[Paulo9716]

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentleman

First time post here and was looking for a little guidance.
Have been thinking of setting up a HTPC running XBMC and their are so many ways to go, though was thinking if at possible to strip my laptop down (maybe get someone to that for me)
I guess I want to know if the components I have in the laptop would work well with a new set-up.
The only thing I know for sure is am not bothered on the size of the case as I know not all components fit all cases.
The hardware I have in the laptop and perhaps could be used are as follows.

Intel i5-2410m cpu @ 2.30GHz
8G RAM (not sure of the type)
1TB HARD DRIVE (use a WD NAS though so not to bothered with this , as I understand should use a Solid drive for operating system)
Not sure of motherboard, I know it has HDMI and USB 3 and 2 if this helps in any way
Windows 7 Home Premium
NVIDIA GFORCE GT 540M 1GB
There is a Blu-Ray Player that supports 3D Playback

Now as you have probably gathered I am not brilliant with these things though like to give things a try and as mentioned may seek guidance to strip and re-build and of course if I cannot use these components will probably buy a ready made HTPC but looking at some specs of forum members HTPC they seem to be similar.

Any assistance would be hugely appreciated and it is because of members like you and the fantastic builds I have seen that I am now itching to get started with my own.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to look through my post.

Regards

Paulo

[method115]

I'm not sure you could do that because I don't know how you would give it power. I don't think you can just buy a power supply and plug it in though I'm not sure.

What I used to do is use my laptop as the HTPC and just leave it connected it was dual core celeron and worked almost perfectly but did mess up on a few 1080p movies that were really high quality. Your laptop would be able to handle anything and is a bit of overkill. I'm glad I eventually built my own HTPC but the laptop worked great for a long time and other than not playing some movies right because it wasn't powerful enough I really liked it.

[Paulo9716]

Method115
Thank you so much for your very quick reply it is indeed much appreciated.
Never thought of the power aspect!
Will look into this further. Great to hear that you are all set up and it is working for you.
I'm sure eventually I will get their or should I say hope!

Paulo

[bluray]

Not so fast! Make sure that your processor can be upgraded, because not every laptop has a processor that can be replaced. Many are soldered in...

[butchabay]

I'm not sure i understand what your intension is, but why the heck you don't use your notebook as htpc?
I'm using mine since 3 years now and it works perfectly.

[Paulo9716]

Butchabay
Thank you for your reply it is appreciated.
My laptop is something I just do not use anymore, the fans are way to loud if I were to house this permanently in my living area whilst watching movies and also means having this on near the television and from a purely aesthetic point would not fit in, on the other hand to have a stylish Htpc in a sleek case would be perfect for me. It's only because I do not use the laptop that I thought I could perhaps to something with the components.
Thank your for your reply again
Regards
Paulo

[method115]

Butchabay
Thank you for your reply it is appreciated.
My laptop is something I just do not use anymore, the fans are way to loud if I were to house this permanently in my living area whilst watching movies and also means having this on near the television and from a purely aesthetic point would not fit in, on the other hand to have a stylish Htpc in a sleek case would be perfect for me. It's only because I do not use the laptop that I thought I could perhaps to something with the components.
Thank your for your reply again
Regards
Paulo

Oh I see you don't want the ugly looking laptop in your entertainment system. Best thing to do then is just sell the laptop and use the money to build an HTPC. The ones stickied in this thread section of the forum work great used them to build mine.

[Paulo9716]

Thank you for your advice, perhaps I should look into the resale value of the laptop should I not be able to salvage any of the components.
Thank you again.
Regards
Paulo

[teeedubb]

All the laptops I've opened have been really tight on the inside and use non standard motherboards etc. I think what you want to do is doable with some work - like mounting the motherboard to the new case, usb/hdmi/etc port access, cabling for bluray drive so it can sit in the normal position inside the case, attaching quieter fans etc. Probably the easiest thing to do would be to open up the existing laptop case so it gets more ventilation plus cleaning out the fans etc - this could reduce temps thus reduce noise. Probably easiest to sell the laptop and use the cash to buy a htpc.

[Paulo9716]

Teeedubb
Thank you for your response, hmm the more I hear from experienced posters and the more I research I feel you be right, seems like it will be a lot of work and trial and error, will certainly look into the resale value of the laptop and take things from there, again as I'm not experienced in this maybe biting off more than I can chew.
Thanks

[bluray]

Why go through all the troubles? You can simply put it on Craighslist, and use the money to build a new PC....