Laptop w/a smashed screen?

My brother-n-law recently gave me one of his laptops the other day to play with. Since he had no idea of how to fix it, he said that I could have it. Like I know what I am doing when it comes to computers?! *smirk*

While the computer boots up just fine, the problem is that the screen is totally shot. One of his kids "accidently" dropped it onto the floor, and then "accidently" stomped on the screen a few times to finish it off. The screen has a large crack on it which has turned into a giant black blob, rendering the whole screen useless..

And now to the reason that I started this thread. Can someone tell me how hard is it to replace the screen on a laptop computer? Is it something that I can do myself, or do I need to take it to a shop? And finally, is it even worth fixing, or should I just chuck the whole thing into the garbage?

(Just so you know. It's a HP Pavilion zt1000.)

Its gonna cost more for the screen than a new lappy, just use it as a DTR with an external monitor.

Double post

What he said. The price for a new LCD is quite expensive for the replacement.

Did his kids get a for the smashing? :laughing:

No, his kid didn't get squat for what he did. Not unless you call a "20 minute timeout" punishment... :shrug:

Well, it's starting to look like I'm going to need an run it with an external monitor. Perhaps I should run by the local computer shops and see if they have anything laying around that I can use.

It's not too hard to replace it as long as you can afford the parts. I'd suggest searching Ebay for laptop screens - there are plenty of dead laptops out there that are being sold for parts, where something other than the screen failed.

Thanks for the tip, PhotonWrangler! I'll check and see what's on there tonight..

You might try checking ebay for a laptop screen.

I just did. My intial search didn't turn up anything. A more thorough search may be needed..

Mmh... too bad the screen itself was shot.
If it were just the backlight, I've heard it's possible to repair it for pretty cheap by replacing the tube and inverter yourself.

Yeah, I wish that it was just the "backlight" and not the entire LCD screen..

As long as the entire top assembly isn't destroyed its fine. (As in the back side plastic/steel/whatever they use on your model) You can find a LCD replacement. I've seen people sell IBM T4x series LCDs that go to 1400x1050 with flexview for 200 dollars...

Since I'm just going to use it as a backup computer around the house (and not move it anywhere), I think going to go the cheap route and find an external monitor for it. :wave:

I've seen some LCD replacements brand new go for 60 on ebay. Maybe you can find a desktop 15" LCD and make a nice terminal out of it.

Schuey2002 said:

Since I'm just going to use it as a backup computer around the house (and not move it anywhere), I think going to go the cheap route and find an external monitor for it. :wave:

Click to expand...

Or just use it with 'Remote Desktop' if you've got XP pro on it, and forget about the monitor all together.

Beating a dead horse, but hook it up to an external monitor.

After getting used to a 17 inch LCD monitor, I had a hard time going back to the 15 inch CRT or even the 15 inch LCD monitor, then I bought my current 19 inch LCD monitor and anything smaller is horrible for me. I am used to seeing a big screen now and tried out a 12.1 inch laptop over the weekend and basically couldn't use it. It hurt my eyes to adjust to such a small screen and deal with all the scrolling. I run my 19 inch monitor at 1280X1024 pixels.

I purchased a 19 inch Samsung 914V LCD monitor at Staples on Black Friday for ~$220 after rebates and taxes.

Jason

If nothing comes up on ebay or any online part shop then just use an external monitor. That or make some fast cash on craigslist.com!

You could always use it with an external monitor...

(Seriously, how many times do we need to state that? Would anyone else like to tell him to use it with an external monitor? )

JM-99

Hey, you know what? Maybe I should go with an external monitor? Hmmmmm..




:laughing:


On a more serious note. I just got off the phone with my Mom. She told me about one of her "computer geek" clients who has a used Sony Trinitron 17" monitor that he is willing to give her for almost next to nothing.. Guess who is going to get it? :buddies:

Jumpmaster said:

Would anyone else like to tell him to use it with an external monitor?

Click to expand...

Why don't you hook it up to an external monitor?
:laughing:

All CRT's (14" and above) are usually $40 at the State Surplus 'round here.