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Replacement LCD - LP154WP2 or B154PW04?

A

astrobhoy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 25, 2009
14
0
First Post!:)

Can you please advise. I've bust my LCD screen and have opened up the laptop to find that I have a LP154WP2 TL A2 screen fitted in it. Only thing is that they are pretty expensive, and can't find the glossy. There is however, a possible chance that I might be able to get my hands on a B154PW04 at almost a third of the price. It appears to have come from an Identical model to mine (mine is a 2.2Ghz - it came from a 2.0Ghz.)

I've also been advised by a Mac 'Genius' that this model (the LED backlight) are difficult to change the LCD screens on; and that he recommended that I replace the entire top screen section (frame/camera/LCD etc) which would cost and arm and a leg!

Can anyone confirm any of this for me? Should the B154PW04 work in my macbook pro?

thanks
 
astrobhoy said:
he recommended that I replace the entire top screen section (frame/camera/LCD etc) which would cost and arm and a leg!
Click to expand...

Retarded idea. Ignore apple store/ifixit/other guide sites that tell you to replace a bunch of working parts because one isn't.

The models you give are not specific. The B154PW04 V.0 and V.6 will work. The B154PW04 V.3 will not. The LP154WP2(TL)(A*) will work, the LP154WP2(TL)(C*) will not(where * is any number). The V.3 and the (TL)(C*) are considerably cheaper than the V.0, V.6, and (TL)(A*). I would ignore Samsung models altogether since the one that fits into this machine has poor consistency between LCD to LCD, some have way too much yellow.

A few pointers,

a) When removing the old LCD, use something like a blade or a scraping tool laced with butanone to cut away the adhesive between the LCD and the part of the frame that says Macbook Pro at the bottom. Where it says macbook pro, there is a strong adhesive. If you pull the LCD off, you can bend it.

b) Be careful with the webcam & its cable, since it is made like ****.

c) Don't reuse the old tape.

d) On each side of the frame there are four black screws. The area near bottom screw on the left and the right is where all the pressure is put if the back bezel piece(the thing with the glowing Apple) is not on behind the screen. Without this, trying to open and close the machine will put pressure on that section and the frame will quickly bend and break off, like a paperclip.

I'm surprised you couldn't find a glossy. Don't spend over $140 for a used screen, even in single quantity.

Have fun!
 
WOW! Brilliant response, thankyou very much for taking the time out to reply to me - really very much appreciated. I have contacted the seller to see what version the monitor is, but not sure if they will respond quickly enough for me. (auction) Yes, I was told that a glossy in the UK is almost impossible to find.

I'm going to try and remove the LCD before I commit to buying another, just in case I completely screw it up, or realise that I've bitten off more than I can chew!!

Am going to be following this guide. Up until the point of removing the actual LCD itself and ribbons cables, It's been not too bad. (the video before it skipped the removal of the side cables at the hinges though!!) See what you think.

http://www.powerbookmedic.com/manual.php?id=2


Bu the way - how do I find the exact model of my macbook Pro?
 
A1226 and A1260 use the same screens.

I tried my best to watch that video but powerbookmedic is hosting it on stolen internet in abu Dhabi, I cannot get it to load more than 40 seconds.
 
cool - thanks L.A. I'm a bit more hopefull about carrying out this repair now. First things first though - need to see if I can get this second hand screen for a reasonable price.

Will continue posting on the progress.

thanks
 
astrobhoy said:
cool - thanks L.A. I'm a bit more hopefull about carrying out this repair now. First things first though - need to see if I can get this second hand screen for a reasonable price.

Will continue posting on the progress.

thanks
Click to expand...

How much $$ are they asking, is it new or used, and who is it offering the item?

http://cgi.ebay.com/LAPTOP-LCD-SCRE...Computing_LaptopAccess_RL?hash=item414a928701

This seems pretty good for the UK and glossy, but it is ebay, and ebay is full of ****. But so are most websites.
 
thanks L.A. Am pretty sure that I contacted that company. They said that they didn't have any and that this model was in fact NOT an LP154WP2 Glossy, but they had an AU Optronics (or something like that) Matt equivalent!

