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8600c... Is D800 chassis conversion possible?

post #1 of 5
8/18/07 at 3:56pm
Thread Starter 
I recently found out about the chassis conversion from 8600 (plastic) to d800 (plastic-aluminum alloy) and since my current chassis/display bezel & casing is cracked and broken in a lot of places I was interested in performing this conversion.

While searching through ebay for parts I noticed that all of the D800s have a trackball and trackball buttons, however my 8600c (without serial ports on the back) does not have a trackball. Would the conversion still be possible?

Is the conversion a good idea at all?
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post #2 of 5
8/18/07 at 4:13pm
That's not a trackball, it's a track stick/trackpoint/nubbin/eraser head. Also, the ONLY thing on a D800's case that's made of metal is the LCD lid. Everything else is plastic just like on the inspiron...in fact, the bottom shell is the same between the systems. You can successfully add the trackpoint to your laptop buy purchasing a D800 Palmrest and keyboard. Reinstall the Alps drivers and BAM you have yourself the trackstick.
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post #3 of 5
8/20/07 at 3:18am
Thread Starter 
Ah I was under the impression that all of D800's casing was metallic (bottom, palmrest, lcd cover/bezel). I think I can salvage the bottom piece from my 8600 then...
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post #4 of 5
9/7/07 at 11:30pm
Actually, under its plastic skin is a Trimetal frame/skeleton.
I own a D800 and do maintenance on it myself.
The D800 is built like a tank.
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post #5 of 5
9/22/07 at 3:13pm
Floyd, I wasn't referring to the skeleton. Dirtytofu had erroneously been led to beleive that the outter shell of the D800 had more metal than the INspiron...which is only true of the lid.

Also, I've been a Dell field technician for three years. I've taken apart hundreds of D800's/i8600's so much so it's to the point I can disassemble them and reassemble them with my eyes closed. It may not seem like it, but I do know what I'm talking about....sometimes.
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