Damaged Toshiba Laptop monitor - what to do?

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Andrew Niklaus" <auslanN0Spam3@auslan.plus.No2Spam.com> wrote in message
news:41045aa4$0$25135$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader01.plus.net...
> hi there,
>
> During a recent house move, the front lid of my notebook
> computer was placed under some force. Drat, now there
> are some lovely black lines on the 15" screen.
>
> My Toshiba Satellite 5015-S608 is 2 years old, and was
> purchased aboard in New York City. I'm now living in UK.
> Tried Toshiba UK Support to no avail, ditto for their
> suggested 'repairers', those who handle after-warranty
> repairs for Toshiba notebooks.
>
> Wonder how easy is it to find a 2-years old screen, to
> replace my screen? I am assuming that new screens
> these days won't fit my Satellite 5015 model.
>
> - Andrew
>
>
Andrew:

Since your local Toshiba won't play fair, check out eBay for one. You may
have to wait a while but usually a scrapped out machine or even just the
screen will be available for auction.

Rich

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Finding a screen really is not that difficult. And it's possible that
the screen used in that unit is still being used in current models (not
guaranteed, or even likely, but possible).

The problem is not finding a screen, it's the cost. I'm surprised that
Toshiba won't replace the screen -- for $600 to $1,000. An
out-of-warratny screen or motherboard can usually be obtained, but
usually costs about as much as a whole new computer.

The first thing that you need to do is to find the screen model. The
laptop model is not enough, because many if not most laptops are built
with more than one screen model, and parts, both mechanical and/or
electrical may change depending on which LCD panel is installed in a
particular laptop. This means opening up lid to determine the exact
panel used in your model. There is a very slim chance that you can
"fix" the problem by applying pressure to the LCD panel. I'll discuss a
permanent fix below, but improvised fixes involve stuffing pieces of
non-conductive material into the lid to continuously apply pressure to
the right point(s). This isn't necessarily possible, and it's not an
ideal solution, but sometimes it can be done and will work.

Once you have the LCD make and model number, you need to do a search on
the web and on E-Bay. Don't overlook the possibility of a complete
computer that's non-functional (for example, one that has a bad
motherboard). There are a number of places that sell LCD panels, both
on the web and on E-Bay (E-Bay has an entire category for them). One of
your problems will be that you are in the UK and most of the sellers are
in the US and most of them won't ship outside the US (not to mention
that shipping an LCD panel really is difficult, since they are so very
fragile). You will just have to deal with that on a case-by-case basis.

You may be able to get the panel repaired. Most likely, the bond
between a flat ribbon cable connecting the glass to the driver board has
separated. This is theoretically repairable, but it's a very
specialized and expensive repair that's not often done. But I have seen
a few places that do it and offer the service. This is only viable if
the LCD panel itself is not cracked.

One final note, when working inside the lid, be extremely careful. The
LCD inverter produces very high voltage that can be lethal. Use extreme
caution around the inverter and the LCD backlight lamp.


Andrew Niklaus wrote:

> hi there,
>
> During a recent house move, the front lid of my notebook
> computer was placed under some force. Drat, now there
> are some lovely black lines on the 15" screen.
>
> My Toshiba Satellite 5015-S608 is 2 years old, and was
> purchased aboard in New York City. I'm now living in UK.
> Tried Toshiba UK Support to no avail, ditto for their
> suggested 'repairers', those who handle after-warranty
> repairs for Toshiba notebooks.
>
> Wonder how easy is it to find a 2-years old screen, to
> replace my screen? I am assuming that new screens
> these days won't fit my Satellite 5015 model.
>
> - Andrew
>
>