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powerbook g4 screen cracked

rfenik

rfenik

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 28, 2003
110
0
OK, i dozed off with the computer on my lap and woke up with it cracked. Now i need a new LCD for my 12" powerbook. Does anyone know any salespeople who can hook me up with the part only for the best possible price? I'm sure I can install it ok.

Thanks.
 
rfenik

rfenik

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 28, 2003
110
0
Does anyone know where I can find a list of compatible LCD screens? I want it to be as easy as possible, but don't want to spend hundreds on fixing it. It's not even paid for!!!! I see so many cheap 12" displays on ebay, i don't really want to pay hundreds for something that is essentially the same.

I have this hooked up to my TV now so it works....
 
Sun Baked

Sun Baked

macrumors G5
May 19, 2002
14,937
157
You may want to take the screen apart to see who makes it, and to find the LCD part number you'll need to find a replacement.

That is if nobody around here can supply you with the info.
 
jxyama

jxyama

macrumors 68040
Apr 3, 2003
3,735
1
the screen you mentioned from ebay is 800 by 600, much worse native resolution than the original 12" PB screen.

i doubt it's compatible with the PB. it's for old PCs.
 
rfenik

rfenik

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 28, 2003
110
0
Alright, I nervously took my powerbook apart and found the part number. It's 661-2791.

Tried a search on these and they are still way more than I can pay.

Called apple, they said it would be $1200 to get it fixed. Might as well buy a new one for that much. And i don't even have this one nearly paid off....

Now if i get a 12.1 inch high resolution LCD screen on ebay for dirt cheap will it work? Has this happend to anyone else? I need this thing to work but don't have much money at all....

I know the amount of power has to be compatible with apple, otherwise i have to get a new power inverter....

Does anyone have a powerbook screen they are willing to sell?

Thanks

-ryan
 
jxyama

jxyama

macrumors 68040
Apr 3, 2003
3,735
1
i'm afraid that the screen simply isn't cheap at this point. rather than wasting your money on cheap screens and kluging it, if possible at all, buy the thinnest possible ext. LCD display?

did you insure the PB by any chance?

sorry to be so pessimistic, but like you found out, those LCDs aren't cheap...

i *do* respect your guts for daring to open the PB, though.
 
rfenik

rfenik

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 28, 2003
110
0
Did not insure it. Didn't even get applecare.

Think i'm going to take the balsy route and retrofit it into something cheap off ebay. If i could find a service where they could find a part and fix it for a price within reason i'd pay, but not when a working option may be 1/5 the price i'd pay.

I can't seem to figure out how to take off the LCD back panel completely... has anyone done this before and has some sort of documentation on it? Would be really appreciated.

-ryan
 
jxyama

jxyama

macrumors 68040
Apr 3, 2003
3,735
1
Originally posted by rfenik
Did not insure it. Didn't even get applecare.

Asked powerbookmedic.com, they will sell one for $395... and that's just the LCD part. Damn that's a lot of money for such a tiny screen.
Click to expand...

applecare wouldn't have helped because it doesn't cover accidents or misuse.

it's expensive precisely because it's so tiny. it's not a cheap process fitting 750,000+ pixels in a 12" screen.

good luck with whatever you decide to do...
 
rfenik

rfenik

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 28, 2003
110
0
Apple and just about every other company was a total rip-off. Most were talking about many many hundreds of dollars.

Well here is what i did. I found a company called idparts.com that totally smashed the prices of every other company i checked out. I guess these guys do massive amounts of LCD sales. They said they haven't worked on a 12" powerbook before, but were confident they could get it to work. They are replacing the LCD screen entirely. Hopefully i can get all of this done for less than $300. I'll let everyone know how this turns out.

Right now my powerbook is on a UPS truck on it's way to Pennsylvainia.

such a sad, sad day....

-ryan
 
jxyama

jxyama

macrumors 68040
Apr 3, 2003
3,735
1
geez... it's only been a day or two. it's on its way to Pa...

i hope he gets it fixed, although i wouldn't have gone the same route as the original poster. (i am not sure if i'd want to pay $300 to people who has never fixed a 12" PB before... i personally would have paid $200 more to have one of the other places with 12" PB experience do it...)

regardless, keep us updated.
 
rfenik

rfenik

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 28, 2003
110
0
Well, bad news. idparts.com called and said they could do it for less than $300, and i gave them the goahead....

They put a new LCD in and said that my power adapter must have been messed up because there was no picture... Now i sent them the laptop on an almost full battery, and the power adapter is worn - but it works. I told them when you plug it in the plug should light up orange....

