Gateway M320 Broken Screen

Post by Justin
Should I get the entire LCD screen plus the plastic trim to fix the line
and broken hinge? Kill two birds with one bullet?

Laptops almost always decompose into a top unit consisting of the
lcd screen and related components and the bottom unit consisting of everything
else :-) You can usually buy one or the other on the used market. Replacing
the entire unit at once is much easier than taking either one apart and
replacing a sub-assembly, so try to buy an entire top lid, plastic, LCD,
and all.

Ben Myers

2009-12-23 15:25:27 UTC

Post by Justin
Should I get the entire LCD screen plus the plastic trim to fix the line
and broken hinge? Kill two birds with one bullet?

Agreed. Taking apart a laptop LCD screen is a tedious and
time-consuming effort. And then there is getting it back together.

The line is possibly caused by a kink in one of the cables going to the
screen... Ben Myers

BillW50

2009-12-23 15:50:32 UTC

Post by Ben Myers

Post by Justin
Should I get the entire LCD screen plus the plastic trim to fix the
line and broken hinge? Kill two birds with one bullet?

Laptops almost always decompose into a top unit consisting of the
lcd screen and related components and the bottom unit consisting of
everything else :-) You can usually buy one or the other on the
used market. Replacing the entire unit at once is much easier than
taking either one apart and replacing a sub-assembly, so try to buy
an entire top lid, plastic, LCD, and all.

Agreed. Taking apart a laptop LCD screen is a tedious and
time-consuming effort. And then there is getting it back together.

I guess it is all relative. If you are replacing LCDs all of the time,
it seems pretty easy. Although I guess your mind is running in that auto
pilot mode and you don't notice it being so tedious anymore. <grin>

Post by Ben Myers
The line is possibly caused by a kink in one of the cables going to
the screen... Ben Myers

Yes and since the hinges are broken, that cable probably gets pulled on
a lot too.

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) - Windows XP SP2

Ben Myers

2009-12-23 21:09:33 UTC

Post by Ben Myers

Post by Justin
Should I get the entire LCD screen plus the plastic trim to fix the
line and broken hinge? Kill two birds with one bullet?

Laptops almost always decompose into a top unit consisting of the
lcd screen and related components and the bottom unit consisting of
everything else :-) You can usually buy one or the other on the
used market. Replacing the entire unit at once is much easier than
taking either one apart and replacing a sub-assembly, so try to buy
an entire top lid, plastic, LCD, and all.

Agreed. Taking apart a laptop LCD screen is a tedious and
time-consuming effort. And then there is getting it back together.

Post by Ben Myers
The line is possibly caused by a kink in one of the cables going to
the screen... Ben Myers

Yes and since the hinges are broken, that cable probably gets pulled on
a lot too.

No! I am right on the money. Disassembly of most any laptop screen is
tedious because one has to remove teeny-tiny screws, pop out (and
eventually replace) screw covers, remove the front bezel (often made of
thin fragile plastic), gently remove the screen from the housing,
disconnect and connect cables and inverter. If you can do this all in
10 minutes or less with ANY brand of laptop, you're awfully good.

Each and every brand has its own idiosyncracies of LCD disassembly.
Unless you are doing the same or similar models day after day, no way
can you do it in auto pilot mode, so quit being a royal cantankerous
pain in the ass.

Given the choice, which is infrequent, I would far rather drop in a
complete LCD screen than tear down the assembly... Ben Myers

BillW50

2009-12-23 21:54:19 UTC

Post by Justin
Should I get the entire LCD screen plus the plastic trim to fix
the line and broken hinge? Kill two birds with one bullet?

Laptops almost always decompose into a top unit consisting of the
lcd screen and related components and the bottom unit consisting of
everything else :-) You can usually buy one or the other on the
used market. Replacing the entire unit at once is much easier than
taking either one apart and replacing a sub-assembly, so try to buy
an entire top lid, plastic, LCD, and all.

Agreed. Taking apart a laptop LCD screen is a tedious and
time-consuming effort. And then there is getting it back together.

I guess it is all relative. If you are replacing LCDs all of the
time, it seems pretty easy. Although I guess your mind is running in
that auto pilot mode and you don't notice it being so tedious
anymore. <grin>

Post by Ben Myers
The line is possibly caused by a kink in one of the cables going to
the screen... Ben Myers

Yes and since the hinges are broken, that cable probably gets pulled
on a lot too.

No! I am right on the money. Disassembly of most any laptop screen
is tedious because one has to remove teeny-tiny screws,

You think those screws are teeny, you should see the screws for my Ultra
USB 2.5 portable hard drive. As it makes the screws in your glasses you
wear look huge. <grin>

Post by Ben Myers
pop out (and eventually replace) screw covers,

Speaking of which, I need to find a replacement for these. As once
removed, they have a habit of not staying back there for the long haul.
As within a few weeks or months, they start to fall back out again.

Post by Ben Myers
remove the front bezel (often made of thin fragile plastic), gently
remove the screen from the housing, disconnect and connect cables and
inverter. If you can do this all in 10 minutes or less with ANY brand
of laptop, you're awfully good.

10 minutes sounds about right for both removal and have the new one
installed. Although I have never timed it. I can if you would like the
next one I do.

Post by Ben Myers
Each and every brand has its own idiosyncracies of LCD disassembly.
Unless you are doing the same or similar models day after day, no way
can you do it in auto pilot mode, so quit being a royal cantankerous
pain in the ass.

We are talking about the Gateway MX models. There must be hundreds of
different MX models out there. And if you know how one of them comes
apart, you know how to take virtually all of them apart.

Post by Ben Myers
Given the choice, which is infrequent, I would far rather drop in a
complete LCD screen than tear down the assembly... Ben Myers

It is almost the same either way to me. Why which brands seems harder
for you?

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) - Windows XP SP2

BillW50

2009-12-23 23:30:18 UTC

remove the front bezel (often made of thin fragile plastic)...

You know, more thinking about this. I think it feels more fragile than
you think it is. As I keep lots of spare parts and I am not so careful
as I used to be. And I am really surprised how much bending they can
really take. The only stuff which is what I would call is fragile would
be from the mid 90's and earlier.

Take the old Toshiba T1900 series for example in the mid 90's. As the
bottom shell needed to be split just to get to the hard drive. And you
had to be really careful when splitting it, as it would crack very easy
(it was very brittle). Although plastics today seem so much different.
As they can flex far much more than the older stuff. And maybe you are
just being too careful and thus why you are taking longer to
disassemble?

I had a couple of DVDs out of hundreds that wouldn't burn correctly. I
threw them in a junk box and to use them for something (make a clock or
something). Well later I decided to throw them away and I was going to
just snap them in half. Well I bent them over 90° and they just wouldn't
snap in two. But rather they popped right back in shape. I was really
impressed! I think I threw them back in my junk box. <grin>

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) - Windows XP SP2

Barry Watzman

2009-12-23 17:17:47 UTC

Bull. In most cases, it's 2 screws or 4 screws, remove the bezel, and
then remove the LCD panel from the lid with another 4 screws. It is
usually no big deal; less of a deal than removing the lid from the base,
although in this instance the guy has bad hinges as well.

And this defect is in the panel itself. It is not a cable, at least not
one that you can do anything about. Normally it's one of the bonded
connections between the actual LCD glass and the driver board.

Post by Ben Myers
Agreed. Taking apart a laptop LCD screen is a tedious and
time-consuming effort. And then there is getting it back together.
The line is possibly caused by a kink in one of the cables going to the
screen... Ben Myers

BillW50

2009-12-23 17:58:53 UTC

Post by Barry Watzman
Bull. In most cases, it's 2 screws or 4 screws, remove the bezel, and
then remove the LCD panel from the lid with another 4 screws. It is
usually no big deal; less of a deal than removing the lid from the
base, although in this instance the guy has bad hinges as well.

I agree, but it is a bit more screws than that. The Gateway MX6000
series for example, has 6 bezel screws, two bottom ones are longer
screws. Although I think the LCD does have 4 screws, but I believe part
of the hinge needs some of the screws removed too.

Removing the whole top lid is a just a few less screws. First open the
bottom trap door for the WiFi and remove the two antenna connectors and
push them through the hole. Then remove the two for the top keyboard
panel (found on the backside of the hinge) and it then just pops off.
Now lift the keyboard and unplug the video cable and make sure the
antenna wires are free. Now you have four screws (two on each hinge) to
remove and you are good to go.

One big warning: Try to *not* flex the hinge while the top keyboard
cover is removed. As it also adds support for the hinges and especially
the left hinge base. As if you try to move the top lid, this can easily
snap off the hinge mount from the bottom base. As now you need to
replace the whole bottom shell which cost a lot of money ($50 to $120
used) for a piece of plastic. Or buy that hinge repair from that guy on
eBay for about $46.

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) - Windows XP SP2

BillW50

2009-12-23 15:35:39 UTC

Post by Justin
Hi folks, I have an old Gateway M320 with a line through the screen.
Here are a picture of the line - obviously I need to replace the
screen. http://www.imagebam.com/image/ad322960885145
I know its not the video drivers since the line is there before the OS
loads.
My first question is, what part number do I need to replace the
screen? I searched eBay for M320 LCD and I get some results with and
without the external plastic trim.

Hi Justin! Well that could be the LCD, video cable, or video card on the
motherboard. Does it look okay on an external monitor? If so, it there
is a good chance that another LCD will take care of it. But no
guarantees.

Post by Justin
Then there is the broken plastic on the rear of the hinges - thanks to
somebody picking up the machine by the screen. Several times here are
the pictures of each hinge.
What do I need to replace that?
http://www.imagebam.com/image/bd140260885151
and
http://www.imagebam.com/image/3c46c160885152
Should I get the entire LCD screen plus the plastic trim to fix the
line and broken hinge? Kill two birds with one bullet?

Yes most definitely. I've never seen the Gateway hinges break there. You
lucked out. As usually they break off from the bottom clamshell. And it
is usually only the left one. And the old fix was to replace the whole
bottom case. And used prices were outrages. Although the prices has
dropped a lot since one bright guy has manufactured an aluminum block
that screws into the video port socket. Like this one, eBay #
320466252183.

Speaking about lifting up a machine by the screen, which is usually a
bad thing to do. But I noticed these Asus EeePC 700 series netbooks,
this practice is just fine. As the lid and the hinges can support the
weight many times over the weight of the netbook itself.

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) - Windows XP SP2

Justin

2009-12-23 19:20:58 UTC

Yes, it looks fine on an external monitor.
Should I replace the cable first? Can I check just the cable? I should
probably download a service manual.

They didn't break. They were broken. I have a Macbook Pro now and the
person who broke the damn thing by picking it up by the screen isn't
allowed near my machines anymore.
Problem solved.

Post by BillW50
Speaking about lifting up a machine by the screen, which is usually a
bad thing to do. But I noticed these Asus EeePC 700 series netbooks,
this practice is just fine. As the lid and the hinges can support the
weight many times over the weight of the netbook itself.

Those Netbooks are lightweight enough that its probably OK to do that.
My plan is to get it into somewhat decent shape and eBay it - or use it
as a Linux machine. I wouldn't mind having a POS laptop that I can take
somewhere and not care about.
The hard drive went bac on this thing two years ago, and I'm int he
process of getting another one. I also repalced the keyboard for a
whole $7.00.

So in summary, I should look for a cheap LCD assembly off eBay. The
cheapest one I found was $86 off eBay. I tried to make an offer but he
declined. $86 is more than half the value of the entire machine.
I'll wait a bit and keep looking, maybe somethign will turn up after
Christmas.

BillW50

2009-12-23 20:26:19 UTC

Post by Justin
Hi folks, I have an old Gateway M320 with a line through the screen.
Here are a picture of the line - obviously I need to replace the
screen. http://www.imagebam.com/image/ad322960885145
I know its not the video drivers since the line is there before the
OS loads.
My first question is, what part number do I need to replace the
screen? I searched eBay for M320 LCD and I get some results with
and without the external plastic trim.

Hi Justin! Well that could be the LCD, video cable, or video card on
the motherboard. Does it look okay on an external monitor? If so, it
there is a good chance that another LCD will take care of it. But no
guarantees.

Yes, it looks fine on an external monitor.
Should I replace the cable first? Can I check just the cable? I
should probably download a service manual.

I believe the cable is part of the LCD anyway on that one. And I don't
think the Gateway service manuals are available online anymore. Oh wait,
some are still there. And the ones that are not, I believe you can
request them through email. And yes, that would be a good idea.

