Help with the basics on laptop

[Spiked]

Okay, here's the plan. I want to completely transform my dell latitude cpx pIII 500 into a stylish notetakin, gamin machine.

Moding to be done:
- switch out the fan....the stock one is a piece of crap
- add tempature display between power switch and leds using an old thermometer
- attach an EL wire to the power source, with an on/off switch to light the keyboard from beneath
- possibly add a stylish window to the back of the lcd screen that will be lit by the lcd screen itself

Okay, I know that sounds like quite a bit for a laptop, but I think it is do-able. If anyone thinks that any part of this is impossible, please dissuade me from it now.

I have allready run into some problems in the planning stage. I can't seem to find a good way to wire in an EL wire or thermometer to the laptop's power. I took some quick pics but my dc was actin up, Im not sure if they are clear enough, but I took the liberty of labeling them a bit.

Also, what is missing over by the audio ports? I labeled it what is this?

 

[tatanka]

my main concern about modding laptops is space... it's plenty cramped in there as it is so you might have to omit stuff in order to fit everything that you want to do.... for instance, you might have to use the battery bay to fit the inverter for your el wire.... make sure you measure everything and try and do some pre-fitting before you start hacking up your laptop.... keep us posted on what you do (plenty of pics please) I have a dell cpx-j that i'm using as a paper weight right now... if your mod goes well i might try some of my own on my laptop too good luck man

(p.s. I believe the part that appears to be "missing" is the internal modem... but dont quote me on that )

 

[Spiked]

thanks for your reply. Mine is a Cpx-h and i think there should be room for a 'hacked up' inverter for the El wire. There is a slot between the pcmcia slots and the hard drive that is about 1x1 cm. also there is room between the modular bay and the processor heat sink. My only problem really, is supplying power to my mods.

 

[Spiked]

Comon people, I need some ideas of how to connect to the power scource. It has a battery and a wall plug-in, so I'm not sure how the power usage works or where to connect my mods.