The other day I opened my pride-and-joy to discover, horror of horrors, a Matrix-like green splotch of dead pixels, precipitated by a large crack in the LCD. Apparently my almost total disregard for the well-being of my electronic devices is not without its consequences.
Although the patches of dead pixels are relatively small, when the screen itself is only 8.9″, that’s a significant chunk of screen real-estate! Now, the good thing about netbooks is that they are relatively cheap, but not quite cheap enough to treat like disposable appliances! So I began to search for a replacement screen, and to my great pleasure found a company selling super-cheap authentic replacement screens based in Vancouver: ScreenCountry.com, where I was able to buy a screen, complete with shipping, for about $90. And it arrived within 36 hours of me ordering!
Now everywhere I read said that replacing LCD screens is a simple process, but for the life of me I couldn’t find any guides for the Acer Aspire One. But being an enterprising sort of chap I thought I’d dive in anyways, and hopefully pass on my wisdom to others who might find themselves in a similar predicament. The process is really simple and doesn’t require any technical skill beyond a steady hand. Here, then, without further ado are the steps needed to replace the LCD on you Acer Aspire One:
Disclaimer: This is an easy process, but by providing these instructions I accept no liability for damage to your netbook which might result from your attempts to follow these instructions.
Before you do any of this, make sure to turn off the computer and remove the battery!
- The screen is flanked by 6 rubber tabs which mask the screws which hold the LCD in place, illustrated below. These need to be removed – scraping them off with a flat-head screwdriver or something similar (even your fingernail) will do the trick. Keep these somewhere safe to be reapplied later if you wish.
- Now that the screws are exposed they should be removed. Make sure to user a properly sized screwdriver and to apply enough force to ensure you don’t strip the screws. Make sure to keep the screws in a safe place for later use.
- The next thing to do is remove the black plastic sheath surrounding the screen (the part with Acer written on it). Pry it from the backing section by inserting a flat-head screwdriver or something similar. It need to be popped out near the bottom (where the screen attaches to the body of the netbook), but should pop right out. Just be careful not to crack the plastic. Once this is removed the LCD screen and its attachments will be exposed.
- The LCD is attached by four screw brackets, circled above. Each of these brackets have two screws, and for a bent L-shape. Remove ONLY the screw attached to the actual LCD, leaving the bracket attached to the netbook. Do this for all four brackets. Make sure to keep these screws seperate to those which were around the edge of the plastic as they are a different size.
- Now that the screws have been removed the LCD can be lifted off the back plate. This will make it apparent that the LCD is attached by three sets of wires to three plastic clips. These clips, which are shown below, need to be removed. The replacement LCD will have it’s own set of clips which will be attached in the same manner to the wires from the computer.
- Now out with the old (LCD) and in with the new! Attach the wires of the new LCD in the same manner that the old was attached, slide it into place, and replace the screws through the side brackets. You can then reattach the plastic edge around the LCD, using a screwdriver to pop the plastic tabs at the bottom into place (see picture below), and replace the six screws around the side. If you have the right sort of glue (Im not sure what this is…) you can reattach the rubber tabs too, but I didn’t bother – I kinda like the look of the visible screws!
- Now the new LCD should work! wOOt!
All done! Now all I need to do is think of something cool to do with the old, slightly damaged LCD. Any ideas?
THANK YOU! Easy, Easy, Easy!
Thanks!
Dropped mine 2 feet onto a thick carpet . . . of course, it landed on the corner of the screen, cracking it. I got a replacement for under $50 US on E-Bay.
Simple to replace, although getting the screws that hold the screen back in without cross-threading them is a bit of an exercise.
New screen is great.
Now, does anyone know where to get replacement rubber feet for the bottom???
thanks for the hints, i kinda figured it would be easy but was looking for a headstart. it was super easy to swap out the screens.
I did get a bit worried when pulling the ribbon cable from the old screen.. i think I may have even damaged a pin..but wasn’t enough to stop it from working. works great.
Thanks a bunch! Love guides like these. Took me about 15-20 minutes tops. You should update you instructions though, I thought the new screen would have new wires too, took me a minute to figure out that the whole wire harness is reused (you say “The replacement LCD will have it’s own set of wire which will be attached in the same manner.”) I think you meant to say clips not wire.
Good point, I’ve changed it – Thanks!
Thanks for the push start. I have had the screen off (a 10inch instead of 9 inch) and it was very easy. I was intending on using the supplier you suggested but am having problems matching all the numbers on the back of my screen to a model number published on ScreenCountry. Any insight you might have would be appreciated.
Never mind. I found the correct model number and have placed my order.
I can’t thank you enough for posting how to change out the screen on an Aspire One. My son and I tackled the project and your instructions made it really easy.
I feel fortunate to have found your site and instructions. Interestingly, after my LCD screen had broke only a month old, I took it back to where I bought it. A broken LCD isn’t part of standard warranty, and I didn’t buy the extendo-warranty. The guy at the store told me to just junk it out on Ebay for parts. Ha! thanks again!
Hey, I have to ask you, were the files you had lost during the replacement of your LCD screen? Because I have a cracked screen as well, and I just wanted to know if I had a risk.
No, replacing the LCD will not affect the files on your Hard Drive.
In a week or so I’m going to take a crack (pun intended) at fixing the screen on my daughter’s Aspire One. Your step by step instructions appear to be most extensive. Thanks for posting them.
My question, however, involves the removal of the buttons on the bezel. I’m not expecting difficulty from the ones on the top of the bezel, but the ones at the bottom near the hinges seem of a different type. They are flush with the bezel. Is there a tip on removing them?
Just scrape ‘em off using a flat-head screwdriver, starting with the flat edge of the button. Good luck!