Is iBook display repairable?

[Stampyhead]

I have a 600 Mhz iBook G3 that works beautifully, except for the fact that the display just died. I believe that it is the backlighting behind the screen that has gone out. The screen looks black, but if you look at it closely while the machine is on you can very faintly see something on the screen. I have it hooked up to a monitor right now and it works fine that way. Does anyone know if the backlighting is fixable, and if so, is it worth the cost?

[michaelrjohnson]

I believe that you would need to replace the entire LCD panel. Doing it through AppleCare would cost quite a bundle. There are often panels available at laptop parts websites, and usually eBay. Either way, it may be more work and money than it's worth.

[Butler Trumpet]

what did you end up doing?
What I might do, is turn your iBook into either a really thin desktop with external, or use it as a media mac with your tv. I mean, it wouldnt be the greatest choice for that, but it would be pretty cool still to have it hooked up to your tv with a wireless keyboard and mouse or something.

[disconap]

I've worked on ibooks quite a bit. It's easy but very, very time consuming. To replace the LCD you'd have to disassemble about 70% of the machine. Not a big deal, and you can find guides on how to do it online, but I'd say give yourself 3-4 hours minimum to have it finished.

[katie ta achoo]

The same thing happened to my G3 iBook. I replaced the inverter board, and it worked just fine.

BEFORE YOU TAKE APART THE WHOLE COMPUTER:
The inverter board is on the top, right behind the LCD.

It was a $70 part from iFixit.com

You don't need to replace the whole LCD.. just the inverter board.

[disconap]

Yes, but to GET to the inverter board, you have to remove the monitor from the bottom half of the ibook, which requires going through almost half of the total disassembly process.