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Turn a broken laptop into a desktop

J

johnnyindia

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 4, 2010
95
0
I am a late 2006 macbook pro 17" with broken LCD screen casing. For now i used superglue to put it back together, but if the computer gets hot i think the superglue will melt and cause problems.

i have been told its impossible to find a replacement screen for this model cheap enough to make it worthy of repair.

I am thinking of turning it into a desktop by getting an external monitor. Can I remove the LCD screen entirely off the macbook pro so it's just the body, and then connect it to a new monitor? this way i can still use the keyboard/mouse, and not have to worry about the existing screen and superglue, melting.
 
J

johnnyindia

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 4, 2010
95
0
wil i run into any problems completely removing the display?

the superglue seems to be working fine, i am just nervous about the heat issue.
 
SuperCompu2

SuperCompu2

macrumors 6502a
Jul 23, 2006
852
1
MA
Depending on how far away it is from the heat, I wouldn't worry about it at all. I don't recall having heard of super glue melting from the kind of heat a computer can throw.

I would try to find computers that are bare-bones or completely non-functional on eBay and see if you can snatch one up cheap. Sometimes the government sells computers with HDDs, RAM, CD and more missing, so you could pick up a carcass computer and put it to good use!
 
sn0warmy

sn0warmy

macrumors 6502a
Mar 26, 2009
630
75
Denver, CO
I had someone give me a 17" Macbook pro from 2008 with a shattered screen. I figured I could use it as a desktop and it worked perfectly that way. I purchased an external monitor, keyboard and mouse for it. Then I bought THIS display adapter to connect the laptop to the external monitor. Then I disconnected the onboard monitor's connection to the motherboard. This allowed the laptop to recognize the external monitor as the primary one.

I had the laptop in a stand behind the monitor so it was completely out of sight. It was a great setup.
 
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