I know this is probably a long shot, but I can try at the very least. The last year in my family has been horrid. My husband was let go from his place of employment due to lack of work in the construction field. Unable to make car or house payments, we lost both. After many, many months we are getting back up on our feet. Since our credit was ruined we couldn’t buy anything. Well, to surprise me, my husband went to one of the rent to own places and got me a laptop. I’ve wanted a laptop for years and I finally got one. Since we are on such a tight budget, our home does not have satellite or cable television. Voila….my 3 kids can watch their favorite cartoons online! Now, here is when I begin to grovel….somehow my notebook got closed and a pair of tiny ear buds were in there. It wasn’t slammed down or anything but it still messed up the LCD screen. The glass isn’t cracked but the part underneath the screen looks like some sort of liquid is out. Does that even make sense? I can send picks of it if you would like. The computer manufacturer HP/Compaq told me to send it in and they would fix it, in fact they said it would still be under warranty. It’s not a covered repair and they wanted $489 to fix. I told them to send it back to me. And here it sits, we make payments to pay double what this item is worth, and I do so gladly when it worked. I know it may sound trivial, but it’s amazing at how much happiness that laptop brought to each of us. I know it sounds silly, but it’s true. I guess when you’ve had nothing for so long and suddenly you have something, you appreciate it immensely. Now down to the nitty-gritty…..does anyone have a 15.4” LCD screen that is of no use to you? Is it just sitting there collecting dust? If it is compatible with my laptop, could you either sell it dirt cheap or maybe, maybe be interested in giving it away? You wouldn’t have any idea how greatly it would be appreciated…..and there will be no ear buds of any kind allowed in the same room as this laptop. Thanks so much, momisnutz@frontiernet.net

You didn't say you don't have a TV, just that you don't have cable or satellite.

One minimal cost alternative:
In that case, it's possible you can connect your laptop to a regular TV, at least for things like cartoons. Many laptops have what is called an S-video or sometimes a composite video output connector. Many TVs (and VCRs) now have such inputs. It's simply a matter of getting the right cable(s) and switching the laptop output to that connector...often a "hot-key" will let you do so, even without being able to see the current screen.

So, for maybe $5-$10 you will be able to still use the laptop for many normal tasks. I wouldn't be too surprised if the laptop came with the cable and you have it already.


Another low-cost alternative:
You can also often find an inexpensive VGA CRT monitor for maybe $25-$35. It doesn't have to be an LCD monitor. This can connect to the VGA display output on the laptop and gives you acceptable resolution and color for virtually all home applications. Or, for about twice that amount, you should be able to find a nice used decent-sized stand-alone LCD monitor instead of the CRT.

I may have a crt you can have for free in SWINDON , ill let you know over the next few days , if you live too far away it may not be worth it though

I might have one, but I do not know if it is that size, will check when I get home

THANK YOU..THANK YOU..THANK YOU!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed

If you can not find a screen that works with your laptop, you could probably find an old CRT monitor (one of those big old clunkers) and hook it up to the VGA port on your laptop (I think nearly every laptop made in the past few years should have a VGA port) like John mentioned. If you keep an eye out at garage sales and rummage sales you may find someone who may want to get rid of an old monitor for really cheap or possibly even give it away. Or if you know anyone who works for a large company that recently upgraded their computers, they might be able to grab one of the old monitors. Normally they are just thrown out, so often they do not mind if employees take the old computers or monitors.

Personally, I'm not too familiar with laptop LCD screens at all. I'm not sure if they use standardized ports like desktop LCDs do or if they are all proprietary. If laptop LCDs do have standardized connections then it will be much easier to find one that is compatible.

most of the newer hp's (by newer I mean back 5 years) seem to use the same connector for the lct, just different cables to plug them in at the system board side. I know that the nc6000, nc6230 and even the dv series (15" and 17") all use the same plug on the lcd's side of the cord.

Adam mentioning garage/rummage sales reminded me that some places have re-sale centers that often sell computer parts (and other household things) VERY cheaply. A non-profit called "Goodwill" in the US has a lot of these centers in various cities where they take-in donated stuff and sell it for very little. And, whatever price they have on an item, you can probably talk them down to a lower price.

