So, as I noted in my previous post about my computer disastor, my Toshiba M60-CD4 Laptop’s screen has degenerated, and is now not usable. It is 3 months out of the warranty, so the screen replacement at Futureshop or any other retailer was out of the option. It would take too long, and it would also cost too much. It’s worth it to just buy another laptop.

Basically, this was what my laptop has been doing :

When the laptop is first opened after being closed for a while, it would show pink lines over the white areas, green lines over the black areas and what not. In essence the colors were messed up. At first, a few months ago, this happened only for a bit, and once I open my screen all the way and pull it back or push it back and forth, it would come back to normal.

The frequency of this started to increase, and I was getting worried. But it was already out of warranty so what could I do? I just hoped. But it kept getting worse…

It got to a point where I’d have to have the screen pushed all the way back for at least 5 minutes and then put it to a normal angle to view it to get proper picture. If I pulled it back too soon, it would show the wrong colors again.

And then on Tuesday night, it got to a point where it was doing it all the time, EXCEPT for when it was open at a mere 45 degree angle (which doesn’t help because I can barely see the screen).

So. I backed everything up, and attempted to fix the screen myself. What did I have to lose? At this point, I was suspecting a lose cable connector somewhere. I’m going to show you the steps I took, but if you try this yourself and break somthing, I’m not liable for anything. This is simply what I did – I’m not recommending or teaching you how.

First, you remove the rubber pads or the plastic coverings from all 4 corners of your screen to show the screws, and then remove the screws.

Next, carefuly take the front frame off. Use your nails to do it slowly from all sides. Do not overlift one side over another.

Next, you will see a metal frame on each side of the screen, that holds the LCD panel in it. Mine had 4 screws on each side. To get the bottom screw out, I had to losen the screws that held the backboard on the metal frames, which is at the bottom of the arms. With the backplate shoved back, I could get all 4 screws from the sides, and the LCD panel came loose completely.

Here’s what it looks like behind the screen, when I take the shot from above the laptop. The flash made it look yellowish, but its more silverish-white in reality.

So, after this was all done, I tried pulling on the cables, pushing them back in, and what not, but the only constant I found that affected the proper display on my screen was the angle and positioning against the backboard/frame. So it was not a cable issue. I thought it might be a short-circuit somewhere, but that was out of my league to diagnose.

The next day I called around some repair shops, and the one guy that gave me the most confident answer with conviction said that it was most likely an issue with the circuit board on the LCD screen. Something inside is cracked, and depending on the angle it’s sitting at against the frame, the crack is splitting wider to cause the gap. The circuit boards are not sold separately, so that means I’d have to go with a full screen replacement.

At this point, I couldn’t afford to lose any more work time, and to get it replaced at a repair shop, or by getting one shipped via Ebay and attempting a fix would take too much time, so I decided to go ahead and get a new laptop.

I’ll post more about my new machine at a later time.