Really disappointed about the second hand monitor; looks like the person has pulled the auction early (and there were no bidders either):( just before it was closing - I was going to wait till near the end to put in my bid! Only thing is, there was no 'returns' on it; it was second hand - but I probably could have got it delivered for about $100.:(

Have contacted the seller to see if he is still selling it, but no reply. If he doesn't get back to me then I'll probably just go for this one you've posted L.A.

Thanks for all the help on this - really appreciated.
 
right - have just gone ahead and bought that screen that you posted the link to - thanks.:D Matt or Glossy, I don't really care now - so long as It works!

The other guy was just messing me about, and not answering my messages.

Will let you know how it goes for installation - fingers crossed;)

cheers
 
well what can I say.....totally gutted:(:(:(:(:(

LCD arrived today while I was out working, and got in tonight to fit it.
First off - it wasn't and LP154WP2 that they sent me; they sent a B154PW04 V.6, which is a bit cheeky really seeing as it's not what I ordered.

Anyway, I noticed that you had said that that model should be fine L.A. so I continued anyway.
I spent ages getting the old/broken LCD off (almost 2 hours!!) and was very patient - thought I made a decent job of it too. I connected all the cables up, although - the isight cable was difficult to connect back in, but I got there.

Decided, rather than take the LCD out of the wrapper completely, I would be best to test it resting on the frame; and connect the cable - so I did, and also the isight cable.

Started - nothing.

Chimed a few times, and let go - nothing.
I also saw a post mentioning about resetting the PRAM (option-alt-P-R)
At startup there were a few flickers, but the screen just didn't burst into life.
I did notice that I could see images from the mac on it at one point, and turned off a lot of the lights. It was EXTREMELY faint - you know that LCD look when something is running out of batteries - that kind of look!
I checked the connection of the video ribbon, and also the isight cable, but again, nothing.

I then re-connected the old monitor which did have the backlight going on before when I turned it on; but it's not going on now either - which makes me wonder if I've somehow damaged something in the process. One thing I noticed was that I can't even get the keyboard showing it's lights. I'll connect it to a standalone monitor just to check that.

I now know that I'm going to have issues with this ebay company to send it back to. At the very least I will pay postage, but I noticed they also have a re-stocking fee of about £40 ($70) which is crazy. I'll need to argue that they didn't send me the screen that I ordered. But hey - that's another story.


I feel so deflated about it. :(

It's perhaps looking like I'll have to find a whole screen panel display, and see if I can fit that, not sure now. Ebay UK doesn't have any going at the moment.

Anyway - I'm away to get drunk!
 
things just may have gone from bad - to worse!!

Before all this I had connected the laptop to a separate LCD monitor - worked fine. Even when I connected the new LCD this evening, I could see icons/desktop/auto start programs - all be it very very faintly. Now, becuase I could quit properly, I had to just hold the start button down to shutdown and restart. I obviously held the "option/alt/P/R" quite a few times too in the process.

Well, I've connected up the old LCD and plugged it into a standalone LCD monitor, and it's not startinig up properly!!! Instead, I'm getting a blue screen with the apple turning circle showing up for 3/4 seconds and then flahing back to a blue screen!! Have I really buggered up something here - HELP!

I'm gonna cry!
 
Did the screwdriver slip? Did dust fall off onto the board? Lint from your shirt? Did you tug at any cables?

Did your shirt brush on the board as you were removing screws and whatnot?

All these little things matter.

On the restocking fee, it's there because they can't sell it as new. This is why I sell the service, not the product, selling the product would be hell. It's worth little used. Would you have bought it used for over $140? Few will, and the restocking fee is there to reflect that no one wants used screens.

Also, the LP154WP2-TLA* and B154PW04 V.6 are not only compatible with each other, but also of equal quality. I kind of prefer the B154PW04. They are getting increasingly difficult to find. So if you want to pay a decent price to buy one, most will delegate to whatever is available. Be glad you didn't get sent one of the old Samsung pieces of crap.

That is ebay. buying one at a time at a fair price, it is very hard to avoid getting a complete knockoff altogether, at least they sent you an original model.

To fix the OS problem, hold apple S right as it turns on. Wait for the black boot screen to come up.

Type fsck -fy and let it run. You should be set to boot now.

As for the backlight, that's your adventure. A few hints:

a) The left side I/O board powers the inverter which powers the backlight. Look here for a problem. Messed up board traces, etc. A conductive pen helps with rewriting traces.

b) Sometimes the inverter dies. Buy a new one, it's $5.

c) Sometimes the board is loaded with pieces of grit, dust, and gunk. a lot of it you can't see. Running it through an ultrasonic cleaner with distilled water and an ammonia based cleaning agent lacking cations/anions(read: NOT AMMONIA, AMMONIA BASED) often fixes these issues.

If the old screen doesn't have a working backlight either, it is highly unlikely a new display panel is going to fix anything, since there's now a problem within the machine itself.
 
Hi L.A.

thanks for the reply. I tried that apple S thing but it didn't work. If the backlight has gone then that might make sense, as I could see some very faint form of picture with the new screen attached.

Regarding error/slip-ups - I was as careful as I possible could be. I didn't knowingly damage anything in the process though, but can I be 100% sure of that? - no, I can't. The annoying thing is I can't remember if the backlight was working after I had removed and then replaced the main unit panel (to remove the screen screws) and before I started the whole removal proceedure.

I'm going to book an appointment to take it in to the applestore, and see if I can get one of the guys there to at least get it going with a LCD monitor, as I can't even get it to boot properly now.

Where is the backlight controlled from on this mac?
where exactly is this part? – "Left side I/O board powers the inverter which powers the backlight"

Might take the main unit apart again and see if anything out of place.
 
Hi L.A.

I just got this resolved at the weekend. After trying to fit that screen I ordered (and it didn't appear to work) I was contemplating sending it down to London to a company to fix there. they said they would charge £200 to replace the screen , but that if there were any other problems I would obviously be charged for that. I also had an added 'boot-up' problem with the mac - so I decided to take it into Apple to see if they could help.
They managed to get it starting properly, and I was also given a quote of £380 to replace the top clam screen! Too expensive, and I happened to mention to the guy that I was possibly sending it to a company in London to fix.

A day or so later, I got an email from someone at applestore saying that they would match the price!!! Totally unexpected, and very, very pleased!:D

Turns out that the backlight board had also gone on it too when they were fixing it - but the 'Genius' said that seeing as a price had been agreed already, that they would absorb the cost. They fitted a brand new top clam/screen - could have worked out any better for me.

Also, the other company that I bought the screen on ebay said they would refund the money seeing as they sent the wrong screen (Matt instead of Glossy!) but I returned it last week and they say they haven't received it yet (I'm not particularly worried - I have proof of postage)

All in all, I think I've learned from the whole thing. I'm not as confident now to open up the macbook and repair/upgrade anything now (hard drive/DVD drive - stuff like that). It seems pretty certain that I damaged the backlight board (which is very small) even though I was extremely careful with it. Perhaps it was just bad luck, but I feel my luck has turned a corner in that respect. I couldn't have wished for a better outcome.

Thanks to Apple, I won't be scrapping my macbook just yet.:D

Thanks L.A. for all your help and support - really appreciated. :D
 
astrobhoy said:
Hi L.A.

I just got this resolved at the weekend. After trying to fit that screen I ordered (and it didn't appear to work) I was contemplating sending it down to London to a company to fix there. they said they would charge £200 to replace the screen , but that if there were any other problems I would obviously be charged for that. I also had an added 'boot-up' problem with the mac - so I decided to take it into Apple to see if they could help.
They managed to get it starting properly, and I was also given a quote of £380 to replace the top clam screen! Too expensive, and I happened to mention to the guy that I was possibly sending it to a company in London to fix.

A day or so later, I got an email from someone at applestore saying that they would match the price!!! Totally unexpected, and very, very pleased!:D

Turns out that the backlight board had also gone on it too when they were fixing it - but the 'Genius' said that seeing as a price had been agreed already, that they would absorb the cost. They fitted a brand new top clam/screen - could have worked out any better for me.

Also, the other company that I bought the screen on ebay said they would refund the money seeing as they sent the wrong screen (Matt instead of Glossy!) but I returned it last week and they say they haven't received it yet (I'm not particularly worried - I have proof of postage)

All in all, I think I've learned from the whole thing. I'm not as confident now to open up the macbook and repair/upgrade anything now (hard drive/DVD drive - stuff like that). It seems pretty certain that I damaged the backlight board (which is very small) even though I was extremely careful with it. Perhaps it was just bad luck, but I feel my luck has turned a corner in that respect. I couldn't have wished for a better outcome.

