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Morning all,
My 6 year old Lenovo Ideapad 305151BD has been limping along of late and a couple of day ago when I turned it on, it appeared that the screen was not working. On closer inspection it is but with the lowest possible brightness setting however there is no response to trying to turn the brightness up while any attempt to turn it down makes it go completely black. I had a google and there were some keyboard combination solutions offered which haven't made any difference and I don't have another monitor to see if it works that way. A replacement screen is an option however the laptop itself has had an active and busy life so am considering that perhaps its just reached that stage where things are going to start going awry.
The laptop is predominantly used for media, either music or films/series, and some (basic and hamfisted) photo editing. As I don't own a television the screen quality and performance are important factors. I'm not fussed one way or another regarding having an optical drive and while touch screen is a nice feature I'd be forever cleaning the screen! My old work laptop was a Dell which was very nice but above my budget and my new one is a HP which I'm been pleased with the build quality of. My biggest criticism of the Ideapad was the keyboard being very flexy. I had been thinking of upgrading next year however this appears to have changed my plans so I did a very quick Google and came across this Lenovo V17 Gen 4 which seems like a pretty solid option.
So my question to those infinitely more tech minded than me is does this seem like a good or is there anything else that I should be looking at?
It sounds like the backlight or inverter has gone rather than the screen itself, if you can still see a picture but REALLY REALLY dim.
So you may not need a full screen. (but if the inverter/baclight is kinda integrated into the pannel, then you may be better of buying a whole screen panel unit.
I've replaced screens a couple of times in the past, and it's a right hassle to be honest, as whether your doing the backlight or the whole screen, more often than not you have to pretty much completly dismantle the laptop to do it*, due to the way they are put together. Risk of damaging retainer clips and things during the process is quite high too.
Also 'offbrand' screens from amazon marketplace or whatever may not be as good quility as the origeonal.
For a 6 year old laptop of that spec... I'd say it's hit and miss as to whether its worth faffing with*, although if its just the backlight and/or inverter, its a very cheap fix, just fiddly.(you'll need a good quality mini screw driver too, the screws can be very tight and they are very small, so you risk stripping the screw if your not carefull, and then you're basically knackered).
*it might be worth seeing if you can find a teardown video on youtube of that series of laptops you you can see whats involved.
Edit, here you go:
Or you may be able to do it from the front, which is much more straight forward, depending on model..
Thank you @mattyfez that is super helpful of you.
You have hit upon several of my thoughts as to whether it is worth the faff and trying to find the time to do it amongst all of my other current obligations. That and it would only take one hamfisted moment to scupper everything after all so perhaps new and shiny is the way to go.
In which case, how does the linked V17 stack up?
Looking at that website, this might be better @£450 in terms of price
https://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.aspx?ENT=PRODUCT&KEY=3854253&PAGE=PRODUCTCONFIGPAGE&USG=PRODUCT&XAPPL=71842
Its an i3 12th gen, but it has 6 cores, and also still has an IPS Screen, which is something I would seek out, as they are just nicer than TN screens found on budget laptops.
Currently it is unusable. Carefully disassemble and check the screen type, size and connector type. Once you know this you can start looking fro a replacement. I have replaced 100s of Chromebook screens at work. I think it takes about 3-4 mins per screen, but they are all the same...
It takes about twice as long if you fail to remove the sctreen protector film before reassembling...
Yeh good point, it's essentially already knackered for all intents and purposes so not much to loose really, but if you end up spendin (just guessing) £100 on a new panel you've still only got a low spec laptop worth (guessing again) about £100 if you are lucky.
It sounds like the backlight or inverter has gone rather than the screen itself, if you can still see a picture but REALLY REALLY dim.
... is the correct answer.
I'm not familiar with that particular model but I've rebuilt a lot of Thinkpads. Three things I'd add:
1) If you're lucky, the inverter may be a separate daughterboard. If it is then it's a trivial fix, if it isn't then it's probably beyond economical repair.
2) Pay close attention to model numbers. It's not unusual for the same model to have different innards, especially around the screen. Lenovo refer to this as "type" and it's a pain.
3) Again, I don't know about this specific model but Lenovo are one of the better companies for providing service manuals. All the T-Series ones I worked on had full documentation on their website.
4) (of 3!) Consider, if it's functional other than the screen, external monitors will still work.
I had an old Lenovo z500 that had a registry problem meaning the screen went very very dark. Needed to edit the appropriate registry entry in safe mode (I think) and reboot. It'd happen when there'd been an update.
Can't remember much more about it, but is the screen dark at BIOS? Will it go into safe mode?
Looking at that website, this might be better @£450 in terms of price<br />
https://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.aspx?ENT=PRODUCT&KEY=3854253&PAGE=PRODUCTCONFIGPAGE&USG=PRODUCT&XAPPL=71842
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My preference would be for a 17" screen if I was going for a replacement so that one would be out. Complete luddite in terms of different screen types so more reading is obviously required.
Can’t remember much more about it, but is the screen dark at BIOS? Will it go into safe mode?
Screen is completely black on trying to get into the bios.
4) (of 3!) Consider, if it’s functional other than the screen, external monitors will still work.
I have no desire for an external monitor as this would take up a notable amount of space or forever need to be put away and taken out again. One of my major reasons for not having a TV is a complete dislike for having a big screen constantly being there so this for me is a non starter.
17" screen would generally be my preference too, but they make the laptop a lot less portable than say a 14" or 13.8" or whatever size they are, in this case 15.6" they don't as easily slip into a smaller backpack, and take up more desk space, for example.
Depends on your requirements, really. If you are genearly desk based, a smaller laptop screen but plugged into a bigger monitor is another option.
If you don't acutally need to portability of a laptop, then a desktop PC could be a better option, as you generaly get a higher spec machine for the same sort of money, not considering you'd need to buy a monitor aswell.
Sideways topic drift, but there's some info on panel types here:
https://www.rtings.com/monitor/learn/ips-vs-va-vs-tn
Personaly I find IPS is the best for gaming and business use, as the colours really pop a lot more, and they just look better to me, somehow.
Downsides are the colours are sometimes not that accurate, which to be honest isn't really a consideration unless your a serious photo editor etc.
One of my major reasons for not having a TV is a complete dislike for having a big screen constantly being there so this for me is a non starter.
Fair enough, then a 17" screen is probably the way to go then, but you do pay a premium for that extra screen size, and it's not so much a super portable laptop any more.
Portability isn't an issue for me, the laptop lives on my dining table where it is folded closed when not in use so not really taking up any space. A smaller form desktop would still require an additional screen and therefore more space so just doesn't work for me.
In that case, then the lenovo you initialy suggested is a solid shout.
I think you could get away with an i3 of the same generation rather than the i5, but, of course that's not a thing if you want the rest of it to be the same or better spec!