dropped Aspire 3680 - just the screen, or other hw broken?

Hello all,

I've built and worked on a lot of desktops but this is my first stint at rescuing a laptop.

My husband dropped his Aspire 3680-2682 the other day and the screen went wonky. I booted it off a VGA monitor and it seems to be fine running from there, BUT I could not get it to boot to VGA except in safe mode, and when I choose to boot in regular mode it goes to the LCD screen and doesn't allow switching the display to the external monitor. This is the only thing that concerns me that it might not be just the screen that sustained damage.

I was eventually able to get th bezel off (it doesn't come 100% off on this model but doesn't need to) and remove the lcd panel for inspection. The thin board taped to the back of the panel doesn't seem to be visibly broken or strained and the connectors to it were taped so firmly in place they didn't budge on impact. The small board that rests at the bottom of the top case under the bezel (the inverter?) can't be inspected well and I don't want to damage it by trying. In any case nothing appears damaged to the naked eye on or around the screen.

The first pic is how the screen looks when booted; it also (visibly) flickers and redraws continuously. The second shows that applying pressure allows a clearer view of the console and stops the flickering.

http://home.comcast.net/~felids/3680-1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~felids/3680-2.jpg

I have found a replacement screen online for 50.00 and feel comfortable enough trying to replace it rather than spend the cost of a new laptop on sending it for repairs. However, if it's not just the screen I don't want to throw more money at this.

In your experienced opinions, does it look like the damage is typical of a broken LCD screen and not something in the motherboard? (no clue on how to get a closer look at that stuff. took every screw out of it last night and couldn't get the bottom case to reveal its secrets.)

Thanks for any advice! Hate to just throw the laptop away like it's disposable when the screen may be the only issue.

spud

 

What is the graphics card in the computer?

Also, when you boot Windows in 'non-safe-mode', does it actually boot to the desktop? Maybe you can get an image on an external monitor by customizing 'Display Properties'.

 

hi namaiki,

I can't reconnect it to the external monitor right now, but when the extmon is connected it gives safe boot options (any of which allow it to continue on the extmon) but choosing normal causes the display to shift to the laptop screen and the FN button that switches the display didn't work... however i may not have been giving it enough time.

when i boot without the extmon, i get the Acer bios splash screen then an option to boot in repair mode (??? hard to get a pic of because you have to press the screen to see anything) or start windows normally.


I must have seen this last night because I had an option to choose Launch Startup Repair (recommended) which was basically file restore plus maybe some diagnostics and didn't help. It seems that the laptop can tell that neither an external monitor nor working screen is available to the system as my boot options are different.

When I choose to start normally (without extmon) i can see that it goes to a normal login & i can get in but can't really do anything for lack of seeing stuff. i was able to manage opening a web page from a link with the mouse though.

 

How about you startup without the ext monitor and login to windows and then plug in the external monitor.

Could you apply pressure to the screen so you can see, and then right-click desktop -> Display settings -> 2 -> check extend -> check this is my main monitor -> 1 -> uncheck extend -> apply.

 

oh, and the graphics hw appears to be this:

NVIDIA® GeForce Go 7300 up to 256 MB TurboCache (128 MB of dedicated GDDR2 VRAM, up to 128 MB of shared system memory), supporting Microsoft® DirectX 9.0, Shader Model 3.0, OpenEXR High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology, NVIDIA® PowerMizerTM 6.0 PCI Express® (for selected models)

Mobile Intel® 940GML Express chipset with integrated 3D graphics, featuring Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950, up to 224 MB of shared system memory, supporting Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 dual independent display (for Aspire 3680)

 

I won't be able to try this until later but will do so. Can I ask what you are looking for ultimately?

 

The GPU is the intel 940GML integrated graphics.

Check this thread for disassembly. You must removed the keyboard and there is a final screw that releases the bottom cover.

 

Hi all,

it turns out that if I allow it to boot in normal mode and press the screen so that I can see well enough to log in, then after windows loads up completely I can switch the display to the external monitor using the appropriate fN key (and without having to change display adapter settings). It doesn't seem as if there is any damage other than the screen. I found a replacement screen on eBay that ships out today.

My husband decided to just buy a new laptop, so if I can get it working again it will be mine to use.

Will post back with results... thanks for all your helpful comments.

 

Screen arrived one day early... practically snatched it out of the FedEx guy's hands.

Fifteen minutes later it was installed & working just fine. Posting from it right now.

Not a great model but I've got my first laptop for a little bit of cash, and learned a lot here and elsewhere.

Thanks everyone!

 

Great job!

Its not the best laptop but you can upgrade it to the a C2D CPU and also stick in a 7200 RPM HDD and then you have a halfway decent laptop. Try giving the thread I linked earlier a read if you want to know the specifics.