I've seen stuff priced incredibly low at the local Goodwill store. (e.g. something normally selling for ~$100 marked down to ~$5)

yes, you really should check out other places to get external monitors.

laptop screen are about $100 USD's and can be fitted with relative ease.

As you are on the interent now, perhaps you can look for one fairly local to you, like screentek or buy a laptop from Ebay

But I need my laptop to be portable and if it has an external monitor it basically just becomes a desktop, right?

Kellie Harmon said:

That appears to change your original request, but if that's what you really need, then your only option is a compatible replacement internal LCD panel, an identical replacement display "head" for your model laptop, or a replacement PC.

My experience is definitely different from Rory. If you're not set up for it, replacing the built-in LCD panel on some laptops can be pretty challenging even for experienced techs. You might be able to find a free compatible panel or "head" from a laptop that someone else no longer wants because it doesn't work any more.

it is not that hard, take out the little rubber screw covers, take out screws, take off front border panel, unscrew lcd brackets from rear panel, unplug back light and the ribbon, unscrew brackets from lcd, and than put brackets on other lcd and do the other steps in reverse...

also, I got home, and sry my lcd's are all 14"

Kellie,
You failed to mention the model # of the HP/Comaq, or if it was standard or wide screen.
I dug around and found a IBM 15.4 standard, but would have to ask for a little money for it.
It seems that there are LCD screens available for the HP/Compaq lines out on ebay, but they're going to run you between $100-$150 and you still need to do the install.
Though it's a bit late now, I seem to recall that you could purchase fault free insurance when you went through the "rent to own" rip off joints. As it is now, your best bet is to get a CRT ($20-$50) and forgo the portability if you want to get anything out of this laptop. In the future you may be able to become portable again when your cashflow supports it.
Unless you or your husband have a good understanding of electronic HW, I'd not recommend you try to install a non-approved lcd screen, and even if you do, it's risky, and could blow the entire laptop.
BTW as cheap as 15.4" LCDs have become, the almost $500 factory repair cost is exorbinate to say the least! You could probably get the laptop a year after manufacture for that.
Good luck, I know it hurts, but hang in there!

COMPAQ PRESARIO F763NR NOTEBOOK (this is on front of laptop)
COMPAQ PRESARIO F700 (this is on the back of the laptop)

Kellie Harmon said:
F700 is probably the series, and F763NR is the exact model that it is.

I was able to find the following on that laptop on HP's site:

Thank you...I had no idea what I even needed to look for. Not quite the technical guru, am I?

It doesn't have to be the same resolution as the one you had, for example if you find one that has a 1440x900 resolution, that would be fine too as long as it is a 15.4" and is compatible with your laptop (it has to have the same connectors and all).

Adam,
I'm not sure that I'm following you. If you are claiming that any 15.4" LCD will work, then I THINK you are wrong. It's been a long time since I had to do laptop repairs, but I seem to recall that most all of them were specific to the flex cable coming from the MB, and whether it was a Mylar connection, and what native formats were supported.
I could be wrong, but I think she needs a specific LCD screen for the laptop.

Gerritt

laptop lcd video cables will have either a 20-pin or 30-pin connection, this is very important to know when ordering a new lcd screen. you should also know if your screen is a single or dual backlight, as dual's will have two power cables and singles will only have one power cable. regarding the resolution, 15.4" lcd's have either WXGA 1280x800 or WUXGA 1920x1200 pixels. you can also remove your current screen and do a search on the model / part #'s on the back of the panel. laptop makers use several different lcd manufacturers when building their laptops, the screen you get just depends when the laptop was made... so you could take two identical hp pavilion dv6000's and remove the screens and one may have an lg phillips while the other may have a chi mei or samsung. all the screens have the same spec's, just depended on who won the bid w/ hp at the time of assembly. in your case, you should prob search for a used one on eBay or craigslist, you should be able to find one used for under 75$ where a new one is prob gonna run you about 150-200$ ...just as long as you dont buy it directly from HP

Gerritt said:

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Adam Kolak said: