Thinkpad LCD Replacement Guides & Advice

[DenTP4rm]

This thread will aim to serve as a guide to those who wish to or need to replace their Thinkpad LCD screens. There has been some discussion on the Forum about the superiority or inferiority of different displays. I would prefer to stay away from that kind of debate and just focus on the steps necessary to actually exchange the display with maybe some tips on where to purchase etc.

I personally plan to go this route in the near future and am looking for help ahead of time. So far I have found a couple of guides that I think would help others: https://gearguidr.com/

A company called “Screentek” has a general guide on their site and several brand specific guides that may prove helpful.
The general guide is at:
http://www.screentekinc.com/lcd-removal ... ions.shtml

There is a guide for an IBM T30 here:
http://www.screentekinc.com/lcd-removal ... ,ibm.shtml

I’m not sure how close that will be to replacing a screen on a T60. Can anybody comment on that?

Screentek’s site also links to several articles that mention their service. One of the best with step by step instructions is this one:
http://computershopper.com/howto/200701 ... top_screen

I can’t vouch for Screentek as I have not purchased anything from them, but they certainly offer a lot of free help. I personally went through two screens so far on an older Compaq laptop and the instructions they provide are in line with my own experience in opening up my machine and examining the screen.

By the way, Screentek does offer BOE-Hydis screens in a variety of resolutions including SXGA & UXGA. I’d be interested to hear back from anybody who has purchased from Screentek to know what your experience was.

Gear Digest also has a guide at:
http://www.geardigest.com/2006/02/24/ho ... index.html

This basically recounts their experience in ordering a screen from Screentek and replacing it themselves. There is a downloadable video at this page:
http://www.geardigest.com/2006/02/24/ho ... page3.html

I hope all this is helpful and I would definitely like to hear back from anyone who has replaced their own screen, especially if you went from the ID-Tech to the BOE-Hydis. I’d like to know if the connectors on the video cable and inverter are the same and if you ran into anything I would need a heads up on before starting.

All the best,
DenTP4rm

[rkawakami]

I’m not sure how close that will be to replacing a screen on a T60. Can anybody comment on that?

The best guides to take apart a Thinkpad system is provided here:

Hardware Maintance Manual Index

[DenTP4rm]

Hi Ray,
The service manual is certainly helpful. Thanks for providing that link. From what I have read elsewhere I got the impression it might not be necessary to completely remove the whole housing for the LCD (the top of the laptop) as it seems to indicate in the manual.

tamx0004 had an interesting comment here about not needing to remove the whole screen assembly.

Also, EOMtp gave some good tips about the double sided tape around the perimeter and not lifting the LCD cable socket off the back of the panel here.

It seems like the instructions in the manual, if I'm looking at the right place (pp. 90-93) are really for replacing the whole LCD assembly and not just the LCD panel itself, which is what I'm interested in.

Anyway, thanks for the contribution. If you have any more specific details to add let us know.
DenTP4rm

[rkawakami]

The HMMs do provide the recommended procedure for removing the FRUs, however, like the others have said, it is not necessary that they be followed to the letter (at least for the few systems that I'm familiar with) for just an LCD swap. Indeed, usually just the power (main battery and AC) and the LCD bezel is required to be removed in order to gain safe access to the LCD panel. I've taken apart 600 and T2x systems to service the inverter board by removing just the bezel (two or three screws). Once that's done, it's only four screws along the sides of the lid and the LCD panel comes out. If you are replacing the panel with an identical unit, then no worries about the ribbon cable. If you are swapping out the panel for one with a different resolution (i.e., going from an XGA to SXGA+), then that also requires the proper ribbon cable, which in turn means more disassembly. I'm not so sure that the ribbon cable needs to be changed if you simply change manufacturers of identical resolution panels, given that the new panel is one that IBM has also used in your system. That's where the HMM may be helpful. If you are trying to put in a non-IBM spec'ed panel (one that is not listed in the HMM), then the question becomes, are the pinouts of the panel's connectors the same? I don't know enough about the LCD industry to say that there's a standard pinout being used (or not).

[DenTP4rm]

Ray,
Thanks for the feedback and the insights. I'm planning on using a Lenovo compatible LCD so it should work. The main thing I was concerned about was the ribbon and inverter cable's matching up. Thanks for your help,
DenTP4rm

[gator]

DenTP4rm, Were you do an LCD replacement without completely disassembling the LCD housing from the base?

[DenTP4rm]

DenTP4rm, Were you do an LCD replacement without completely disassembling the LCD housing from the base?

Hi Gator,
I got the idea to do the LCD replacement without removing housing from base from tamx0004 on this page:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... c&start=30 and his comment "I should have just removed the lcd bezel and remove the LCD rather than removing they keyboard, palm rest, and the whole screen assembley from the laptop. " The Screentek guide for LCD removal for IBM T30 seems to indicate the same. Have you tried removing one and had to dissasemble the LCD housing from base?

[Neil1]

I’m not sure how close that will be to replacing a screen on a T60. Can anybody comment on that?
DenTP4rm

Did anyone upgrade their XGA screen in their ThinkPad T60 especially the 14in model, I only read of people having success with the T4x series.


Regards
Neil