Can you turn a laptop LCD screen into a standard LCD Monitor / replace another brand laptop screen?

My laptop is a Dell Latitude CPi and is INCREDIBLY old. It was made for Windows NT / 9x systems. The laptop itself no longer powers on for some reason, but the LCD might be useable. Instead of getting a new LCD for $100 or replacing the cracked screen on my acer laptop for $600+, I'm wondering if it's possible to convert the screen into either an LCD screen, a Cintiq-esqe tablet display (where there's probably a USB and monitor cable) or, if it can be used on an acer 5520 laptop (the screen is cracked and using it on the same monitor I need for my PC isn't the easiest thing).

11 answers	Answer it!

sort by: active | newest | oldest

Aug 17, 2009. 10:07 PMgmxx says:

Ive answered this question a number of times.... PLEASE SEARCH before posting. Anyways... for several hundred dollars, you can buy the controller board for the monitor. these are used to test lcd screens before shipment. For the laptop, these is a slim chance it would work. Assuming the lcd screens are: -the same size -the same model it should work. I might say that even if the screen is the same brand, it might work. It couldnt hurt to try.

Aug 17, 2009. 11:34 PManthonyloprimo (author) says:

The dell screen (referred to here on out as the "old screen") is a 4:3 ratio screen, and I think the max resolution is 1024x768. The acer screen (referred to as the "new screen") is a 16:10 (widescreen) and is something much larger. An external LCD will work, and adjust to any size (the LCD is a 1440x900 size). The brand is different (of course) and the old screen is much smaller than the new screen. it's also far smaller. Even if it can't exactly work the same (aka no swiveling and such) I wouldn't mind since I can make some kind of personal stand or something. As long as I wouldn't have to pay 600+ to replace the screen.

Mar 25, 2011. 7:04 AMLizakIT says:

I can replace the screen for you for about $180. www.lizakit.com

Aug 18, 2009. 11:19 AMgmxx says:

its not so much the laptop brand, as it is the model of the screen. My old HP laptop used a samsung lcd screen. If the two lcd screens are the same brand, it might work. Your laptop probably wont ever be portable again if the lcds arent the same size.

Mar 25, 2011. 7:03 AMLizakIT says:

Yes. You can turn your laptop screen into a standard LCD monitor to use with your for example desktop computer. Just go to eBay and look for this seller: "njytouch". Or click here: http://stores.ebay.com/njytouch?_trksid=p4340.l2563.
He sells control boards for about $30. I have one from him and its working great.
Hope this helps.

May 18, 2010. 4:57 AMNiwaka3 says:

Technically you can turn your old laptop LCD into external LCD monitor by attaching controller board, DC-AC inverter and power supply. Those parts are available from Aitendo in Japan. Aitendo is a specialized shop for LCD parts for reuse. Since the shop deals with domestic customers, you need to contact the shop and inquire possibility of export.

Aug 18, 2009. 4:03 AMDELETED_zerofreak says:

you can do that, by connecting an external cable, probably a video cable. In this way you can view the appearance of your laptop to the external LCD monitor by connecting the video cable to both sockets of your laptop and your LCD monitor. Hope this helps

Aug 17, 2009. 9:24 PMbrokengun says:

I had this idea a while back. Basically it would be nice if there was some sort of more standard connection they used so perhaps someone would come out with a cheap board to connect various LCDs to VGA cables. However, all of them are very different so doing what you mentioned is possible but probably time consuming and overall not worth it. Especially now that external LCDs are falling in price.

Aug 17, 2009. 11:37 PManthonyloprimo (author) says:

Yeah, I know. I already see great monitors that are under 100. Unfortunately the call for a dual-monitor set up isn't as strong as I would normally need (and I'd current'y use it for one laptop, while the other one is used for the other computer) but I'd like to do it cheap as possible, mainly because it's not a MUST have thing. Just a convenience. but from these comments and what I've been finding more and more... It's looking like it isn't worth it.. Not even to try and make it into a Cintiq-styled thing.

Aug 17, 2009. 11:07 PMbassbindevil says:

Or, ask around and you can score broken LCD monitors for nothing. They're often easy to fix; I've fixed two so far for less than $25 in parts (including postage). (One was lying next to a recycling dumpster, the other I got from a wanted post on Freecycle.) They often just need some capacitors replaced., and bad caps are easy to identify because they're swollen or burst. Badcaps.net has a forum dedicated to monitor repair.

Aug 17, 2009. 9:20 PMDELETED_GuardianFox says:

Yes, if you invest enough time and money you could probably get the required controller board for that screen in order to give it some function again. I'd wager that that part alone would cost you more than $600, unless you happened to find another product that uses the same part on the used-junk market. As for attaching the old screen to your newer laptop... only as an external monitor (see above).