When I bought my Acer TravelMate 8104 one year ago, I got cheap and I have not bought a protective carrying case for it. I thought that my book bag was enough to protect it. Now, it will cost more since I have to renovate and by the case.
One year later, the laptop is scratched to hell all over the place. The scrolling button has paint chipped. The wrist rest area is darkened. The rubber feet are gone.
The laptop is still very good in terms of performance. I do want to replace it just because it looks horrible. I want to give it a facelift. I want to paint it.
Can someone please upload the 8104 service manual?
Can someone tell me where I can buy or make new rubber feet?
First, I thought that I should paint the gray areas white while the display and the keyboard remain black -- like the Samsung notebooks. They look good, but it still has the same overall design -- two colours. Then I thought that I should try the white MacBook-style. However, I moved away from that because the wrist areas will darken again. I think that I'm going to paint it black, but I don't want it to look like the generic IBM Thinkpad. Those are quite ugly.
I know that having the glossy, mirror look requires hard work. The problem I have is that this is my primary computer. I cannot keep it disassembled for a month, which some tutorials I read suggested.
I heard about Krylon Fusion Plastic. I saw one painted laptop with red Krylon. However, it didn't have the glossy look (I don't know if he used the gloss paint or the non-gloss). It gave the impression of cheap plastic, not metallic.
Have any of you used Krylon Fusion Plastic with great success? Supposedly, it bonds with plastic. Meaning, it doesn’t' chip away and scratch easily. Also, it doesn't require a primer.
I've also heard about Vinyl Dye. I don't know anything about it.
I've only seen two good tutorials on painting, but those used automotive paint, which requires a lot of time. I don't necessarily want it to have the super mirror look because every single fingerprint will be seen.
Thank you,
SpookyET
PS: I've searched for "painting" in this forum. I've read the threads. Most have 404 links.
One year later, the laptop is scratched to hell all over the place. The scrolling button has paint chipped. The wrist rest area is darkened. The rubber feet are gone.
The laptop is still very good in terms of performance. I do want to replace it just because it looks horrible. I want to give it a facelift. I want to paint it.
Can someone please upload the 8104 service manual?
Can someone tell me where I can buy or make new rubber feet?
First, I thought that I should paint the gray areas white while the display and the keyboard remain black -- like the Samsung notebooks. They look good, but it still has the same overall design -- two colours. Then I thought that I should try the white MacBook-style. However, I moved away from that because the wrist areas will darken again. I think that I'm going to paint it black, but I don't want it to look like the generic IBM Thinkpad. Those are quite ugly.
I know that having the glossy, mirror look requires hard work. The problem I have is that this is my primary computer. I cannot keep it disassembled for a month, which some tutorials I read suggested.
I heard about Krylon Fusion Plastic. I saw one painted laptop with red Krylon. However, it didn't have the glossy look (I don't know if he used the gloss paint or the non-gloss). It gave the impression of cheap plastic, not metallic.
Have any of you used Krylon Fusion Plastic with great success? Supposedly, it bonds with plastic. Meaning, it doesn’t' chip away and scratch easily. Also, it doesn't require a primer.
I've also heard about Vinyl Dye. I don't know anything about it.
I've only seen two good tutorials on painting, but those used automotive paint, which requires a lot of time. I don't necessarily want it to have the super mirror look because every single fingerprint will be seen.
Thank you,
SpookyET
PS: I've searched for "painting" in this forum. I've read the threads. Most have 404 links.
