Upgrading the G73JH (Best Buy) screen guide

Well, it was about time to trade in my aging G50VT for a new laptop, and I settled on the obvious successor--the G73JH. I am a poor college grad, and have had good experiences with refurbs, so I decided that picking up a G73 from comboom (for $1,027) would be a good idea.

And here it is:



My one peeve was the screen resolution; I have never had a computer with what I considered to be decent pixel density (my G50 was 1366x768). The other factor driving that decision was the fear that I would get one of the subpar AUO screens. Before I even received the laptop, I ordered a 1920x1080 screen from a company based in Vancouver, with no guarantee about what quality that screen would be (I suppose I could have called...).

I ended up getting lucky, and buying a G73 with the LG screen (it is LED backlit by the way). The replacement from Laptopscreens.com was actually the very same model at a different resolution. The original 1600x900 is model LP173WD1 (TL)(C1):


And the replacement 1920x1080 is LP173WF1 (TL)(C1):


This screen, as you will see from the photos, has pretty decent brightness, contrast, and viewing angles (except from below), but I do not have extensive experience with screens. I am not sure, but I have heard that the nicer model (i.e. non-Best Buy) G73's have Hannstar screens...
In any event, I am delighted with these LED backlit LG screens.

Note: All of these comparative images were taken at the same settings (I was able to set everything manually at least) for the same backgrounds. I apologize that the quality isn't better, but I am not very good with a camera.

Here is my G50 screen:


White

Black


My original G73 screen (1600x900 LG):


White

Black


Finally the new G73 screen (1920x1080 LG):


White

Black


You may observe that the last two screens have pretty much identical brightness, contrast, and hues. Not surprising, since the only difference appears to be number of pixels.

Now the installation guide:

You do not have to pull the laptop apart to replace the screen; just remove the four screws on the bottom closest to the back, and also the two that are covered by the battery. This allows you to pull off the cover above the vents/behind the screen. You do not actually have to do this in order to remove the old screen, but you will want this off to complete the installation of the new one.

To remove the screen itself, you only have to take out the two round rubber bumper pieces on the bottom corners of the screen bezel, remove the screws concealed underneath, and then pull the plastic cover away from the case.

The two screens side-by-side...sort of:


In one photo I have unscrewed the hinges from the cover, which I recommend against. (Learn from my mistakes. :



Once in, you will have to remove almost all of the screws around the screen, with the exception of the screw in the bottom outside corner of each hinge.

There is a metal strut attached to each side of the screen which allows it to be fastened to the plastic back and to the hinges. This must be extricated from the whole cover assembly (which is why so many screws have to some out), in order to take off the screen.





Once the screen is out, carefully disconnect the cable to the gpu. This is very small and delicate!!!


At this point in the process I had a minor heart-attack. You see, the connector from the gpu is on the left side of the original screen (and hence comes out of the left side of the chassis), but the new screen's connection was on the right. The cable, as it is positioned is nowhere near long enough to reach across to the connection on the new screen.

After a little investigation, however, I discovered that the gpu appears to be on the right side of the laptop, and so the cable to the display is plenty long. You just need to fish it out through the hinge, and then cut/undo some taping inside the chassis of the laptop. This is why you need to remove those screws at the beginning (you might actually need to take more out)--in order to "rewire" the cable so that it goes through the right hinge and thence to the right side of the display.

See how I had to bend the case a little bit in order to reroute the cable from the left side to the right side. If you want, you can unscrew everything on the bottom of the laptop's casing, remove the DVD drive, etc., and make this easier. I was in a hurry though:


You might have to be a little imaginative to coil away the extra length of cable, since it probably isn't best to stuff it in on top of an occasionally toasty gpu.

I didn't even have to reinstall the display driver--when I rebooted everything worked perfectly, and catalyst 10.7 recognized the 1920x1080 screen just fine.

