With the design of modern laptops it would appear that this would mean the end of the device as the screen is secured inside the plastic housing with no obvious way to replace it. Fortunately with a little know-how it was relatively easy to source and replace the screen of my Toshiba Satellite C660D-1HK.
The first stage is to source the replacement screen. These can be found online from many suppliers but it is important to ensure the screen is the correct size and has the connector required. It is useful to search on the manufacturer and model of the laptop but be aware that some manufacturers will change the screen during the life of a product. Check the descriptions and if necessary check the connections match the originally fitted screen. For the Satellite C660D-1HK a replacement was easy to source and arrived in a few days. [Link to Amazon listing for NEW TOSHIBA SATELLITE C660D-1HK LAPTOP SCREEN 15.6″ LED BACKLIT HD]
Once the replacement screen arrived it was time to prepare the work area. A number of small screws and parts of the casing will be removed so ensure you have enough space clear. It is useful to lay out any screws that are removed to the side in a pattern matching the locations they came from. A small tray helps keep them from rolling away. Tools I used include a small selection of precision screwdrivers, craft knife, a plastic opening tool and some insulation tape.
We don’t want the laptop starting up while working on it so the battery is removed and placed safely to the side.
On my laptop the front of the screen bezel is secured by four screws that are obscured by small sticky backed plastic covers. These are easily removed with a craft knife and placed to the side for the later and the four screws are removed. The plastic bezel was still secured and by careful use of the plastic opening tool it was possible to pry the front and back of the laptop lid apart, starting with the sides where catches holding them together are carefully released. It is worth taking your time doing this and if too many of the catches are broken off the bezel around the screen will become loose after we reassemble it.
With the bezel removed we can see the screen is attached by three screws on either side to the metal hinges. These are removed and again placed to the side. We need to be careful not to damage any of the cables connecting to the screen. On this laptop an integrated webcam is connected to a cable travelling up behind the screen and can be carefully disconnected at the top of the case.
Laying the screen on the keyboard we can see the main connector towards the bottom is secured with adhesive tape. The tape is peeled back and the connector carefully retracted from the socket on the screen. With the screen now free I took some time to remove any dirt or debris that had collected inside the casing using a small paint brush or soft cloth. The keyboard also had a faulty ‘D’ key which was removed and found a piece of grit under the key-cap. Laptop keyboards are very lightweight and have some delicate plastic fixings but with care I managed to repair the key and return the keyboard to full working order.
Fitting the new screen was the reverse process and started with placing the new screen on the keyboard and carefully fitting the connector. It is important to use either the existing adhesive tape or a new piece to ensure the connector stays connected as we don’t want this working loose.
Lifting the screen into place and aligning the screen to the mounting hinges allowed me to insert and tighten the six screws removed earlier. The webcam cable routed behind the screen was then reconnected. A quick last check to ensure any cables around the outside of the screen are correctly located so we do not pinch anything and the front bezel is reattached. The bezel snaps back around the outside of the lid and the screws replaced. Finally the plastic covers hide the screws.
Now the moment comes to test the repair. The battery is replaced and the lid opened as if the laptop was about to be used. A press of the power button and we see the new screen showing the familiar manufactures logo, a job well done.
