Please Help!! Broken Laptop Screen

[Ben Building]

I had a small accident with my computer last night that resulted in a crack in the lower right corner of the screen. There is a black part in the crack that appears to contain some sort of constellation and there are lines running vertically up the screen.

The computer is a Sony Vaio VGN-FW170J. It has a 16.5" 1080p screen and all the options you could pay for in 08. Other than that, the computer has never been opened. Obviously, that will have to change shortly.

My question is where can I get a screen for this laptop that performs better than the factory version? The Vaio has worked out very well for me so far so I am not ready to upgrade quite yet. My only gripe with the computer is the dimness of the screen. It is detailed, sure, but it is not very bright and the blacks are kind of grey.

How can I do better on the replacement screen? Alternatively, if I am stuck with a factory replacement, where is the best place to get one?

Finally, since the computer is going to be opened soon anyways, what can I do to freshen its performance up some between now and whenever I decide to get a new laptop?

The computer is reasonably fast, however, it is a LOT faster than my wife's slick new ASUS. I was thinking of adding

RAM, a video card, and a bigger HD to mine, but since I am pretty satisfied with its performance so far, should I leave well enough alone and just fix the screen?

Edited October 16, 2009 by Ben Building

[Ben Building]

Anybody out there?

[n8ball2013]

try the ebay route it might end up costing you more to replace the screen than it would to buy a new lappy . does your laptop have a monitor inpout?

[Ben Building]

try the ebay route it might end up costing you more to replace the screen than it would to buy a new lappy . does your laptop have a monitor inpout?

Here is a link for the 17 inch version for $169.

http://www.nylaptopparts.com/index.php?mai...products_id=498

$169 < $1300. My screen may even be cheaper than this one because my screen size is 16.5".

Any information would be appreciated.

Edited October 16, 2009 by Ben Building

[Skullz]

I'd go for the glossy one but you'll really wanna call them and make certain its a direct fit replacement.

[Ben Building]

I'd go for the glossy one but you'll really wanna call them and make certain its a direct fit replacement.

Will I need another video card or something for this? Also, they have 1 bulb and 2 bulb versions. Would I be correct in assuming that the 2 bulb screen would be brighter, but would use more power?

[P4killer_]

first off upgrading yoour vid card in the lappy more often than not equals fail..

i could be wrong but really the only exapndable upgradable gpu for lappys was an older nvidia mmx something or other that you could just change out the Gpu on a daughter board. More mem always = better up to about 3-4Gb on xp 8 for vista unless your running 64 bit xp then you could use more but really 3-4 gig should be overkill in most applications. one of the biggest upgrades you can do for a lappy is change the HDD usually they come with a 5400rpm Hard drive or lower... it might be a expensive, and i think they make them, but 7200rpm drives or even SSD drives will show a nice increase in overall performance.

if you have a discrete graphics expansion slot likely pci-e you could change your gpu but its always touchy with lappys as you only have so much power to supply the rig you can even possibly change out the CPU to a faster one but like i said the coolers are proprietary usually and again power is an issue usually you can really only upgrade be a few hundred Mhz at most so going from a 2.0 dual core to a 2.2 dual core... idk its worth the 200bux or w/e

as far as your screen just try to find the same model on ebay thats your best bet by far and simply swap out sending it in will be $$$$ so much so that you could just sell it on ebay and buy a new one from the store.

good luck either way

P4Killer.

[1992Chevy K1500]

The only thing I don't like about the Vaio laptops. 1 little bump and BAM! Lines all over the dam place. Other than that, there dang good. My sister has one and it works just fine.

[n8ball2013]

first off upgrading yoour vid card in the lappy more often than not equals fail..

i could be wrong but really the only exapndable upgradable gpu for lappys was an older nvidia mmx something or other that you could just change out the Gpu on a daughter board. More mem always = better up to about 3-4Gb on xp 8 for vista unless your running 64 bit xp then you could use more but really 3-4 gig should be overkill in most applications. one of the biggest upgrades you can do for a lappy is change the HDD usually they come with a 5400rpm Hard drive or lower... it might be a expensive, and i think they make them, but 7200rpm drives or even SSD drives will show a nice increase in overall performance.

if you have a discrete graphics expansion slot likely pci-e you could change your gpu but its always touchy with lappys as you only have so much power to supply the rig you can even possibly change out the CPU to a faster one but like i said the coolers are proprietary usually and again power is an issue usually you can really only upgrade be a few hundred Mhz at most so going from a 2.0 dual core to a 2.2 dual core... idk its worth the 200bux or w/e

as far as your screen just try to find the same model on ebay thats your best bet by far and simply swap out sending it in will be $$$$ so much so that you could just sell it on ebay and buy a new one from the store.

good luck either way

P4Killer.

they do make a laptop that can be interchangeable. its mucho high end though

[alecwilde]

http://www.laptop-screen.net/SONY-VAIO-VGN...SCREEN-3792.htm

Try that...