Replacement chassis

My ex-wife's laptop is "broken". There is (and has been for a couple years, actually) a crack in the bezel at the lower left corner of the screen, and now the right lid hinge has broken or come loose and the lid/screen won't stay upright. I purchased this laptop in '03 and it's been faithful and tough, considering what it's been through (dropped by our daughter several times, used as a foot prop by the ex, etc). She had me order her a new laptop (we're amicable) but we'd like to get this fixed so our daughter (now 9) can have her own laptop at that house (she has a PC at my house) and not use her mom's new one.

I was trying to find a whole new chassis & bezel to swap the screen, mobo, HD, etc into but am not having much luck. I thought I'd come here to see what y'all thought. Are there replacement chassis out there for a model this old? Are there newer ones that this stuff will fit into and, if so, how will I know if it'll fit? Any ideas for a case mod that would be mobile and functional for a 9 year old?

And it still runs XP so I'm gonna wipe the HD and install Lucid Lynx (which is what she has on her desktop at my place and seems to like it).

Thanks for any help, folks!

 

What model is it?

 

Sorry, meant to include that. It's an Inspiron 8600.

 

Unless it has some sentimental value (or you like collecting antiques) it's time to send that one the the great Inspiron heaven in the sky.

That said, I recognized immediately that description of cracking edges since my Inspiron had those same cracking issues. You should have seen all the gobs of glue I had accumulated over time trying to keep mine together. I figured, everything works so why dump it just because of cosmetic issues. Nevertheless, compared to even one of today's modest laptops, it's a dinosaur. So I'm not sure it's worth spending more than a few dollars to give it a second life?

In any event, if it's economically feasible for you and your daughter doesn't mind, it might be worth it.
I kept gluing mine until there were precious few original surface contacts left to hold it together. And it gave me more time to save for a new one. I still have that hulk in a trunk.

(It stood by me in times of dire straits, and I don't have the heart to get rid of it.)

If you choose to repair yours, post a before and after picture and share your good fortune.

 

Have you had a look on eBay? You can get a faulty one, or a chassis for it. For example, here is a faulty non-working Dell Inspiron 8600, all you do is pull out it's guts, and put the new guts in.

 

Parts People is a good resource for Dell parts. Here's their list of parts for the Inspiron 8600:

Parts-People - Dell Inspiron 8600 Laptop Repair Parts

I didn't go through all 5 pages, but at a glance, I saw they have display bezels and lid covers, so you may be in luck.

 

Thanks, y'all! I was able to take it apart and found it's just the hinge that broke. Apparently the right screw from the bezel, which holds the hinge in place, came out so it was moving around in there loosely and eventually lost all integrity. Now, if I can just find those hinges...

 

+1 for Parts-people. I've used them for XPS parts in the past and had very a good experience.