Weekly Rant #2: Standardized laptops... I wish...

So I'm sure a lot of you out there have laptops. And I'm sure a lot of the people reading this have been more than mildly annoyed by the fact that it cost more to "build" one yourself than to buy one that almost meets your needs. Build is of course in quotations because 80% comes in the bare bones kits out there for them. Or maybe you just want to upgrade your graphics card? Good luck. While a standard's existed for laptop GPU's for some time, very few manufacturers have implemented them. Or hey, your screen just broke. But there are about 100 different kinds for the size screen your laptop uses. So you have to pay extra to get the one that's specifically made to work with your model.

So what do I want? I WANT STANDARDIZATION!!! Pretty much everyones desires could be covered by 5 versions of the same part. The keyboard for example. Need one version for 13" notebooks, then a standard one such as those on 14-16" notebooks, and a final full keyboard with keypad for 17"+ notebooks. 3 standard keyboards could cover the entire range of laptops. But does it exist? No.

My question is, why the hell not? There aren't even design issues caused by the keyboard and it's still not standardized. It's simply stupid. Oddly enough, a lot more complicated parts ARE STANDARDIZED! Ram, HDD, CD/DVD/BRay, and even the CPU in your laptop can be changed out with little to no hassle. All I really purpose is that we do this with every other internal part and the custom laptop cases for system building will follow. And don't give me that crap about heat dissipation because if everything is standardized, so are heatsinks and fans to the point where they can be matched appropriately.

Specific steps needed.

• TWO LCD type connectors to fit all regardless of size shape or resolution. One for fixed LCD and another for swivel tablet styles
• 3-5 touch pad sizes and mount standards (Buttons included).
• 3 Keyboard sizes / shapes... Just think of all the cool versions that fit the standard people will immediately come out with. Colors, lights, artsy stuff on them, you name it.
• 2 Standard connectors for Media / Application / Power buttons, one at back and one at front.
• Standard CPU / GPU placement so they can share the fan / heatsink.

This leaves only the motherboard, heatsink / fan, and laptop body having to be made for each other.