Laptop Screen

[StarEcho]

Back in January of this year my laptop screen bit the dust.  I couldn't and still can't afford a new laptop, so I got a cheap Walmart 19" tv to use as a monitor.  I figured it wouldn't be a waste even if I did get a new laptop since I could use it for TV as well.  

Anyway, it has been irritating me so much that my laptop had for all practical purposes become a desktop that I finally looked up what could be wrong and if it could be fixed.  No way could I afford taking it to a computer shop.  

I found a laptop screen on Amazon that matched my broken one (ie, for the same brand and model laptop), watched several youtube videos on how to remove and install and after pins and needles waiting, finally got it yesterday.  And voila!  It cost around $70 including shipping to fix my laptop to where it is now a laptop!  Yay!

Yes, I could probably have gotten a new laptop for a couple hundred, but I decided that I didn't need a laptop that was less than or even the same as what I already have.  If I was going to spend money on a new laptop it would need to be decidedly better in terms of RAM, ROM, CPU, and every other marker of quality.  The one I have is old (3-4 years:  I think in computer years that = around 80)  And any "better" laptop was in the over $500 range.

So anyway, this post is to inform/remind others that you can fix things like that, even yourself.  Every time I open this laptop now I still can't believe that *I* fixed the screen!

Now, I have to fix the 3 or 4 keys that have broken hinges so they keep flopping off.  I priced those out as $4.50 per key and Amazon sells a brand new keyboard with prime for $20!  Think I'll just get a new keyboard.  Who cares if it's black and my current one is gray?  Not me!

Thanks for reading.  I don't know of anyone else who would care, but I figure if anyone would understand how great it is to be able to fix it yourself, you all would.

 

[LeeRevell]

Good on ya!  Being a DIYer and son of a Master DIYer,  I can certainly appreciate it!  

 

[MikeRuth]

Good job and congratulations. 
Yeah just go with the new keyboard. Loose keys seem to be like a cancer, it gets worse. 

Mike R

 

[Almost There]

 Good job and congratulations. 
Yeah just go with the new keyboard. Loose keys seem to be like a cancer, it gets worse. 

Mike R

I agree!

The other choice is to go with a remote keyboard. I used one for several years when my old laptop had problems and actually I liked it better than the keyboard in the laptop. I could sit with it on my lap or if I was at a computer desk, I could use it on the pull out drawer. It was a much better height for me instead of using the one in the laptop.

I also won't ever be without a real mouse instead of the keypad.

 

[minimotos95]

I considered my last laptop totaled when the screen, keyboard and battery went bad. My current laptop I upgraded from a dual core pentium to a dual core I5 and just got a new battery $30-40 total, it still has 4gb of RAM and a WD blue so I wouldn't put more than another $75 into it.

 

[LeeRevell]

It took some time to get used to my laptop keyboard.  The size is okay, for this 15" machine.  But the keys have a few "out of order", causing me to occasionally hit the wrong one.  But that is just a matter of training.  
I cannot use the touchpad.  Totally useless for me.  My wireless mouse is a Godsend.

 

[eDJ_]

If you aren't a tech person I can imagine the joy you felt in overcoming a foreboding task like that.  I remember
building my first computer from a Tiger Direct Kit.  (an AMD K6 3 rig that I loved)

But,  I wasn't exactly a kid at the time like so many I talked to on line back then.

Now,  I think about who really builds these things in China.  School Kids.


China's Tech Factories turn to Student Labor

http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-tech-factories-turn-to-student-labor-1411572448

 

[highdesertranger]

good for you star echo. highdesertranger