Thanks to Apple, I won't be scrapping my macbook just yet.:D

Thanks L.A. for all your help and support - really appreciated. :D
Click to expand...
Moral of the story: Should of just listened to the 'Genius'.
 
spot on Mactagonist.;)

Credit where it is due though - and could have hugged the guy when he gave me it back sorted!:D:eek:
 
l.a.rossmann said:
Retarded idea. Ignore apple store/ifixit/other guide sites that tell you to replace a bunch of working parts because one isn't.

The models you give are not specific. The B154PW04 V.0 and V.6 will work. The B154PW04 V.3 will not. The LP154WP2(TL)(A*) will work, the LP154WP2(TL)(C*) will not(where * is any number). The V.3 and the (TL)(C*) are considerably cheaper than the V.0, V.6, and (TL)(A*). I would ignore Samsung models altogether since the one that fits into this machine has poor consistency between LCD to LCD, some have way too much yellow.

A few pointers,

a) When removing the old LCD, use something like a blade or a scraping tool laced with butanone to cut away the adhesive between the LCD and the part of the frame that says Macbook Pro at the bottom. Where it says macbook pro, there is a strong adhesive. If you pull the LCD off, you can bend it.

b) Be careful with the webcam & its cable, since it is made like ****.

c) Don't reuse the old tape.

d) On each side of the frame there are four black screws. The area near bottom screw on the left and the right is where all the pressure is put if the back bezel piece(the thing with the glowing Apple) is not on behind the screen. Without this, trying to open and close the machine will put pressure on that section and the frame will quickly bend and break off, like a paperclip.

I'm surprised you couldn't find a glossy. Don't spend over $140 for a used screen, even in single quantity.

Have fun!
Click to expand...



Hey, L.A., I also have an A1226 model of macbook pro that I'm trying trying to get a replacement LED screen for. I see in your post you're talking models that would be compatible and in this paragraph you mention all the LP154WP2-TLA* models are the same. So, you're saying then that the LP154WP2-TLA1 is the same as the LP154WP2-TLA4 model?

I've just seen a LP154WP2-TLA4 for sale at considerably cheaper price than my model or the TLA2 or TLA3 models. How can I check to be sure or have you personally installed a TLA4 model into an A1226 laptop?

Thanks,
Phil
 
woah woah woah

I'd be careful about replacement part numbers. I've had some recent grief with a difference between an (TL) (A1) part and an replacement (TL) (A2) part in my A1151 MBP. See my post:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1029696/

I'd buy exactly the same TL A* whatever that you have in your laptop. I made the error or believing all the compatibility misinformation I found on various LCD replacement suppliers sites.
 
Macbook A1226

Hi, I too have a model A1226 Macbook, it developed an intermittent fault where the picture would flicker and 'jump'.
(Edit: This may be due to a graphics chip problem!)

I have traced the problem to microscopic cracks in the flexi-cable of one of the side lcd driver chips. This has proven to be beyond my repair skills so a new panel is required.

The faulty panel is an LG.PHILIPS LP154WP2 (TL)(A2), however, this is not the correct one as it doesn't quite line up with the front bezel (mac was bought 2nd hand.)

Scouring the web has not revealed the correct panel for my particular Macbook. The best lead so far is from www.welovemacs.com who offer to pinpoint the right one if you email them the Mac's serial number (it's under the battery on mine.) They haven't yet replied.

Cheers
 
You need an N154C6-L01 or N154C6-L02 - reverse frame 1st gen LCD panel. Then the frame will line up properly.

LP154WP2-TLA1, LP154WP2-TLA2, LP154WP2-TLA3, LP154WP2-TLA4, LTN154BT02, B154PW04 V.0, B154PW04 V.6, B154PW04 V.7 are regular frame

N154C6-L01, N154C6-L02 are reverse frame.

If you look closely at the panel, you'll see that the metal frame is not even on both sides. On some machines, it is reversed, where the narrow portion is on the right side instead of the left side. Don't ask me why it's like this, but it is.
 
Is it just me or is the price of LCDs gone up?
I can't find these for under $175 and that's on eBay!
 
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