They said ok to that, realized it wasn't the power adapter but the LCD. They said they couldn't get the backlight to work on the the new screen because it had a 2 digit difference in the model number... but my cracked one worked fine (it lit up). They said the exact model number of the LCD isn't available anymore (by the way - my powerbook was new in september) They said they have one that looks identical except for the 2 last digits. I guess it plugged in perfectly and everything but just didn't light up.

They offered me the LCD that didn't work in my computer for $50 off the standard price... but wtf am i going to do with that????

They said they could send it back or think about it over the weekend and try to get it to work monday.... I told them to figure it out and send it back to me if they couldn't get it to work.

So as of now it's not working and may have to go to one of those really expensive places.

Here are the quotes I got:

powerbookmedic.com : these guys advertise in Macworld and obviously have experience. Thier quote- $799 + $75 installation. Might as well get a new one for that much.... (i said 395 earlier, that was a different quote)

lcdsforless.com : these guys don't seem as 'mac' as pbmedic, but they said they could get it done for a cool $395

laptoprepair.com : never heard of these people. $450

MacResQ: now based on the way these guys advertise you would think they have it in stock and would be able to fix it blindfolded. They said "MacResQ does not have the 12" G4 Screen in stock. You can try searching on
http://www.dealmac.com or http://www.dealsontheweb.com."

So I looked at both those sites to no avail. I thought MacResQ would have it all....

I would like for idparts to be able to get me setup and working, but i'm starting to think they may not be able to. I'd not like having to go to one of those really expensive places but feel I might have to.

tazo - i'd like to have gotten it fixed by apple too, but for $1200? come on. That's simply too much. I might as well get a widescreen lcd if i'm going to spend that much.

I'm thinking i'm going to LCDS4LESS.com....

Anyone know of a good company to send it to that can really fix it for a good price?

I just want it to work again!

I'm using a windows machine on campus now and it just sucks! However, i am listening to Itunes radio. You gotta love the Chronix Aggression station!

-ryan
 
rfenik

rfenik

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 28, 2003
110
0
Well I think I found one for $250! Apple kinda sucks with the monopoly they have over specific parts. I guess Windows computers are a lot easier to fix, and less expensive because everyone has one. If i had one complaint about apple that would be it.

Hopefully it will work soon!

-ryan
 
iJon

iJon

macrumors 604
Feb 7, 2002
6,586
229
lol, you actually thought you could get this taken care of for 300 dollars. if you ask me, your doing more harm than good dealing with all these cheapo lcd sites on the web, but good luck to ya but i dont think you will find it.

iJon
 
groovebuster

groovebuster

macrumors 65816
Jan 22, 2002
1,249
101
3rd rock from the sun...
Our 2.5 y.o. daughter totally trashed the slot-loading drive of the iMac G3 of my wife when she tried to squeeze in a CD while there was already one in the drive. I tried to fix it myself, but some of the little delicate parts were bent so badly, that it rendered to be an impossible mission to succeed.

So I called Apple to find out what a replacement would cost. They wanted more than 300.- € just for the drive (it is just a 16x CD-ROM, not even a CD-RW!!!) service charge not even included!!! :eek:

Their prices for spare parts are really insane! I told them to get lost! ;)

So I bought a pretty nice silver Mitsumi CD-RW for 100.- € (40x burning) and put it in a stylish aluminum FW enclosure for 60.- €. Now my wife doesn't have an internal drive anymore, but she has a really fast external one and finally can burn CDs (fast) herself now for half the price the orginal Apple drive would have costed. It is fully supported by MacOS X and iTunes. What more she could ask for?

I also wanted to replace the LCD of my PowerBook G3 Wallstreet a while ago (it started to have wavy patterns of different brightness), but they also told me an insane price for it. So I decided to live with the screwed up LCD instead of being ripped of like that, until it's replaced.

Things like that always remind me of the fact that also an Apple Computer is just a tool to get your work done and that Apple is like every other big company just seeing you as a walking cheque book.

I guess I am just miffed a little bit about Apple lately. ;) But I have reason... :rolleyes:

groovebuster
 
R

rt_brained

macrumors 6502a
Jan 13, 2002
551
0
Creativille
You can remove the LCD screen, but it requires a special tool.
 

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rfenik

rfenik

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 28, 2003
110
0
Of course. The model I need is lp121x04 C2. Apparently there are a lot of B2s around, but not many C2s. On ebay there is one for less than $300, brand new.... I am sure I can find one for the price I am willing to pay. If you think about it - that seems about right. I bet dealers pay about $200 for these, based on the quotes I've been getting. Do a google on lp121x04 and you get a lot of results.