Post by Justin
Then there is the broken plastic on the rear of the hinges - thanks
to somebody picking up the machine by the screen. Several times
here are the pictures of each hinge.
What do I need to replace that?
http://www.imagebam.com/image/bd140260885151
and
http://www.imagebam.com/image/3c46c160885152
Should I get the entire LCD screen plus the plastic trim to fix the
line and broken hinge? Kill two birds with one bullet?

They didn't break. They were broken. I have a Macbook Pro now and
the person who broke the damn thing by picking it up by the screen
isn't allowed near my machines anymore.
Problem solved.

Lol That was a smart idea. ;-)

Those Netbooks are lightweight enough that its probably OK to do that.

I don't know about the other ones with larger screens than the 7 inch
displays. But those 7 inch are much smaller than the lid and have the
speakers on both sides of the screen. And 7 inch LCDs are so much
lighter too.

Post by Justin
My plan is to get it into somewhat decent shape and eBay it

Careful! Whatever you spend on it in parts, you may not get back in
reselling it. I noticed just in the last year, used laptop prices have
really dropped. Although the parts, no so much. I guess all of those
newer laptops prices are getting cheaper and cheaper is causing this.

Post by Justin
- or use it as a Linux machine. I wouldn't mind having a POS laptop
that I can take somewhere and not care about.

That would be a good idea too. ;-)

Post by Justin
The hard drive went bac on this thing two years ago, and I'm int he
process of getting another one. I also repalced the keyboard for a
whole $7.00.

That is a great price for a keyboard. And if you don't move laptops and
use them like a desktop. The hard drives seems to last forever. Although
using them as portable devices, their life really varies. One of the
pluses when installing a SSD drive as the moving around doesn't effect
them.

Post by Justin
So in summary, I should look for a cheap LCD assembly off eBay. The
cheapest one I found was $86 off eBay. I tried to make an offer but
he declined. $86 is more than half the value of the entire machine.
I'll wait a bit and keep looking, maybe somethign will turn up after
Christmas.

Well if you are patient long enough, you might find one around 50 bucks.
But that doesn't happen too often.

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) - Windows XP SP2

Justin

2009-12-26 01:38:46 UTC

Post by Justin
Hi folks, I have an old Gateway M320 with a line through the screen.
Here are a picture of the line - obviously I need to replace the
screen. http://www.imagebam.com/image/ad322960885145
I know its not the video drivers since the line is there before the
OS loads.
My first question is, what part number do I need to replace the
screen? I searched eBay for M320 LCD and I get some results with
and without the external plastic trim.

Hi Justin! Well that could be the LCD, video cable, or video card on
the motherboard. Does it look okay on an external monitor? If so, it
there is a good chance that another LCD will take care of it. But no
guarantees.

Yes, it looks fine on an external monitor.
Should I replace the cable first? Can I check just the cable? I
should probably download a service manual.

Post by Justin
Then there is the broken plastic on the rear of the hinges - thanks
to somebody picking up the machine by the screen. Several times
here are the pictures of each hinge.
What do I need to replace that?
http://www.imagebam.com/image/bd140260885151
and
http://www.imagebam.com/image/3c46c160885152
Should I get the entire LCD screen plus the plastic trim to fix the
line and broken hinge? Kill two birds with one bullet?

They didn't break. They were broken. I have a Macbook Pro now and
the person who broke the damn thing by picking it up by the screen
isn't allowed near my machines anymore.
Problem solved.

Lol That was a smart idea. ;-)

Those Netbooks are lightweight enough that its probably OK to do that.

Post by Justin
My plan is to get it into somewhat decent shape and eBay it

Yeah, I know.
I need to keep that in check. It might be more worth it just to replace
the drive and sell it with the broken screen.
Open it up internationally and let some sap in Pakistan buy it.

Post by Justin
- or use it as a Linux machine. I wouldn't mind having a POS laptop
that I can take somewhere and not care about.

That would be a good idea too. ;-)

Post by Justin
The hard drive went bac on this thing two years ago, and I'm int he
process of getting another one. I also repalced the keyboard for a
whole $7.00.

I got a 120GB hard drive for $30.
the keyboard was direct from China - it tok a month to get here