Build A Custom 'Whitebook'

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The advent of the white-box notebook, or "whitebook," was only a matter of time. The PC components industry has long provided an opportunity for system builder to build and brand their own desktop PCs. But for far too long, notebooks remained the sole province of the tier-one manufacturers and a scattered few independents large enough to commission and buy in bulk.

Now, with Intel eager to put wireless technology in as many hands as possible, times have changed. The chipmaker has pushed manufacturers and distributors to open the floodgates to the channel. It is now possible to customize a notebook in no more time than it takes to build a desktop. While the state of interchangeable parts for notebooks is still not as advanced (or as cost-effective) as it is in the desktop world, it's a far cry from simply selling through a major vendor's notebook with your own brand on it. In fact, market research from IDC indicates that at least 60 system builders are actively competing in the whitebook segment. Because of the smaller range of competitors and the value-add a wireless notebook brings, margins tend to be better than in the desktop world.

But before you plunge into the whitebook market, there are a few things you need to know. The first is that the big manufacturers are likely to continue owning the very bottom of the pricing ladder for some time, if not forever. Whitebooks are simply not yet cost-effective enough to compete in the basement, although that may change as volumes increase. It's in the mid-range and high-end, particularly catering to thin-and-light power users, that a whitebook can be tailored to meet customer requirements without selling through someone else's brand.

To get started, you need an upstream distribution partner who handles the growing range of build-to-order notebook components. You need a supplier who can reliably provide the barebones notebook along with mobile CPUs, hard drives, RAM, optical drive upgrades and wireless networking cards suited to your market. Ensure that your supplier will back these products, particularly the hardware in the barebones notebook, with at least the same RMA (return materials authorization) turnaround and technical support they provide on their more established products. In other words, they need to stand by their whitebook components the same way they'd back a dead desktop motherboard or video card.

Take care when shopping for the barebones notebook platform. Some too-good-to-be-true models may feature an external battery, or no battery at all. Neither is acceptable with today's customers. Also, remember that the notebook integrates motherboard, power supply, and display along with all the I/O, so you cannot customize those parts once the chassis is purchased. First International Computer (FIC) in particular has led the way with simple, elegant designs that look and feel like a mainstream notebook.

The only other question is,how to get your notebooks ready for sale? True whitebooks are minimally branded, leaving plenty of room to apply your own identity. The only catch is that even a notebook with all the required Intel Centrino components cannot be branded "Centrino" without Intel's approval and licensing.

Our whitebook parts for this demonstration were kindly supplied by D&H Distributing Co., which provides both barebones and custom-assembled unbranded notebooks to the channel. More information on whitebooks is available from Intel through the Mobile Channel Leader and Build-To-Order programs.

Ingredients

• FIC MB02 Chassis. The FIC MB02 platform is an increasingly popular barebones whitebook. It weighs less than five pounds when fully assembled, the slots and sockets are all easily accessible with a minimum of screw-turning, and the price, typically around $800 in single quantities, favors the mid-range thin-and-light buyer. The chassis includes case, motherboard, optical drive, display, keyboard, touchpad, battery, and integrated 802.11b antenna.
• Intel Pentium-M CPU. Intel's latest mobile CPU runs on the slow side compared to other options, but it is extremely easy on battery life. We used the entry-level 1.4 GHz CPU.
• 2.5-inch IDE hard drive.We used a 40 GB, 5400 RPM Seagate model for our test install, but virtually any standard 44-pin notebook drive will do.
• DDR SO-DIMM memory module.The MB02 sports two slots for system RAM. We used a single 512 MB, 266 MHz module.
• Intel PRO/Wireless 802.11b Mini-PCI card. This provides the wireless networking portion of our mobile notebook.
• Windows XP Professional OEM edition. Like any system, the new notebook needs an OS. You may of course substitute another Windows variant, Linux, Solaris, or any other OS that suits your customer. One of the beauties of building a whitebook is that you can provide OS flexibility, which rarely comes from the large notebook suppliers.
• Burn-In software. Options abound here, and you may choose the benchmark or burn-in suite that appeals to you most. We opted for SiSoftware's Sandra program.
• Logo/brand stickers (optional). The whitebook MB02 comes with a small rounded-rectangle bearing the simple legend "Notebook," which you may replace or augment with the logos and names of your choosing. After all, it's your product.

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