Options For a Laptop With a Broken Screen?

DefenseSupportParty writes "I recently traveled via an unnamed airline, and stupidly checked my laptop. Unfortunately, the screen broke in transit and they refuse to take responsibility for it, claiming that it could have been broken before the flight. I'm not really in the mood to replace the screen if I have to pay for it, as I have other laptops that I can use. At the same time, I don't want to waste computing power that could be put to good use. I've thought about the common stuff: file server, SETI@Home, but I'd like to do something a little more creative. Does anyone have good ideas for a relatively powerful laptop without a display?"

Comments

Its called a half-lap-top

[3seas]

I used one to teach myself AutoCAD on.

Was a bench carpenter for 27 years and decided I was getting to old for the sawdust.
A co-worker had given me a busted lap top and and so I got a monitor I'd leave at the shop with my toolbox but would take the half-lap-top home with me.
I'd study Autocad during lunch...

Now I work in the cad deparment programming CNC routers and doing construction drawings for some stuff some may thing is cool.

Infinite Dimensions

So there is certainly a place for half-lap-tops... especially with the low cost flat screen today.

Carputer

[f1vlad]

How about you setup this laptop in a trunk of your car and run some wires to the dash. Instead of radio deck, you could put touch screen and have a thing called "carputer". You can find more info here: mp3car.com.

Re:How powerful exactly?

[wellingj]

Robotics. Requires no video output, just input.

Carputer...

[Glove d'OJ]

Why not install a touchscreen 7" monitor in your dash, and have a carputer? Mount the reasonably powerful laptop w/broken screen in the trunk, wire it in to a power supply, attach a USB GPS antenna, and go from the audio out to the amp / speakers?

All the MP3s you can store, instant access to the OBD-II information, "free" GPS, and (with Backtrack III or the like), war-driving capability. Have it get email from your wireless access point and read it to you on the way to work. Keep a copy of the local yellow pages on the drive, and look up the nearest Cuban restaurant.

There are a lot of great "front ends" out there, and most all of them are skinnable to your heart's content.

Hope that this helps / is something in which you might have interest.

http://www.mp3car.com/

Re:Checked it?

[carlzum]

Yeah, most airlines don't assume liability for electronic equipment, but that really irks me. Carry-on requirements are getting so restrictive I've started checking bags regularly (often paying for even one bag), something I thought I'd never do. With PSPs, iPods, etc. I don't need my laptop on the plane, and it takes up a significant amount of my shrinking carry-on space. And what if I need to bring a projector or camera lens? The airlines basically force you to check your bag, pay extra for it, and reserve the right to destroy the contents without compensation.

Travel insurance has become a much greater value as airlines cut back. For 5%-10% of the cost of your trip you'll get protection for valuables, medical expenses, and cancellation/delay coverage. Shop around for a reputable company, but most travel experts strongly recommend insurance for any trip.

Re:Braille Quake

[SQLGuru]

My dad had an old laptop have the screen go out. It's now hooked to my TV to watch streaming Netflix / Hulu / etc.

You could take the guts out and make some sort of robot brain out of it.

Put it in an arcade cabinet and host MAME ROMs.

Let's Get This Straight

[Nom du Keyboard]

Obviously you can convert it into a desktop by plugging in an external monitor...

...but...

...Let's get this straight. The airline contends that you bought a ticket on them in order to check a broken laptop through normal baggage handling (you wouldn't be taking it to use on your trip if you knew it was broken ahead of time) just so that you could get your laptop repaired for the cost of a plane ticket and your time. And you're letting them get away with this garbage? You must be new to life overall.

Here's the rub. TSA opens and checks most bags. They check for bombs that might look like...oh...say...laptop computers. So they make you show that your computer actually operates like a computer.

They open your bag and your laptop either operates perfectly, or they don't let it on the plane and probably question, if not arrest, you. Really good chance that your laptop operated just fine when they inspected it. So what happened?

Option 1: TSA broke it while "inspecting" it. Real good chance there since they had it out and were handling it. But because they broke it themselves they put it back in and shipped it along so as not to have it be their problem.

Option 2: It was broken after the TSA inspection and before you picked it up again.

Option 3: There is no option three. It was broken during the baggage handling, the airline didn't tell you not to put laptops in your luggage because they get broken all the time, and now they don't want to pay for it.

You've already shown yourself to be stupid twice now. Once when you checked your laptop, and the second time when you let the airline bluff you out of what you're due for their damage of your equipment. Do you really want to go for three?