Things to Consider before Buying a Custom Laptop

Those who are looking for something very specific have the possibility of buying a custom laptop, and as a starter we will say that it is possible to install a custom desktop CPU.

Here at “The Buyers Trend” we are up to date with the news, leaks and rumors that occur in the technological field, especially with information technology.

At times, we’ve covered stories where brands like XMG inadvertently leaked a GPU that hadn’t been released yet, offering customization options. We limit the concept of buying a custom laptop and explain what it is.

What is a Custom Laptop and Why do they Exist

A custom laptop is a computer that can be customized before purchase by choosing certain selectable components (CPU, GPU, RAM, SSD, etc.) according to requirement.

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It is an alternative that is usually given in certain brands, but even more so in not so well-known brands that offer the possibility of building a beast per laptop.

Now is when you ask yourself, why exist desktop computers? Well, there are people who need portability and a lot of power, so there are companies or stores that offer configurations to create your personalized laptop.

However, you will see that there are workstation models that are far from what is seen in the gaming section; there are professionals who want something more refined.

We can call it in different ways: Custom laptop, custom, personalized, etc. The thing here is that it’s not an OEM laptop that you buy fully stocked and it gets shipped to you quickly because it’s in stock.

Things to Consider Before Buying a Custom Laptop

I anticipate that this will depend a lot on the brand you work with, but if you live in the United States you have a lot of cattle because the majority of companies that offer this service are from there.

In the case of living in Europe, there are brands such as PC Specialist, Nova custom or XMG as the ones that focus the most on this type of service, but with caveats.

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In the case of PC Specialist, we have 3 ranges (Ultrabook, gaming and professional) and within each one different models that we can configure. The configurable options will depend on the final model, but roughly they are these:

• Chassis and Screen
• Storage and Units
• Adapter to charge it
• Power cable and its length
• Battery and Wh
• Sound Card and Wireless Connectivity
• Port options, which will depend on the model
• Keyboard layout
• Operating System
• Antivirus or browsers installed, as well as various software
• Peripherals and Accessories (carrying bag, portable screen, cables, cooling, etc.)
• Delivery and services (warranty, dead pixel guarantee, etc.)

A priori, it seems to me that more customization cannot be obtained, and here they will not charge us tariffs or VAT because we are buying in Europe and everything is already included.

Moving on to the XMG option, they offer us different models with certain characteristics, but they can be configured quite a lot inside.

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As before, we will depend on the chosen model to enjoy more or less configurable options. To illustrate a bit, we have chosen the XMG PRO 15, which I find very configurable:

• Highly customizable RAM memory: brands, frequencies and capacities.
• Very customizable M.2 SSD too.
• Wi-Fi
• Keyboard with many different
• Operating system (Windows only).
• Extended warranty.
• With logo or without logo (I found this very curious).
• Power adapter for US, EU, IT, CH, etc. (very interesting too).

A lot of companies offer the same, but we have seen certain peculiarities to comment on:

• The BIOS can be customized so that when we start, our logo appears.
• You can silkscreen the laptop case to put our name or whatever we want.
• It is possible to install Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Kubuntu, Dual Boot, etc.

Basically, practically everything can be configured, but it is worth mentioning in the United States. There are many interesting stores that we advise you to visit for a custom laptop: Xidax, Eluktronics and some others where we can customize even the thermal paste that they put on the components to refrigerate them better, what a pass!

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Custom Laptop

Evaluated everything, you have to weigh what this type of laptop offers, so we are going to highlight the pros and cons of the custom laptop.

Advantages

• Maximum customization
• Less common configurations
• You can equip desktop CPUs on certain models

Disadvantages

• Your price may be slightly higher
• Slower shipments due to out of stock because we set it up for us
• Little offer of brands or companies dedicated to it

Mainly, we could find these advantages and disadvantages of custom laptops, but there are certain nuances that must be established:

• If you don’t buy in Europe: The warranty period is usually less, and sending it to the United States because it fails… it’s chaos. Also, take into account taxes (taxes) and tariffs: United States has been very hard on this.
• Personalization will depend a lot on the store or brand you choose. There will be default models that can be configured to the maximum, such as models that can be changed a couple of things.
• Although you can configure many things, sometimes the components are somewhat obsolete (11th or 10th generation in Intel, for example).
• Configurations with desktop CPUs are reduced to high-performance chips (X range in Ryzen or Intel’s “K”).

Conclusion

Is a custom laptop worth it? Well, we find it a great alternative to paying a lot of money for an OEM laptop that doesn’t 100% meets our needs.

And this is the big problem with these: You buy the entire package and you can’t change anything until the warranty expires so as not to lose it (except in exceptional cases).

In the case of custom laptops, we can customize them from minute 1 to get just what we are looking for. The customization process is very reminiscent of car configurations.  You have to choose a range to access certain models whose customization is not so open.

We will pay a little more than an OEM laptop (be it gaming or professional), but we will get just what we are looking for.

The only penalty is the shipping time, the few brands that offer this possibility, which does not make the service any easier for the consumer.

We hope these information’s has been helpful to you, and if you have any questions, comment below to answer them.