E420 screen replace with better t420/420s screen?

Hi,
checking the forum, I couldn't find similar topic.
I have had an E420 for an year now and am happy with it except for the display. I would like to experiment with putting a better screen from some other 14" thinkpads. For example e420s or T420/420s
I hope wholeheartedly that there could be a way.
From the live chat on laptopscreen . com

Q:
ven
so just to be certain, an 14" screen for e420 has the same dimensions and connector as an 14" screen from t420?
A:
Denise
They are actually the same screen and completely compatible.


I couldn't find any detailed info or pictures of the different screens, other than whats on this site:
E420 screen:
IBM-Lenovo THINKPAD EDGE E420 LAPTOP LCD SCREEN FROM $44. HP ACER TOSHIBA DELL APPLE COMPAQ. Notebook screen, laptop display, notebook lcd, laptop tft, screen DELL, ACER lcd, screens SONY, lcd DELL, ACER lcd.
t420 screen:
IBM-Lenovo THINKPAD T420 LAPTOP LCD SCREEN FROM $44. HP ACER TOSHIBA DELL APPLE COMPAQ. Notebook screen, laptop display, notebook lcd, laptop tft, screen DELL, ACER lcd, screens SONY, lcd DELL, ACER lcd.

All of them have same video signal connector-" 40 pin LED socket"

Has anybody tried that?
Thanks in advance.

 

I don't think the T420 screens are any better quality wise, but you could go HD+ if it's compatible. I don't know, but wouldn't be surprised if it is.

 

And do you know if a T420 laptop, bought with 1366x768 resolution display can be changed with a T420 higher resolution one(1600x...)
Or some hardware/software part of the laptop is configured for lower screen resolution ,which will cause the new not to function?
Thanks

 

A 1366x768 screen may be replaced with a 1600x900 screen. The two TN screens, although supporting different pixel resolutions, share the same type of (tiny) 40-pin flat cable.

Windows 7 picks up the new pixel resolution after you have installed the new screen. No need to "re-configure" anything. (It is a good idea to check proper functioning of the screen before you put back the screws, the bezel, etc.)


EDIT: I said the above in relation to the T420, T520 and W520 that I have worked on. I hope the information applies to the E420.

 

There ia a member here who switched the screens and had a bad result... Could you enlighten us as for what were wrong? Because I would like to switch resolution also...

Here is his experience:

I've been searching for this answer too! I have swapped screens from 1366x768 to a 1600x900 screen and when I restarted the computer the 1600x900 screen was barely legible. Although it did automatically adjust the resolution to the higher res screen it wasn't working properly. Was also wondering if there were updates (bios?, drivers?, ???) that would need to be done to make it work properly.
Thank you for your help.
-awry

Here´s the link: http://forum.notebookreview.com/len...placed-lg-acceptable-panel-4.html#post8856396

Thanks in advance.

 

I wish more specific information was provided by the poster. From my experience, the most delicate part is the 40-pin flat cable, or more precisely, mating the two tiny connectors. Ungluing the original connector takes patience, as well. (A friend of mine was complaining about "bad colors" after the screen swap and it turned out the two tiny connectors were not quite aligned and snapped together properly.)

I never had to change any BIOS settings nor update any drivers: same BIOS, same OS, same graphics drivers.

Disclaimer: Whatever worked for me does not apply to any other cases.

 

Thanks Kaso, and what about the screen door effect, does it goes away when changing to a 1600x900? Do you suggest any specific brand?

 

Heh heh, I'm the wrong guy to offer comments about T420/T420s HD+ screens (AUO, LG, Samsung), as I only "worship" the T/W520 FHD AUO screen. Seriously, though, it is definitely an improvement going from HD to HD+, in general.

 

Do you know if the t420 screen will fit properly in the E420 case, and the screw holes will fit?

 

Hi - Awry here.
I think I was fairly diligent about getting the cable snapped into place correctly. I had the unfortunate opportunity of trying to upgrade a T420 and a T520 to higher res screens and had the same results... displays that just weren't "right" when upgrading - you really couldn't read them. see pics I posted in this post. Although you may have had luck I simply didn't. Based on this post I think to upgrade the display you have to also swap the LCD screen cable.
Hopefully swapping the LCD screen cable to the correct one will make the difference in upgrading displays in the T420 and T520. (I caution that I haven't done this yet but this seems like it would be the most likely issue)

I'll report back as soon I get the right cable installed with the higher res screen. (Sorry this doesn't answer the E420 question)

Cheers,
awry

 

Upgrading a T/W510/520/530 from HD to FHD does not require a new/different flat cable. I've done it a few times for friends and family members: it works first time every time .

 

Hmm. I wish you would have been around when I was trying to upgrade the T520 I had.
--
Well my screen upgrade for the T420 was finally a success after I changed the LCD cables. See the follow up post over here.

cheers,
-awry

 

Someone on the Lenovo forums said they got red lines on every other row of pixels when they installed the T420 (1600x900) screen into the E420 and never posted an update on whether they fixed it. Has anyone else had this problem? Perhaps a bad connection or driver problem in Windows? I really would like the 1600x900 in my E420, I just want to know if anyone had success with this upgrade.

 

I can't offer any advise on an E420 -- just the T420. Although the red lines on every other pixel row is reminiscent of the issue I had using the wrong cable - see the pics in this post. You may try getting the T420 cable for the 1600x900 (that's FRU 04W1618 LCD cable (HD+ cable)) and then upgrade the display to 1600x900. Although, before you do that I would spend sometime looking through the technician's manual for the T420 and the E420 to see if their part numbers are the same for the lower resolution screens -- I'm thinking if the lower resolution screens have the same part number for cables and/or screens you should be able to upgrade, if they don't have the same part numbers (FRU numbers) you may buy a bunch of stuff that won't work and will pay re-stocking fees on returning them if the vendor even lets you return them.

Good luck - please report back your findings for others
-awry