Dell Latitude d400 modding sleeper project

[JAGRocks]

Hello

got given a d400 recently with what seems like a dead motherboard and although its not worth any thing im thinking about doing a project for some fun.

this laptop has an amazing build quality and im amazed unlike some more modern laptops its not stuck together with tape and every bit of it is thought out and has its own place within the laptop.

if I go ahead then all pictures and steps will be posted here.

first I need some advice

Has it been done before.

Does anyone know of a mobo that will fit in this chasis as it is wether its a more modern dell mobo or even just with the same dimensions that would fit easily?

would it be better if I just recrafted the inside in order to fit a very modern mobo in?

I might also look into replacing the screen for somthing thats has a higher resoloution as this doesn't even compete with most smartphones these days

the limitations im seeing sofar are size and compatibilty for example at the moment you dont really get many 12' laptops all are either smaller of bigger. the otehr thing is interface the laptop currently uses ide/pata drives. and also how cheep it is to buy a netbook with better specs so if im going to do this then i will need to go fullout and get the best specs i can get within the chasis.

also the idea of it being a sleeper is probably more of a motoring term meaning it looks standard or like an old pile of... but its fast and amazing inside.

thanks

Jon

 

[buwish]

I'm sure that it has been done before, but there aren't any tutorials on the specific model you mentioned on tom's. There is a tutorial on top of the forum here for how to take a laptop apart (I forget which model it is). Depending on whether or not you can find a replacement motherboard, you can try to mod the "case," but be warned, it can be difficult with laptops. For starters though, here is a link to where you can get laptop motherboards (not sure if they have one for your model or not):

http/www.sparepartswarehouse.com/g3-index.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/partcategory-vendor.aspx

 

[JAGRocks]

Yeh i have quite allot of experience with fixing and rebuilding laptops however none with modding anyform of computer. that site doesnt seem to have the motherboard that i would need although i havnt look for simular it might just be best for me to get the best board i can get for the original laptop as they run pentium ms the mobo which is dead has a 1.3ghz pm soldered onto it and you can get upto a 1.8ghz pm model and there are plenty on ebay maybe i should get one of those for really cheep and just run a lightweight operating system on it like linux or chrome or something alike. however that would destroy the whole project part of it.

thankyou for the fast response when i have more time im doing to get everything measured up and see what I can fit inside and then il decide whether its worth doing or not.

c the thing is the one reason that i havnt thrown it away like i would a modern laptop with mobo failure is the structure of the laptop is excelent whereas if im going to put a totally different mobo in then its not going to be like that because it will need gutting anyway so im not sure yet.