Converting my old laptop into a makeshift desktop

[hockeyguy92]

Let's say that like me the hinges on your laptop have separated the screen from the bottom half of your laptop, while you do have many ways to repair it, they will most likely be expensive or impractical.  for me, the average, broke, high school/college student, replacing the screen would be out of the question.  instead of trashing said laptop, I elected to open it up, remove the screen and use it as a makeshift desktop, sure it may not perform better than that first computer we have all had, but it works well under light workloads.  This works with most laptops, My first attempt was with and Acer Aspire V5, which my brother had completely destroyed the screen on, another was my asus x200ma.  For the convenience factor i first set up the laptop on a hp 2311x Monitor to correct scaling issues, connected some cheap speakers from insignia, and threw on a wireless mouse, no keyboard needed, because the laptop keyboard is the whole system, however i prefer a mouse, rather than the track pad.

[desertcomputer]

I mean, you could have kept the monitor on the laptop and grab a 5 dollar keyboard ... Presume your laptop have video out. 

 

I mean, you could just have makeshift laptop dock and connect VGA out into your current monitor and have plug a mouse and keyboard. 

[hockeyguy92]

2 minutes ago, MrUnknownEMC said:

I mean, you could have kept the monitor on the laptop and grab a 5 dollar keyboard ... Presume your laptop have video out. 

 

I mean, you could just have makeshift laptop dock and connect VGA out into your current monitor and have plug a mouse and keyboard. 

that wouldve been too easy, plus, i find it fairly useful for basic tasks, i got another laptop recently, and have found that my x200ma is impractical, there's already a track pad and keyboard in it, the point is at the end of the day you dont need to throw it out if the screen is broken, for someone like me, i like to make stuff somewhat practical for my everyday use, so having everything there without having to spend too much extra is good, i mean all you really need is an hdmi or vga cable and a cheap monitor

[kb5zue]

7 minutes ago, hockeyguy92 said:

that wouldve been too easy, plus, i find it fairly useful for basic tasks, i got another laptop recently, and have found that my x200ma is impractical, there's already a track pad and keyboard in it, the point is at the end of the day you dont need to throw it out if the screen is broken, for someone like me, i like to make stuff somewhat practical for my everyday use, so having everything there without having to spend too much extra is good, i mean all you really need is an hdmi or vga cable and a cheap monitor

With the frequency of your brother destroying your laptops, I would say it was time to get a new brother.  Then I would maybe move on to a desktop pc instead of the laptop.  You can move your hard drive and data to a desktop machine with relative ease.  But ya gotta do what ya gotta do.  So when I needed a replacement screen for my laptop (an HP), I was able to scrounge one from our local electronics recycling facility.

 

 Lots of companies do not specifically produce or make their own parts but source them out to other manufacturers.  As a result, a bunch of the parts are basically interchangeable.  So now my laptop is 9 years old but it still works.  I have replaced the screen, the hard-drive, the CD-rom and increased the amount of ram in it just because I have been able to scrounge the parts from the recycling facility.  The old thing won't run Win10 but it gets by with Win7 and is good for watching movies listening to music.

[desertcomputer]

55 minutes ago, hockeyguy92 said:

that wouldve been too easy, plus, i find it fairly useful for basic tasks, i got another laptop recently, and have found that my x200ma is impractical, there's already a track pad and keyboard in it, the point is at the end of the day you dont need to throw it out if the screen is broken, for someone like me, i like to make stuff somewhat practical for my everyday use, so having everything there without having to spend too much extra is good, i mean all you really need is an hdmi or vga cable and a cheap monitor

Well i didn't really say you got to throw away the monitor ... I mean you could have tack away your laptop like behind your monitor have clean setup, with minimal cables viable IMO.  

 

Well i see you already have a mouse, a keyboard shouldn't be a hassle and i bet any keyboard will be better than that laptop one. 

 

At the end of the day, there are simpler solutions which doesn't require you to rip off your laptop monitor. I mean you could have sold it for more money later or even replaced it later panel. 

 

I have like tones of VGA cable laying around, but you could easily get them for free at local recycling center and also there are tones of cheap keyboards/mouse for $1 or less. 

 

 

[TetraSky]

I did something similar before.

The screen on my old laptop died one day, I opened it, to check what was the model of the screen to order a new one on ebay, saw how much it cost and decided it wasn't worth it.

So I unplugged the screen from the mainboard of the laptop(but left the dead screen there, just unplugged), I then just proceeded to use it as a HTPC in the living room, connected via HDMI to the TV along with a wireless mouse/keyboard, without the battery, since that's just a fire hazard waiting to happen if I leave it plugged in 24/7.(Not like it even kept a charge longer than 2 minutes anyway)

 

Considering it already had things like Wifi and Bluetooth built-in, this was an easy transformation and would recommend it for those of have an old laptop laying around.

[AshleyAshes]

*cough*