planning to build 2 laptops

[hbarudi]

For me and my brother, we need laptops, the one I am using is 3 years old and is already having problems to the point where I am unable to upgrade to windows 10 and had to disable automatic updates in 8.1, also my usb ports are starting to not work, my headphone jack broke inside, and also my wifi/bluetooth card working, but driver issues and not supported by windows 10.

Items to build a laptop:
- motherboard
- Intel processor prefer quad core
- nvidia graphics card (is it possible to lets say plug in a chromecast or any other hdmi device and view content on the laptop screen)
- good fans and cooling
- ram
- ssd tb for me and 1/4tb for brother
- good sound card prefer separate microphone and headphone plug in spot
- good wifi/bluetooth card
- gps card
- also ethernet port for when the wifi is not good
- prefer not to put any cd/dvd/bluray drive, have an external usb bluray writer
- for screen would like turn around and be pen and touch
- keyboard prefer numpad with it if possible and touchpad*
- will 3d print the case
- will assemble inside a physics lab at university
- if stuff such as usb or sd card reader might be attached to motherboard, or may need separate cards
- *touchpad not necessary since I will be using a usb mouse, also have usb keyboard.

Any help from knuckle cracker community will be appreciated.

[Karsten75]

In general I'd say that it is next to impossible to build a laptop. Some years ago there were vendors selling cases, motherboards and screens, but I've not come across many lately.

Most vendors have bespoke motherboards built to suit their cases. Laptop processors are often-times soldered onto the motherboard. Batteries, etc. are all an issue.

Same goes for upgrading newer laptop models. More and more components are bespoke and non-removable (soldered) to improve form factors, power efficiency and weight.

You can ask on a larger forum, such as Tom's Hardware. Maybe someone there has more experience. Post back if you find something interesting.

If you're looking to buy, I'm a firm favorite of Lenovo laptops. We also have one Asus small notebook and it's pretty good for the @200 we paid for it - but it certainly isn't a gaming machine.

[hbarudi]

Lenovo?!
For my brother, first we bought the gaming Lenovo Y510P version for $900 and after 14 months, it became completely fried and unable to work in any way, then we bought a yoga rugged featured at best buy with extended return policy for also $900 and we had to return it after an update made the entire PC inoperable.

So we really had major issues with lenovo and would like stay away from lenovo due to such issues happening with them

Sorry if you are a fan of their laptops, but they need to make sure that they actually work first.

Thanks for your help appreciated.

[hbarudi]

What about an all-in-one 18 inch tablet like PC with battery,

found a few at best buy, but they didn't have good specs.

Are there any such devices that have good specs and be move-around-able like a large tablet?

Will appreciate any community help.

[Karsten75]

I can't speak for your experience, but "fried" can be any one of a number of issues and I don't see how you can hold Lenovo responsible for the "update" which I assume was software.

As for me, I and members of my family has had Lenovo laptops since the mid-90s, with one of those laptops doing service for almost 10 years (several batteries, hard drive and even OS upgrades) and not one of them has had any issues - not even the one I dropped off the kitchen counter.

What about an all-in-one 18 inch tablet like PC with battery,

found a few at best buy, but they didn't have good specs.

Are there any such devices that have good specs and be move-around-able like a large tablet?

Will appreciate any community help.

Those are not great machines in general.

[Grayzzur]

18" is not a tablet. It's an all-in-one desktop PC built into the backside of  a monitor, though it probably has a touchscreen. I wouldn't consider them good enough for gaming, they tend to target users who check email and browse the web and do basic office tasks (Word, Excel, etc.), and maybe play some videos.

Powerful (gaming), Small (laptop/tablet sized), Inexpensive --- Pick Two. You can't have all three.

My younger son has a Lenovo that he's had about 4 years now. Other than being horribly slow now (and I'd expect that from any 4-year old economy laptop), it works just fine. No issues. That being said, he asked for "a gaming computer like his dad and brother's" for christmas, and now has a tower desktop computer. I helped him pick out parts and made him put it together, it was a fun experience. It's in the Powerful/Inexpensive zone. It's not portable, though.

As for your Chromecast question -- you likely wouldn't be able to plug one into a laptop. A laptop should be able to access all the same video sources with other software though, those dongles are made to plug into a TV that doesn't have a computer, and they plug into the HDMI *Input* port. A Laptop or video card is HDMI *Output* to a monitor. You could probably plug a Chromecast into a computer monitor, as long as it gets the power it needs to run.