And there you have it. Even though I do not benefit from a higher quality screen thanks to the replacement, I am happy to have the extra resolution.
Just as a rough benchmark, 3dmark06 at a 1600x900 (native) resolution got me 11207, and at 1920x1080 was 10005--about a 10.75% difference. (All settings were stock on my computer and 3dmark06 except for the resolution of the screen and of the benchmark.)

I will not accept responsibility for any mistakes/destruction which other users may cause to their laptops--do this at your own risk. Good luck and God bless!

 

I give you an A for effort for switching out screens and fidgeting with cables to get the monitor working.

i didn't think you had a problem swapping but maybe just cable management but you did that just fine

 

Nice guide. I'm about to swap my 1749 screen and getting all nervous about it.

 

ya mate this is awesome.. too bad , i don't think i have the guts to do it ... i'll just buy the full HD version G73.. but really u should get an A* for effort!

 

I think it actually took longer to upload the pictures and put this post together than it did to replace the screen.

Oh, and I should have mentioned that the only tool required is a small phillips-head screwdriver.

 

I'm going to try this. Which screen would you suggest? I was gonna get the same LG but if there's a better one I'll get that.

 

AUO B173HW01. I've had both and preferred the AUO.

 

I know that the 1600x900 AUO with the same model number as the 1920x1080 version you mention is inferior to the LG 1600x900--in fact there are threads devoted to the topic of how to make sure you get a BB G73 with the LG as opposed to the AUO:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...el-due-inferior-auo-screen-vs-lg-display.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...ngs-when-running-1920x1080-17-3-asus-g73.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...een-best-buy-g73jh-we-may-have-found-way.html

In the case of the LG 1600x900 and 1920x1080 screens (models LP173WD1 and LP173WF1) , the brightness, saturation, contrast, etc. are practically identical, but I suppose that it's possible the 1080p AUO is significantly better than the 1600x900, or that they are just different generations...

 

jacob, the AUO 1080p is significantly better than any other AUO panels. It is in fact the only AUO panel worth checking(other than my favorite a-mva 37'' 1080p of course).

 

although this is off topic, jacobxaviermason , does ur G73 have GSOD or PSOD and what drivers are u using? Also which are the best ones?

 

anodize--good to know, not that I'll be needing a new panel any time soon...

sean473, I installed a clean version of Windows 7, and am using all the basic Asus drivers from their website (though I might try a modded vbios later). I'm using catalyst 10.7 (mobile version), which is latest for notebooks from the ati website.

The first thing I did after booting up was to download and install the 209 bios, and I haven't had a single issue. Furmark running a burn test for half an hour gave me 93C (temp in the room was 77F).

 

did you run a third wifi antenna while everything was open just in case you want to upgrade to one of those fancy intel 3 post wifi cards?

Cheers,

 

No, although that would have been the easiest time to do it I suppose.

I rarely use wifi except at home, or at LAN parties, and in neither case do I need additional range or bandwidth.

It wouldn't be very hard to do, once you pop the cover and screen off (about 10 minutes max) to run the extra antenna.

I think the harder part would be routing the wire for the extra antenna through the case to the wifi card itself (it's situated next to the hard drive bays). For that, I think some serious dis-assembly would be in order.

 

I'm actually about to do this. How hard is it to remove the gpu cable? Does it just pull out? I can't really clearly see from that picture.

 

Yes, the gpu cable just pulls straight away from the LCD panel. There is some clear tape over it, which I removed with a knife, and then I pulled the connector away with a knife blade as well. (It's pretty small.)

 

thanks for the tutorial, was easier running the gpu cable along the back to re-route as opposed to a tear-down of the whole system. have a 1920x1080 LG LED Matte screen, looks beautiful... I had ordered the Glossy but actually think I'll keep the matte.

 

Happy to help. I actually would have gone for a matte screen too if I had the option.

 

A well done guide ! +1

I have this laptop myself althou in default 1920x1080 resolution.. however would love to have the proper 16:10 ratio of 1920x1200 but I guess that will remain a dream since they dont make screens for this laptop at such resolution

-Mel

 

Followed this guide and replaced my screen yesterday. I would say the most difficult part of this process was getting the plastic lcd faceplate pressed back on correctly :rofl:

Other than that thank you, love this new screen, same model screen as yours except its the matte version.

