Disassembling a Dell Laptop display

I had a major problem with the LCD display in my Dell Inspiron 600m laptop this past weekend. Everything was working fine all day Saturday. That night however, I went to use my laptop and the screen started acting weird. It looked fuzzy and things were flashing around. So I restarted the it to see if things would clear up. They only got worse. I shut down the laptop and decided to give it a day of rest. Sunday night I booted it back up. The screen was really bad now. The dell logo was all over the place on the boot screen. And when it got to Windows all that showed up were some vertical bars. I decided to take the lcd display apart and see if anything was loose, or if I could spot any other problems. I never figured out what was wrong, but I figured I would take some pictures and write an article about how to disassemble a Dell laptop lcd display.

First disconnect both the power and the battery. Then open the display all the way so that the whole thing is flat. Starting from the side with the display lights, pry the front panel off of the laptop, as seen below.

remove plate

After the plate is removed, unscrew the five screws circled below with a philips screwdriver.

remove screws

Then remove the keyboard, by pushing it forward and prying it up. It is a little tricky, but it basically just pops out. Then remove the display connector circled below.

remove connector

Then you can pull the whole display out. Once it is away from the rest of the laptop, remove the six little protective rubber pads circled below and unscrew the screws hidden beneath. The pads peel off with a little effort, and suprisingly when they are put back on they stick nicely without any extra glue.

remove screws 2

After the screws are off, carefully pry the bezel away from the lcd with your fingers. Start at the dell logo and carefully pry it all the way around.

remove bezel

Here is a picture of the lcd with the bezel removed. If you notice the tab at the bottom of the display, there are some components down there, but I didn’t remove the piece covering them.

bezel removed

Next remove the six screws that hold the lcd into the plastic backing. The are located along the sides. I have circled one below.

side screws

Then you can pull the lcd part away by itself. I have included a picture of the back of the lcd here. It says do not touch all over the top, because etched in the plastic is a warning that it contains mercury that is harmful to the touch.

lcd back

Well now the display is disassembled. It can easily be put back together. I never figured out what was wrong with mine, but I think it has something to do with the little pieces at the bottom of the display. I found the following diagram from the dell manual very helpful in disecing my display.

diagram

Most of the Dell laptops that I have seen that are new, or made within the last four years have displays that look similar to what I have shown above. So I would assume that similar processes would be useful for other dell laptops. Remember to be very careful as it is easy to break the lcd. Also, if your laptop is under warranty (mine isn’t anymore) it is probably a better idea to call dell and have them repair it.

77 Responses to “Disassembling a Dell Laptop display”


  1. 1 Bill

    Greetings:

    Where did you find the manual for this? I’ve been hunting around dell, but get nothing on searches.

    Thanks

    Bill

  2. 2 frank

    It is in the service manual.  I found it on Dells website, under the support section.

    http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins600m/en/sm/display.htm#1001090

  3. 3 Herb

    Hey Frank, thanks for publishing how to disassemble the Dell laptop display. My daughter dropped her laptop and I was having hard time figuring out how to remove it so I could purchase a replacment on ebay. It was very helpful. Thanks again, Herb

  4. 4 Werner Heuser

    This guide is mentioned at Repair4Laptop in the laptop and notebook LCD display repairing and replacement section.

  5. 5 comproaudio

    Thank you verry much for the info and help.

  6. 6 twizitid

    Hi Frank, I found this page thru a google search. I’m having the same problem now. My laptop is an Inspiron 6000. I mean it’s been for like 2 or 3 months now.. I can’t figure out why.. Mine starts at the bottom of the display and about the bottom two-fifth of the screen jumps up and down, sometimes can’t even see the start button of the windows. When it first started, I just push and tilt the panel back and forth abit to make it disappear.. and it worked fine. Now it’s getting worse.. very hard to make it disappear.

    Did you figure out what’s causing it?

    Thanks. any input would be appreciated.

  7. 7 Alan Cochrane

    Hey mate, many thanks, I just needed to replace my keyboard, so these instructions did the trick. Seems silly in retrospect, I was trying to get the bottgo off, as I thought that was the obvious way in!
    Thanks Again

  8. 8 David

    Hello Frank. Thanks for publishing these photos. I have an Inspiron 600M with a cracked LCD screen that I need to replace, and your photos are exactly what I need.

