67

[CrazyNutz]

Umm put a new HDD or SDD, and buy a copy of windows 7?

As for cosmetic damage: Paint, polish, glue!

[halofanman]

suggestions, prices, links? Like I said, new Cpu (quad core), new ram(8gb), new battery, new hard drives an SSD and at least 1-2TB of storage, new keyboard, Nvidia GPU's For Cuda and Video Rendering, maybe a sand + refinish with silver paint to match my turntables.

[zanzabar]

if you are doing music u want XP sp2 (do not get SP3 unless you need it), it has the most stable audio stack, HAL, and works best with most programs and interfaces

[halofanman]

if you are doing music u want XP sp2 (do not get SP3 unless you need it), it has the most stable audio stack, HAL, and works best with most programs and interfaces

thanks for the advise! either going that route, or somehow get Hackintosh To Work, Need Final Cut Pro/ Adobe Premiere pro. Most Mixing Is Done Live and Recorded To Tape, So really the only program for audio is Audacity for capturing the mix tapes.

[Panther_Seraphi]

Yoiu will be looking at 8xxx series and above in terms of Nvidia cards to support Cuda. The main problem will be if the cards will be compatible A. With the bios and B. MxM slots and power.

[halofanman]

yoiu will be looking at 8xxx series and above in terms of nvidia cards to support cuda. The main problem will be if the cards will be compatible a. With the bios and b. Mxm slots and power.

nvidia quadro fx 2700m 512mb mxm-iii?

[zanzabar]

nvidia quadro fx 2700m 512mb mxm-iii?

that is like a 9500 i dont think that its better than what you had or good with cuda, and i dont think that you can replace the card with something that is not from dell and that it could not be purchased with so i would just leave it since high end laptop cards are like $400-500 even if they are years old.

[halofanman]

that is like a 9500 i dont think that its better than what you had or good with cuda, and i dont think that you can replace the card with something that is not from dell and that it could not be purchased with so i would just leave it since high end laptop cards are like $400-500 even if they are years old.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NVIDIA-QUADR...-/120839825834
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product...2700_m_us.html

there are four of them available on ebay! I could snatch up two of these quadro cards for $360..
what do you guys think?

NVIDIA® CUDA™ Parallel Computing Processor
Unleashes new capabilities with 48-core CUDA parallel computing processor to solve highly complex challenges such as real-time ray tracing, video encoding, and interactive volume rendering.

[halofanman]

Ok, I Revived This Project Big Update Guys, I've put some work into the machine.

__________________________________________________
Cosmetic restoration: ($140.90) *COMPLETED
New USB/Audio Board: ($90 Shipped)
Processor: Q9100 Quad Core 2.26Ghz ($118.99 shipped)
Memory: 8GB Crucial DDR3 1066 Dual Channel Kit ($56.99 shipped)
Hard Drive 1: Crucial M4 64GB SSD ($0 pulled from desktop)
Hard Drive 2: Spinpoint M8 1TB 5400rpm HD ($85 shipped)
__________________________________________________

Grand Total $491.88
$8.12 under my budget!!! w000t


Damage Report:

near the fingerprint sensor there are some noticeable burns (cigarettes while DJing, bad habit)


again there are more burns, affecting the power switch panel, and keyboard.


then we have some corner damage on the lower case piece.

I figured ALL NEW casing would only be a little bit over $100 I have found a site called ZTRONICS that has special parts.

UPDATE: 2/14/13 Today I just unboxed the first shipment for the restoration. the rest of the panels should be arriving next week, then I will break the laptop down and re-assemble it

PARTS:








when I finish with the panels this thing is going to look BRAND NEW, like it just came out of the box!!!

2/16/13 OK UPDATE HERE!
the rest of the panels arrived today.
I did not make a video, as I have found a video of this laptop breaking down for reference.



I have some photos of the process. I didn't take pictures of everything step by step because I was quite busy but here it is.

Started First By Removing the back Plate.


Next I took out the Hard Drives, Ram, Heatsinks, And GPUs, Cleaned All the old thermal paste off with rubbing alcohol


Removed the "old" keyboard and power panels.


finally the top panel comes off revealing the motherboard which I removed and carefully placed into the new casing.



the moment you all have been waiting for, here is what it looks like restored

[ovard]

This made me so happy! Thanks for updating!