Building a new DesktopComputer is possible. But is it possible to build my own Laptop computer?? Or is this something I should let the pro's do? I consider my self someone who can do moderately difficult stuff, if i get correct and good instructions. Ofcourse i wouldn't want to risk lots of money on building one myself, if there isn't much to save anyway.

A few questions:

Will it be difficult to find parts for a laptop? I live in Norway, so if i have to ship parts from the US, that will add a bit of money to the final cost.

If this project of mine is possible, what parts (CPU, Motherboard etc.) do you recommend for me?? I will be using it for schoolwork, internet, gaming (NFS U2, Football Manager05, Counter Strike). I only have a desktop computer at this point:
Dell Dimension 4500 - 2002 mod.
Intel Pentium4 - 2,4Ghz
Intel 445c Chipset
512MB RAM
40GB HD
64MB nVidia Geforce MX 420
And i would like to have a laptop which is better than this, but not to much.

The price i am looking at is max. $2250

Will there be lots (250$) of money to save, compared to "as an example" Dell?

:!: Look at the next post for additional info... :!:

Forgot to mention that $2250 would end up costing more in Norway, sky high taxes etc. makes everything in Norway expensive. As an example: In Norway a car that would cost $14000-$16000 would cost approx. 200000kr=$25000. Now, car prices are extreme, but this gives you an idea of the price differences. The price i thinking about was 15000kr, which equals approx. $2250, but a price around $1750 to $1900 is more realistic.

While theoretically possible (after all, the factories do it ;) ) there is a major snagg and that's the availability of parts (meaning: there are none to be had).

For schoolwork you don't need massive power, it'll be mainly word processing, a bit of spreadsheet work, programming, and maybe some simple graphics for illustrating papers.

Nothing any laptop on the market cannot handle, after all they're built as office machines and that's exactly what office machines are good at...

A decent laptop can surely be had for that money, just go to your nearest computer superstore or MediaMarkt (are they in Norway yet? they seem to be appearing all over Europe) and take a look around.
Do stick with the major brands like HP, Acer, Toshiba, and IBM, as the support and quality on the nonames like Packars Bell and more obscure brands is often very poor.

You will want a machine with some expansion capabilities. For example the option to fit a second harddrive or more RAM.
Decide on whether you want a CD or DVD burner in there. Usually you cannot replace the unit once installed so better choose wisely (it may be better to get a cheaper unit with just a CD drive and later buy an external writer with a USB or FireWire connection.
Built in network card is now pretty much standard, but units with wireless network cards and/or Gigabit lan are starting to appear. Do you want this or would you rather spend the money on a better CPU or harddisk? Personally I say do the latter, you could always get that card as a PCMCIA card for example (if you plan to use it in class and your school has or is planning wireless lan you might want to include that as standard if it's not too expensive).

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