News Taffy

Broken Screen on your notebook? It happens all the time! Trip on the power cord, dropped at the airport screening, packed too tight in your carry on, or most recently for my unfortuante friend, your Great Dane steps on it.   

Before you replace the machine or think all is lost, in most cases you can continue using your machine with a spare external computer monitor (even that antique CRT in your attic) or maybe your flat panel TV. All you need is the appropriate cable, SVGA or HDMI depending on the model PC you own.

Start your computer with the external display attached, some machines will automatically detect the attached display and you're back in business! Your notebook may require you press the Function Key (Fn) and tap one of the "F" keys on your keyboard to toggle video to the correct device; the key will typically have an image of a computer display printed on it.

Screen repairs average $200-$300. Weigh the repair cost against the replacement cost of the computer, it is not difficult to recover personal data from a broken machine and with new notebooks available for a few hundred dollars, funds may be better put toward a new unit.

If you are feeling adventurous there are many DIY repair videos available on the Internet or YouTube. 

Mail-in screen repair shops are plentiful; however if your shipment is lost, sensitive or sentimental personal information on your machine could be comprimised. I highly recommend removing your computer's hard drive prior to utilizing any mail-in computer service. If you don't want to risk it use a local repair vendor.