    David

  9. 9 Tom

    Very detailed instructions w/ great illustrations! Thank you, this was very helpful!

  10. 10 Richard Beigel

    1. Very helpful instructions. I replaced the LCD in a 600m tonight only to find that the display was still flaky. So I followed the instructions above to replace the entire cover assembly and that solved the problem.

    2. If you just want to replace the LCD you don’t need to detach the cover. Just remove the battery and skip ahead to the part where you remove 6 bumpers.

    3. It is not necessary to remove all 3 screws on the left and right sides of the LCD. Just remove the screws nearest the corners. When replacing these screws, be sure to use the glue-free ones, so you will have 6 sticky screws left for the bezel.

    4. Two of the three electrical connectors have paper thin attachments that you can pull on to left them off. Good job, Dell!

  11. 11 vavova

    I’m having the same display problem as twizitid. Dell replaced the screen a couple of months ago right before the warranty ran out. It worked ok for a little bit and now it’s doing it again. My guess is that it isn’t a problem with the LCD itself but is some defect in the manufacturing, connection, etc.

    Any insights would be greatly appreciated as Dell is being terribly unhelpful now that the offical warranty is up.

  12. 12 nate

    I too have a Dell Inspiron 6000 and am experiencing the exact same problem as vavova and twizitid are. Haven’t replaced the screen but plan on taking the laptop apart tonight or tomorrow.

  13. 13 Ven

    I also have Dell 6000 and my monitor has blacked out. I ran through a couple of sites and found that it could be the backlight or the inverter problem.
    I just ordered backlight and I got it delivered just now.

    I am not sure though, it could be the inverter also.
    Is there a definite test to identify which one is faulty?

    nate, please share any notes if you have. I am just following the manual from Dell’s website to take it apart.

  14. 14 drilldown

    You thought you might be right and we all thank you :->

    I’ve got a bad display and will be hunting for a replacement shortly. Thank you very much for taking the time Frank!

  15. 15 AviatorSavant

    Thank you, thank you, thank you. EXACTLY what I needed.

  16. 16 Ven

    I managed to disassemble till whats shown here. But I am unsure of getting the backight off.

    Can somebody help me?

  17. 17 jim

    When i move my laptop display (forward or backward) the laptop screen goes black.

    Could this be a loose wire? After I power down and restart the screen works again.

  18. 18 Bruce

    GREAT information! Thanks for taking the time and helping us all out!!

  19. 19 Mr. Atif Nizam

    Dear Sir,

    first that ur website is very good those people how’s lelated ( laptop reparing) ..
    my field is reparing… i am reparing computer mean’s(power supply, mainboard, moniter, printer ) & laptop …
    my Questen is that …
    Plz sir u send me a laptop(Dell or Sony or Compaq ) full diagram & T.F.T VGA connector diagram, or confegration. how we can change the connector… for exp ( the connector is not maching) how change the T.F.T VGA connector

  20. 20 Timothy

    Wow! I thought working on laptops was the holy grail of computing. NOT ANYMORE! I had a bluetooth chip that became unseated and needed to be reattached. Thanks!

  21. 21 Jacob

    The left hinge of my 600M broke The part which has the M2×5 screws). Can it be replaced without replacing the entire back cover?
    Thanks

  22. 22 shourjo

    Nate, Vavova, Twizitid ….

    I had your problem as of yesterday. Symptoms were exactly as you described. And I thought I was going to have to buy a new machine pronto.

    A friend of mine just this morning recommended sort of pinching with your fingers the bezel and the cover-side of the display panel with even pressure on both the left and right side starting from the top and working your way down to the hinge …. and it worked. For now.

    I don’t know if the problem will come back or not … but my case was such that it was nearly impossible for me to get my lcd display to fix itself by opening/closing the display panel, etc. anwymore. Having done this technique … it seems to not glitch at all. I expect the problem to reoccur eventually and then I’ll have to see if I can buy myself more time by reapplying this method.

    Give it a try.

