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Putting a new motherboard into Dell Inspirion 8500?
(slrpnk.net)
Howdy DIYers,
I happened across a lovely dell inspirion 8500. They just don't design laptops like this anymore.
Now, it's very old. It has RAM in the megabytes, so not really usable these days. I'm wondering if anybody has put a new motherboard or somehow upgraded this or a similar laptop to be decent but still keep the shell.
It is very doable - for someone with the right knowledge and experience.
You'll need to create adapters or interfaces for all the peripherals you're keeping - keyboard, touchpad, screen, etc.
You may need to create one or more custom PCBs. You may need a heat station to transplant chips to those custom PCBs.
Owning a 3D printer will help, because you will need physical adapters for many of the new components.
So, yes! It can be done, and it has been done with similar computers. But it is not easy, and it is not for the faint of heart.
I do have access to a shitty 3d printer. Curious if you know of any resources to make a custom PCB.
Nobody makes their own PCBs at home anymore. You likely order them from JLCPCB or pcbway. Look up KiCAD on how to design them.
I've only seen it done on youtube but pretty sure there's specific software to design it and companies that can make it for you.
I don't know much about making them, no.
I'm always fascinated by people who choose to do this, but I've never actually felt like trying anything like that, myself.
I do my own share of "because I can" projects, but none have to do with those kinds of electronics.