 

I just followed this guide as well - spot on. It's a 15min task, without the time taken to snap the trim back on. Screencountry ships extremely fast... I can't believe how bright 300nits is... definately worth ~$100 if you need a brighter panel!

 

I have an AUO screen that was pulled new from a G73 if anyone is interested, i really have no use for it.

 

what is the model? Is it wuxga?

 

no, its 1600x900

 

oh no thanks

To the op

What are your rankings of the various screens that work in a g73.

 

you have seen the lg screen the hannstar screen and the auo screen and you think the auo is superior.

There is also a cmo screen and a sony screen. Im not sure which Im going to get.

Your 3 screen ranking is about the highest anyone has done.

The lg screen is also in sager notebooks so a lot of people saw them side by side and thought the g73 screen was brighter.

 

The LG screen is nice and bright, but not as vivid as the Hannstar screen, nor is the contrast as high, since the blacks on the LG are not super-black. The one problem I have heard about the Hannstar is that if you look really closely (2-3 inches) some of those screens have a grey "snow" falling across them, sort of like on a fuzzy tv channel. This is only noticeable when you look very closely though.

I'm afraid I haven't seen the 1920x1080 AUO, but Anodize isn't the only one to say that it's really good.

 

I just got a replacement G7 worst buy version so I would love to upgrade the screen, is there a link to where you bought it from.

 

I got mine from screencountry. But you can also find these screens on ebay and other online stores.

 

I've done the G73 GPU repaste, which involved nearly a full teardown, so this should be doable, I guess. Thanks for the how-to thread.

I'm curious, though, what are the pros and cons of the matte screen vs. the glossy? I'm really interested in getting the 1600x900 out of my G73 and upgrading to the 1920x1080, but not sure why I should order one or the other.

 

Matte screens are less reflective, hence produce less glare from sunlight and whatever is behind you; they also are less fingerprint-attractive.

On the other hand, glossy screens transmit light more directly, since the matte finish tends to diffuse it a little. Glossy screens are consequently somewhat sharper, and have higher contrast ratios. That being said, you are getting a very bright screen with a high pixel density, so these concerns aren't as troubling as otherwise might be the case.

The few people I know who have gotten the matte screen for their G73's prefer it to glossy. I have not, however, seen the 1920x1080 glossy and matte screens side-by-side.

 

Would it be more wise of me to get the RBBX05 refurbished model and upgrading the screen to 1080p instead of getting the more expensive "less-problems model" (less processor problems, non-refurbished, and working 1600x900 screen) of the BST7? I haven't seen a post from anyone about the BST7 screen model number, though.

 

what the LG screen should I choose ?

 

Your current screen more than likely has a connector like the bottom diagram, but either right or left should work. See the first page of the thread where I had to switch the side where the cable attaches to the screen--you just have to undo a little tape, and feed the cable through a different part of the "chassis".

Shaythong, I got the refurbished version (from cowboom.com), and upgraded the screen. I then sold the old screen on ebay for $50, so it was a pretty cheap upgrade in the end.
The downside is that you might get a model someone returned to be refurbished because it had graphics card issues. I had some problems with GSOD (grey screen of death) initially, but fixed it with a modded VBIOS. In other words, if you get a refurbished one, be prepared to do a little extra work.

 

Yes. My laptop is ref from bestbuy. I love LG screen and nothing happen with my laptop, very lucky.
After one month, I have problem with keyboard-M button.

 

Thank you for this great guide.
I would like to change my panel (G73Jh - 1920x1080 Full-HD) with a 3D refresh compatible display. The new model should support the 120Hz refresh rate and (if possible) sport a great GAMUT value... do you have some items to suggest?


Thanks!

 

I'm afraid I don't even know where you can buy an after-market 3d screen for the G73. Theoretically all you need is a 120hz screen (like on some G73JW's and G53's), and I do not know any retailers who offer those yet.

