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Obtaining Used LCD Parts?
davebarz asks: "With LCDs having already passed several generations and become affordable for the average user, one would think the biggest question would be which LCD to buy. But what about for geeks with no budget and no desk space... for instance, college kids? As friends' LCD monitors stop working due to particular components such as inverters or backlights, it's hard to resist trying to take their panel off their hands and try to fix it for oneself. There's nothing difficult about changing backlights or inverters, but after getting just such a monitor from a girlfriend, I've found that it's nearly impossible to find parts. The actual LCD panel works fine, so why throw out a $400 monitor when all it needs is a $30 power inverter? So, my question is, to where should one go to find out exactly what part one needs and then buy a suitable replacement? Specifically, I'm in the market for an inverter for a Gateway FPD1730. The inverter appears to be an Ambit model, but they're no help since they're exclusively OEM. Can Slashdot provide me with any help?"
File the neccessary paperwork with your state/province/country to become a LCD OEM. Then contact the company and order the part.
Free MacMini
I do this all the time and my primary suppliers are eBay and lcdpart.com One thing to watch out for which has ruined a couple screens for me is the thin ribbon connectors whill break off if bent too many times. If those break off, you're completely screwed. So don't bend them more then you absolutely have to.
EarthLCD. http://www.earthlcd.com.
One-stop LCD buying shop.
If that doesn't work, enter in the LCD panel part number into Froogle. Usually it can be found, just depends on how much you want to spend.
As I walk through the valley of death I fear no one, for I am the meanest sonova bitch in the valley!
Might want to check out www.eio.com too. They deal with some spare parts and offer diagrams and the likes. Might get lucky.
I know this isn't entirely related to what you are trying to do, but how about using it in a situation where the backlight isn't needed, such as the diy projectors, which use the LCD screen on top of a overhead projector.
Not really practical if you are trying to use the LCD as a normal display, but if you got an overhead cheap, it might be a cheap way for a big projector screen. (But would end up with less inputs, so it might still be impractical)
Most of electronic component companies would be quite happy to send you a "sample" (or two) if you project an impression of someone who is designing "the next greatest gadget I can not tell you about right now" and you are evaluation their components for the "gadget". Sometimes if their real product are chips they would sell you an evaluation board. Well, for those you'd have to pay, but I suspect that what they charge for these boards is still below what it would cost you to assemble one (even assuming that college kids work for their girlfriends for free BUT tend to burn a part or two in the process of hand-soldering the board ;-) ).
Paul B.
The more obscure your search string, the more helpful Google is.
Last week my dad called me and said his laptop screen went out. I don't usually mess with hardware so I told him to take it to Best Buy and have them look at it.
He took it in - they said the LCD was bad and it would be about $600 to replace. He called me and I told him not to do it and I'd look into it.
I figured I could get a new LCD for less than that. I googled and came across http://www.screentekinc.com/
I called them and the salesman told me it was probably not the LCD and that I should check the inverter first. He told me one place to get parts was Bliss Computers
I didn't have the laptop on hand, didn't have part numbers, so I checked e-bay and found an inverter there for $40 (including shipping). Another LCD site had instructions on removing the bezel.
I took my time since I'd never done this before and so it took twice as long as it should have. In 10 minutes I had fixed it.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
After my post above- I tried another route. I googled 'Gateway FPD1730'. That got me a hit with a list that had two part numbers - LG708G and LG708K (the second for the TFT model I think). I googled on LG708G and got the ambit part number 6633TZA013A. I googled on that- along with AMBIT and that got me two links that sell the part:
lcdpart.com (which has already been mentioned)
moniserv.com looks like it is the same price from them.
I checked ebay real quick but didn't see anything-- but I really didn't look too hard.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Where can one buy smaller LCD's (like 2-6 inches).
My only caveat would be analog inputs (RCA) or possibly coaxial with a built in tuner.
I want to make a super PIP display. Be able to watch 5-10 channels at the same time. Maybe one day a video switcher but, one can dream (and make more money)
Odds are reasonable that it died from some other cause (knocked off desk, smashed display; staffer tripped and dumped coffee into the works; tech snapped one of the aformentioned delicate ribbons; etc) and that the part you need still functions.
If you can locate a ready local supply of such, you might be able to not only fix the original but merge some of the junkers to make working displays as well. Doing this well requires either a large shed or a low-rainfall region. (-:
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
This is one of the best ask slashdot's ever. Thanks for all the info everyone. I have several dead LCDs sitting around and haven't managed to find the time to research the parts and narrow down what searches work.
You just saved me a huge amount of time. Maybe someday now I'll have a desk that's not 75% covered by monitors!
Cheers!
SB
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
I usually don't get the extended warranties, but I'm worried about them being fragile, so when I got an LCD monitor from Radio Shack I also got a 3 year replacement warranty. With the models changing all the time, if it breaks I'll probably get a way better one :)
:)
A friend of mine buys hard drives for university computers that run 24/7 and always gets the 3 year warranty and usually gets a replacement drive a year or 2 later that's 50-100 % bigger
...The device will last for three years, you can be sure of that.
I have freaks! I did something right...
How hard is it to turn a (presumably working) LCD from an old dead laptop into either a flatscreen monitor for a VGA signal or a display for analog video? How much of the circuitry necessary to drive the monitor is embedded in the laptop's mainboard and how much is part of the LCD panel?
Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
http://lcdpart.com/
They sell backlights, inverts, and such for many monitors. I'm getting a 19inch LCD for about 60bucks because of them. I'm just paying for the backlighting replacement.
Yeah, but at least the cats can't try to sleep on top of them ;-)* and besides, I can rebuild them to hang them on the wall if I can get them working.
:-D otherwise I'd still be squinting at my ancient IBM 17" and wondering why I can't focus on anything anymore.
;)
:-) But LCDs hung on the wall, now, that'd present a challenge to even Mr. Furry Sagan, here. I think.
... Kernel Panic Life(0) Full, rebooting
I can't afford to do that with one that I paid a shitload of money for, even if it's out of warranty. I got lucky on the prices I paid for my 21" and 19" CRTs
Auctions rock...
An LCD here and there hanging on the wall around the desk that I could put, say, slashdot and snopes on continuously, now, that would Really Rock.
Cheers,
SB
* If anyone notices any dichotomy between that and my earlier posts about solving this problem, let it be known that a certain cretinous 1 year old 16 lb bratchild tomcat has figured out how to strip the expanded metal sheathing off the top of the monitors by picking and gnawing at the ductape holding the pieces on. If I didn't love him so much I'd lock him up, he's a menace
--
Have you ever been Rocking when everyone else was Rolling? s/Rocking/Rolling s/Rolling/Rocking
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
The MIT Swapfest, aka The Flea at MIT, is a great place for old or junk computer or radio parts. I've heard somebody tagline it as "Yesterday's technology, today!"
Third Sunday of every non-winter month, next flea is the first of the year, this Sunday April 17th.
Use my userscript to add story images to Slashdot. There's no going back.