I got my screen off with a phillips wrench

-ryan
 
E

Edot

macrumors 6502
Jan 29, 2002
432
0
NJ
WTF?

Please explain to me why you do not have AppleCare. I understand they may not fix it because it was misuse by the owner, but at least you could try!? ALL Powerbook 12" owners should have AppleCare since the product was released in Jan. 03. Was this purchased on ebay? I thought you could transfer the warranty? Is the stolen? That would make sense. If I am out of line, I apologize in advance, but please explain to be why this computer does not have AppleCare.
 
jxyama

jxyama

macrumors 68040
Apr 3, 2003
3,735
1
purchasing apple care is completely optional. i have a rev. A PB 12" and i don't plan on spending $285 (edu. discouted) for an extended warranty. it's not a given like you make it sound - it's a choice. while i'm happy for you that you got one, don't make it sound like it's a no brainer decision. i personally would rather not spend the money and use that toward a new (and better spec'ed) PB if something were to happen to mine.

it doesn't cover user accidents either. you will not get a cracked display covered because no LCD will crack on its own as a manufacturing defect. good luck trying to pass that kind of "defect" onto apple... :rolleyes:

i kind of agree with iJon, i think it's about time you come to terms with the fact maybe it's not that cheap of a part?? while apple's price of $1200 is ridiculous, other more "reputable" vendors charging $400+ sounds fairly reasonable. i'm not sure if it's worth your time, money, effort and piece of mind running around all over the place looking for parts at dirt cheap prices and wondering if these places can fix your machine or not... that's just my opinion.
 
rfenik

rfenik

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 28, 2003
110
0
Once you call people and tell them EXACTLY what you need they give you a lower price. The part is sold to distributers for a price of about $200, so I would be happy if i got one for less than $300.

Yeah applecare is a rip off. Bottom line. $300 for nothing. I know someone that had an Imac (the old ones, with the big CRT monitors) and the video card went out. They paid for applecare, and it wasn't misuse of the product that caused it to break. It was a defect. Applecare didn't help them at all. Applecare does absolutely nothing and will not help you even if your computer is defective. It's just another source of revenue.

Well, i have my powerbook back... I took out the monitor, and fortunatlely this hooks up to my 19" CRT one painlessly... so although it doesn't have the functionality of a laptop but it works. I'm using it now :)

There is one on ebay for $275

=ryan
 
D

DarkNovaMatter

macrumors member
Aug 3, 2001
76
0
After having some damage happen to my old Rev. A iBook you find out how pricey is can be. Most items cost from about $20-100, but when you go into areas of major critical parts you had better be ready to pay. Major parts are the mobo, screen, optical drive and a few other parts. Yes the Apple price of $1200 has the premium of going through Apple, but expecting to get it for less than $200 is more than likely not going to get a screen of the original specifications. Part of it isn't just the part, but also the technical work needed to get it back into working condition ( the apple powerbook screens are basically a frame and the screen- and only enough of a frame to provide enough support). Yeah you should find the lowest price, but you should also wonder on how much you are trading for quality. You don't have to pay $1200, or even $700, but with the general part being about $430 (without service- atleast 3 sites quoted that much), and for about $70 they will do the work for you. Have fun in trying to find a fitting part.....

P.S.- remember that rarity of a part increases its price.
 
E

Edot

macrumors 6502
Jan 29, 2002
432
0
NJ
Originally posted by jxyama
purchasing apple care is completely optional. i have a rev. A PB 12" and i don't plan on spending $285 (edu. discouted) for an extended warranty. it's not a given like you make it sound - it's a choice. while i'm happy for you that you got one, don't make it sound like it's a no brainer decision. i personally would rather not spend the money and use that toward a new (and better spec'ed) PB if something were to happen to mine.

it doesn't cover user accidents either. you will not get a cracked display covered because no LCD will crack on its own as a manufacturing defect. good luck trying to pass that kind of "defect" onto apple... :rolleyes:

i kind of agree with iJon, i think it's about time you come to terms with the fact maybe it's not that cheap of a part?? while apple's price of $1200 is ridiculous, other more "reputable" vendors charging $400+ sounds fairly reasonable. i'm not sure if it's worth your time, money, effort and piece of mind running around all over the place looking for parts at dirt cheap prices and wondering if these places can fix your machine or not... that's just my opinion.
Click to expand...

AppleCare is not option at all, you get 1 year with the product! Everyone who owns a 12" Powerbook should still have Applecare. I have had 2 video boards replaced on an OLD CRT iMac when covered by AppleCare for FREE. I don't understand why there is so much gripe about AppleCare.
 
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