Aside from that, I do not know if AMD officially supports 3d gaming yet. They were allowing partners to produce drivers for 3d applications like watching movies, but it sounds like those have been rather glitchy. This is why Asus' 3d gaming laptops all have NVidia gpu's.

Also, while the 5870 is powerful enough to run most games well at 1080p, you need double the framerate for 3d games (since the technology these use involves active shutter glasses which only allow each eye to see half the images).
Because of this, the 3d displays in most laptops are 1366x768, so you might have to sacrifice pixels to upgrade to a 120hz screen.

 

Hi Jacox, definitively I will look for a no-3D display due to lack of retails for such panel but I would like update mine (1920x1080 G73Jh) with a better display. Do you have some brand? I'd like a glossy one...


Cheers,

 

For anyone who have seen comparisons, how is the 1080 LG matte vs the 1080 AUO? Currently rocking the incredibly poor 900 AUO.

 

By all accounts the AUO 1080 screen is much more vivid than the LG. The LG also has a fair amount of light bleed (I have the glossy LG 1080 screen myself). On the AUO I presume that blacks are darker.

This is only from hearsay--I have not actually seen the AUO screen.

 

Thanks. After I do a couple more car mods, going to add a second hard drive, switch the screen, and put in a blu-ray player. Hopefully the AUO will be down in price by then (and there will be more br drive selections ~_~).

 

Good deal. I have done all of those things. I picked up a slim blu-ray reader on ebay for about $40 (most "slim" drives will replace your dvd drive just fine--you just have to switch faceplates), and added a 128Gb Crucial SSD.

 

Can the rubber bumpers be replaced? What is the best way to pull the, out?

 

Also how hard is it to pull the bazel off??

 

It is next to impossible to get replacement rubber feet from Asus or their distributors as far as I can tell. (Some retailers are even complaining about it.)

You might try buying a piece of rubber from a hardware store, cutting it to fit, and glueing it into place. (I am missing one myself.)

I think to pull out the disk drive you need to unscrew the vented piece off the bottom of the notebook, and there should be one more screw under there, holding the drive into its socket.

The bezel is just held on by plastic clips, which can be easily pried out of the way. It should just snap right onto the new drive.

I got a Sony Optiarc BC-5500 like this one

 

so I bought the AOU FHD V4, it should arrive between a couple of days/ a week, I am trying to understand all since as you may have guessed english is not my native languages, anyway what I wonder the most if the lid must be totally removed or if I can just remove the front part (which should be fixed only by two screw under the little rubber pins, right?)
edit:
Also, those two Rubber Dots seem damn hard to remove... are they glued maybe????

 

Sorry I didn't get back to your PM sooner. You only need to remove the plastic bezel on the front of the screen to replace the screen (if my memory serves me correctly).

The rubber pieces are just glued on--try prying them off with a knife or something like that.

The only reason you need to remove the back of the case (above the battery) is if the connector on the new screen is on the wrong side. If this is the case, you will need that back cover off to re-route the micro-display cable to the other side of the new screen.

I hope that helps. Good luck!

 

thanks!
I won't need to re-route the cable then, I'll let you guys know how it looks once it arrives

 

Hi jacob!
a question: does the new panel keep the same (60Hz) refresh rate? Do you got new compatible models with higher values?


Any news about a 3D display for replacing?



Cheers ^_^

 

I am afraid I have not heard of much progress on AMD's software end of things. Their technology for 3d is called HD3D btw.

There is a screen (sort of) available now however. The Envy 17 comes with a 17.3in 120hz screen. I was not able to find the screen for sale online yet.

Even if you do find one, I do not know if it would just plug in and work fine. A screen with a higher refresh rate might draw more power, or even require a non-standard connector. I am not an expert--you might try pm-ing the guys from XoticPC, or something like that.

You might also have trouble synching active-shutter glasses to the screen...

 

Hi jacob!
thanks for getting me back soon! I will send a message to XoticPC looking for these questions. Did you think to re-upgrade your panel again?

And... what' about the last line for the glasses issues?


Cheers,