  23. 23 toddljack

    hey, i have my 6000 apart and am going to put it back together shortly to see if by any chance i have jostled something that will fix it but i am thinking that it probably wont. did you ever find out what was wrong? did anyone in the thread ever contact you to say they found out what was up with screen disturbances? just wondering, todd

  24. 24 rene

    to reply to jacob:
    my dell 600m also has a defective hinge on the right side. one would think that this metal hinge would be fine.

    needless to say, i found that you can order the hinges on ebay or amazon.

  25. 25 kamven

    I have inspiron 600m and the LCD turns complete pink and when i move it up/down it gets back to normal. What could be the problem. Any information is higly appreciated.

  26. 26 GLENN

    After a year, my inspiron 600m battery does not charge. the battery indicator flashes red. i found out that my battery is one of the product recalled so i purchased new one from Dell. i got it last week, installed it but i still had the same problem. my laptop still runs with ac so i don’t think theres any problem with the charger.Can you halp me with my problem?

  27. 27 Kent Bradford

    Thanks so much!!! I couldn’t have done my replacement without the great instructions and pictures. Note: I ordered my screen replacement on EBay from SPlus technologies. They were great in getting me the right part quickly. It however came with an extra slim metal spacer strip which wasn’t required on my Insp 600m.

  28. 28 Drew

    Thanks for the info Frank and to kent thank you for aiding in my search for a replacement LCD screen .. I will contacting SPlus technologies for a replacement soon.

    And Glenn many problems come out of the 600m charger due to some owners removing the grounding prong on the actual plug that plugs into the outlet and it needing replaced. Hope that helps..

  29. 29 600Mowner

    Reply to Glenn (regarding the charger problem). My 600M had the same problem (the PC worked fine when the charger was plugged in, but the battery never held a charge and would only run for about a minute after unplugging the charger). I happened to have had another Dell charger available and used it to try to charge the battery that I thought was defective. It turned out to be a problem with the charger because the second Dell charger got the battery charged up just fine. I purchased a replacement charger and everything now works fine on my 600M. I also used the “bad” charger on a totally separate Dell computer. That charger caused the same problem on the other computer. So, it seems highly likely that your charger is defective.

  30. 30 Norman

    My wife dropped my inspirion 9200 causing the cd drive not to open, How can I open the note book to get to the drive?

  31. 31 curtis

    thanks for the info. I just switched my bezel and back panel with ease!!!!!

  32. 32 Melodie

    I am having the same problem with my 600m as kamven. My screen is turning pink. It used to only do it when the screen was in a certain position and now it only doesn’t do it when I move it to one certain position. Any help on what could fix this?

  33. 33 Help please Dell 6000 Inspiron

    My Dell Inspiron 6000 LCD screen has packed in.

    I bought a new one off ebay - but

    When I’ve now come to disassemble it, on my original Dell LCD the inverter is FIXED to the bottom of the LCD and there doesn’t seem to be a way to release it.

    The new screen doesn’t have an inverter fixed to the bottom of it.

    So now I have a broken LCD with an inverter riveted to the bottom of the aluminium frame and a £130 new LCD display with no inverter fixed to the bottom.

    What do I do?

    Should the new LCD have come with an inverter Fixed to the bottom?

    or

    Should the inverter come off the old one easily?

    The dell service manual has no diagrams that show the inverter coming off.

    Please help.

    Jason Wilkins

    drgrew@hotmail.com

  34. 34 james

    hey, i have a dell inspiron 600m screen and other parts for sale, contact me at CatPancakes@yahoo.com and well discuss a price. Hope to hera from you!
    oh and ps: great tutorial man!

  35. 35 Brandon

    I had the same problem with the vertical lines so I turned the hardware acceleration down and that did the trick. Hasn’t messed up in about a year and it had gotten to the point where I couldn’t even watch videos on it. However I stepped on my laptop and broke the LCD a week or so ago, so now I’m back to square one anyway

  36. 36 Jarrod

    To all of you that have screens that act erratically when you move the lid up/down:

    Gently pop off your hinge cover by prying it gently until it snaps off. Then look at the wires going from the keyboard area to the screen. The go up in the right hinge area. My screen was doing the exact same on my inspiron 700 and my speakers were acting weird, so I popped it off and looked closely. The wires had gotten pinched in the hinge. When the lid was open at the 90 degree angle, the wires were still touching, but when the lid was opened further, the wires would separate, since they were only hanging by the insulation around the wires. Check those wires and if they are broken/severed, then take your laptop to a electronics repair shop and have them soldered.

