Laptop was rolled over by a car! Help, please!

Hi Folks,
I'm writing on behalf of my mother. She's been using my grandma's Toshiba laptop for a few months now...and just this past week, she accidently rolled over it with her car.

She's sure that the computer itself is unharmed (surprisingly), but the screen is messed up.

Anyway, here's the deal:

I need to know what to do at this point.
Do we just go out and buy a new one (would that be cheaper)?

Is there a way/place to fix or replace the laptop screen?

I need any information you folks can provide.
My mom doesn't have much money at all...and
as silly as it may sound, if my grandparents find out about it...
...all hell will break loose. So, we kind of need to get this taken
care of as soon as possible.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You,
Jessica

 

Ugh, I won't ask what the laptop was doing in the driveway, but that's very unfortunate. You say the screen is messed up, so I'm assuming it's cracked or shattered, can you push the power button and see it boot up though? I'd be amazed if the laptop survived a car roll over. You should attach an external monitor to it and listen for hard drive action to see if it's really going to boot.

The bad news is that replacing a screen is pretty expensive, usually around $400. I would recommend this site: http://www.screentekltd.com for help with this issue, they stock LCD screens for various laptops and you can try and install it yourself or pay them to do it. Depending on how much the laptop is worth though, you'll need to decide if the $400 is worth it or buying another laptop is really the better option.

 

You can try ebay to get a used replacement screen from one of the many second hand companies that are set up there. I replaced the screen in my thinkpad for less then $100. It came with all of the surrounding plastic, latches, hindges, and everything. Try to find someone who will give you at least a month or more warranty in case it's a piece of junk (lots of dead or bright pixels)

Do, however follow the earlier advice and make sure that it is still at least booting up and that all of the other components are functioning. If it's more then just the screen, you may want to consider just replacing it.

 

Thanks abaxter and 8rocks for your advice!
I appreciate it. I'll let my mom know and
hopefully we can straighten everything out.

By the way, 8rocks... if I buy the screen
off of ebay...can we assemble it ourselves
or should/would we have to take it to
a computer repair shop for that?