What you read above in italics are the words from ScreenTek. From here on out, it's going to be all me giving you a first hand how-to on replacing the screen in a laptop. The folks over at ScreenTek offered me the choice to replace a broken LCD in a donor laptop or send me a replacement LCD for my current laptop. So, like the idiot I am, I chose to risk it all and use my HP laptop and truly give the home user a first hand experience at replacing the screen.

    I passed along the make and model of my laptop to the folks over at ScreenTek, and in a few days I had the replacement LCD, along with a folder loaded with instructions on both paper and a CD, testimonials, along with the dirty little secret about anti-reflective LCD panels. One other item they sent out along with the information packet was a piece of paper with the cost of my LCD panel if I was to get it from HP. I must the say that I was totally shocked at the price difference between ScreenTek and HP for the same LCD. On the LCD alone I would have saved over 60% on the price versus that from HP, and that's not including labor and possible shipping costs from HP.

Installation:

 

Guinea Pig

Tool Set

Grommets

Surgery Time

    With the information packet in hand, I set out to tackle the job of replacing the LCD in my laptop on my own. As per the instructions, the power cable and battery were removed. Then the rubber grommets around the bezel were removed. One key factor I found that failed to be mentioned was using the correct size bit on the screws. In my case it was a Philips bit, and the size was PH1. These odd size bits can be found in a jeweler's bit set or something similar. No sense in damaging the screw heads while replacing the LCD panel. It's possible that other bezel screw heads may be different.

   

Grommets Removed	Bezel	Bezel Removed	Right Hinge
Left Hinge	WiFi Antenna	LCD Screw	Removed
All 4 Screws Removed	Metal Frame	Video Connection	Inverter Plug

    After removing the bezel screws, it was time to remove the bezel itself. The bezel is constructed of extremely thin plastic that can be easily damaged, so please take your time in removing the bezel. The bezel is not only held in place with screws, but it also snaps into place... and trying to unsnap the bezel is where the damage can happen. With the bezel safely removed, my next task was to release the metal frame from the top lid of the laptop. For the people with wireless built in, the antenna wires may be attached here. 14 screws released the top lid from the metal frame, and now I was left with the LCD and metal frame. What I did next was lowered the LCD panel into its resting position and removed a total of 4 screws, which released the LCD from the metal frame. The last thing to do is gently unplug the two wire connections and remove the broken LCD panel.

 

The Panels	Hanging Out	Back Side of New LCD
The Connections	Panel Connector	New Panel Installed

    Now it's time to place a towel over the keyboard and lay the new LCD panel on the towel. No reason we should scratch a new panel before it gets installed, right? Now it's just a matter of reversing the steps with putting the four screws through the frame into the panel, then lifting the lid onto the back of the frame, and replacing the 14 screws there. The last steps are to snap the bezel back on and replace the bezel screws and rubber grommets. Power up the laptop and enjoy the rewarding feeling of doing the replacement yourself and saving a ton of money.

Conclusion:

    I must say I was truly nervous about performing this task myself. I personally don't have any issues diving into a project like this, but we all have second thoughts. My mind was eased when I looked over the information packet that was sent along with the LCD panel. This packet really shows you step by detailed step how to safely and effectively replace the panel, while keeping issues to a minimum.

    Once I started the project, I got comfortable with it, and during the whole entire task, the only real issue I encountered was removing the bezel after the screws were out. The bezel plastic is very thin and snaps into the lid of the laptop. Once I figured how to remove the bezel without breaking it, everything else was a breeze. The total time for the entire process was under one hour.

    Bottom line here folks: if you have a laptop with a broken screen and think the only solution is to either have it replaced by the manufacturer or buy a new unit, just stop and give the folks over at ScreenTek Inc a call. They will supply you with a new LCD panel and tons of instructions for the fraction of the cost of a new laptop or even a repair from the manufacturer.