  37. 37 Tara

    Thanks so much. Great instructions. Got a replacement screen off of ebay. Replaced it via your instructions and it works like a charm!

  38. 38 Leon

    Thank you so much. I had to replace my 600m LCD and with your clear and concise guide I was able to do it successfully

  39. 39 Derek

    I was attempting to repair a laptop for a friend. It is a 600m and the screen is pinkish and very dim. I replaced the inverter and it worked quick the first time I powered it up, but now it is dim again. Does this sound more like a backlight? I am wasting money buying this for this, I want to narrow it down. The screen when it did work had no defects. So do you think a backlight is the way to go?

  40. 40 steve

    hi i also have an inspiron 6000 which has started expierencing these problems. horizontal lines on the lower3/5ths of the screen thought it was that i use my laptop alot and travel frequently.thought the hinges may have come loose. same as twizitid and vavova and nate i would like to know if the problem had gotten fixed and how.
    bye steve corsairf28r@yahoo.com
    p.s. thanks frank for the good article which brought me to this site

  41. 41 Max

    Hi everyone,i have Dell inspiron 6000 and i’m having the same display problem,
    only the bottom of my screen,but when i move the display forward or backward it goes normal
    please anyone found out what the problem thanks

  42. 42 Mike Holladay

    I have a Dell Latitude C610 and the hinge is very loose and the screen will flop either fully closed or fully open very easily. I’m hoping to be able to tighten this somehow without fully dis-assembling it, as I’m NOT mechanical at all. Any suggestions?

  43. 43 James

    Im sorry to say i dont ahve any screens left, but i do have keyboards and touchpads

  44. 44 Mark7ven

    Thanks Frank!!

    With your clear instructions and picture illustrations…you made it oh so easy! Fifteen minute job! Ordering the new screen took longer than the complete process of changing the screen. Thanks Again!!

  45. 45 Robert - Lake Forest, CA

    Thank you very much! This was awesome!

  46. 46 Shane

    Wow, what amazing pics with great details! This was just what I needed to disassemble a Dell Inspiron 2200 LCD. (I’m replacing the LCD.)
    Thanks so much. :-)

  47. 47 Sun Kim

    Hello all, I also have an inspiron 8600 with the same problem as twizitid and vavova and nate and steve had. I am wondering anyone know if the problem had gotten fixed and how.
    From Kim, pygame.sun@gmail.com

  48. 48 Michael

    I’m from Maine and we do things different up here… but I seem to have found a decent temporary solution to the problem proposed by twizitid:

    What I did was I took a piece of paper and cut it in half. After removing the LCD, I folded the piece of paper up horizontally until it was merely a long corner-like shape. I cut out grooves so that lined up with the screw holes in the LCD frame and applied this piece of paper to the side of the frame in between that and the LCD casing. I repeated that for each side. When done, I switched the laptop back together and BOOM –> problem solved. The paper applies pressure to the screen, which takes the place of flicking your LCD back and forth. Yea, SOMETIMES the screen flashes in the lower 1/5 or 3/5… but it almost INSTANTLY goes away and it has never gone black since I’ve done this.

    It worked for me anyway, it’s worth a try, because when your screen flickers like that, it’s a sign that it’s going to hell. So in my opinion, you got nothing to lose.

    Try ‘er out.

    ~Michael~

  49. 49 lun

    Hi, My Question is a little bit funny but its very important. I have a dell laptop, the motherboard is not working now so I want to use my lcd screen as a normal T.V. but I was Confuse the cable structure. So can we turn lcd screen into TV without using tuner or any converter, just to find out the power supply and signal line and connected to Dvd and watch movie.

