Broken laptop

needahol

My son has broken my laptop. He hit the screen with a hard object (was messing around and throwing it for the dog!) and, although I still have power, the screen just has a load of squiggly lines and all icons. start menu, etc. are gone.

The laptop is 2 years old (out of guarantee). Does anyone have an idea if there is anything that can be done. I'd always assumed the main bits in the laptop were under the keyboard so don't know what actual damage has been done following this blow to the screen

Any help would be appreciated

davb

You can buy replacement LCD panels, but they are not the cheapest of things. What is the make/model of the laptop.

You can probably connect it up to a monitor to back up your data etc.

edison1457

more details about laptop model will be helpful.

needahol

Thanks, it's a Dell inspiron 1520.

davb

A few around if you Google at just over £100 such as here (Just an example - I know nothing about the company).
You need to make sure you get the right resolution eg 1280x800 .
They can be tricky to swap, especially if it's not your sort of thing - may be worth getting a quote from a local repairer if you know a decent one.

needahol

davb wrote: »

A few around if you Google at just over £100 such as here (Just an example - I know nothing about the company).
You need to make sure you get the right resolution eg 1280x800 .
They can be tricky to swap, especially if it's not your sort of thing - may be worth getting a quote from a local repairer if you know a decent one.

Thanks, I definitely couldn't swap myself but will ask our computer support guys at work to see if one of them could do it for me. It's not something I can afford to do just yet anyway but it's helpful to have an idea of how much I'll need to sort it in the new year.

deanos

Have a look on Ebay

http://computers.shop.ebay.co.uk/Screens-LCD-Panels-/31569/i.html?_nkw=Dell+inspiron+1520+screen&_catref=1&_fln=1&_sc=1&_sop=15&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282

GunJack

As an alternative to just the LCD screen, see if someone on ebay is selling a full top cover. Easier to change than just the LCD, and often cheaper to buy (for example, my oldest did something similar with his IBM Thinkpad this Autumn. I got a complete top cover off ebay for £23 delivered, fitted it and away he goes again )

needahol

GunJack wrote: »

As an alternative to just the LCD screen, see if someone on ebay is selling a full top cover. Easier to change than just the LCD, and often cheaper to buy (for example, my oldest did something similar with his IBM Thinkpad this Autumn. I got a complete top cover off ebay for £23 delivered, fitted it and away he goes again )

Please excuse my ignorance but can you (or someone else) explain what a full top cover is and, if the screen isn't cracked (which it isn't), whether getting one of these would be likely to mean I'd have my laptop back in working order

Thanks to all who have taken the time to reply

davb

needahol wrote: »

Please excuse my ignorance but can you (or someone else) explain what a full top cover is

It's the whole top half of the laptop from the hinges up - rather than just the inside bit.

needahol wrote: »

if the screen isn't cracked (which it isn't), whether getting one of these would be likely to mean I'd have my laptop back in working order

We are assuming from what you said that the screen is bad, but you can confirm this if there is a VGA socket on the laptop and you have a monitor you can connect to it - it should start and display on the monitor if it is just the screen.

needahol

I don't have a monitor to connect it to as we have (had) 2 laptops. The screen looks as if it's smashed as there is a large black mass (presumably where the object hit) and what looks like loads of spiders webs running through, There are also loads of coloured lines running vertically down the screen. The screen is intact though and about 1/5th of the screen is the usual blue (and I can actually now see some of my desktop items in that bit)