  50. 50 JJ

    My dumbass brother cracked my LCD screen on my dell. I was gonna goto a repair shop that would’ve cost $400 to replace it. You just saved me alot of money :)

  51. 51 Eddie Mark

    Thanks for all th help that your help on taking apart my dell laptop it was very helpful. Now that I have it apart and the cooling fan replaced I decided to replace the bottom plastic case it was also damaged after I got it off I found the the the mettle casting where the left hinge mounts is also broke. I don’t know if I can tackle this big of a job. What if any input would you have on this matter. I do get in to things like this but I,m not sure if I can tackle this on my own. Tanks Again
    Eddie Mark

  52. 52 erin

    anyone know where to get replace hinges??

  53. 53 subram

    Hello
    The right hinge of my 600m broke (that holds the LCD screen to the base…) (The part which has the M2×5 screws). What is the part number for the same. Any help ?

  54. 54 youichi

    erm i wonder if u can help me by telling whether in this world is there a company that offer people to change their laptop display to any size of the screens they want???

  55. 55 Raltistico

    I love you Frank

  56. 56 dwayne

    how do i locate the bio’s chip and take it out? Is there a manual that shows how to do that? Thanks alot

  57. 57 Alex

    hey some how my screen broke on my laptop now i know how to take it apart but were do i get a new screen like just the black part of it

  58. 58 Richard Spendiff

    I have just fixed my dear old mum’s 1ooo pound dell laptop with the help of this great page! Solution was simple - I cleaned the contact connector that you can see on the picture where it says “Well now the display is disassembled”. It’s a kind of yellowy clip arrangement - just pull it out (may need to press, apply some switch cleaner to the metal contact surfaces with a cotton swab (to keep it from re-oxidizing) and re-insert it into it’s connection holder. Solved the problem which was similar to many of the erratic screen problems described on this page. Go try nad good luck!

  59. 59 diego munoz

    hi i have a 600m and i need a copy of the recovery cd, if you can send me a copy or upload an ISO please email me

    thank from chile

  60. 60 Paul

    I have a 6oom and it crashed today. I got this blue screen error message stating potential hardware failure or something like that. It said if this is your first time seeing this message simply shut down and restart.

    I attempted to shut down and re-boot as per the message and nothing. Just a black screen. I can’t turn it on at all.

    Any thoughts??

    Thanks!

  61. 61 Jay

    These are instructions are great! Just swapped out the display and now my 600m works good as new.

    Thanks!!!

  62. 62 Pete

    Iam having trouble getting the inverter off .. I have removed the one ittle screw, but it still seems to be solidly in place … any help would be more then appreciated ! ..

  63. 63 Janean

    I have been dealing with the Dell laptop support people. They have been trying to talk me through how to do just what you have shown here. Thank you so much. I tolt the Dell people I had no idea what they were talking about, but with your awesome pictures and explanation I think I get it. THANK YOU!!!

  64. 64 deb

    hi, today my screen (dell 6000) turned totally negative. the lights are dark and the darks are light…any suggestions?

  65. 65 mike

    Thank you for the great instructions. I have now replaced 2 screens thanks to the detailed pictures you provided.

  66. 66 Steve

    Good afternoon,

    I found out last evening that my son spilled “a little bit of water” on my Inspiron 6000 near the touchpad. The computer boots up, but the screen is blank. I plugged the 6000 into a desktop monitor, and it worked. So, my question is, does this sound like the LCD, or a video card problem, and is there a way to tell?

    With the instructions here, the LCD looks like an easy fix.

    Thanks in advance for the great instructions.

  67. 67 Katie

    Instructions were great - I installed a new LCD without any problems.

    Thanks so much!

  68. 68 Rod

    I have a 600M that will not power up. When I plug the AC in the green light comes on but when I plug it into the laptop the light goes out. Same result with battery in or out. Any suggestions to what could be wrong we be appreciated.

  69. 69 savuyall

    i would just like to say that before this summer started, my Dell Inspiron 6000 (bought late summer ‘05) has had the same problem with the monitor where the bottom 1/3 of the screen started to dull then as time went by started going black and had vertical lines of different wides and colors. as others said, it could be momentarily fixed by wiggling the screen back and forth. i asked/showed a friend and he said it was likely the inverter. hopefully i will be able to fix this myself or at little cost. i’m not computer savvy whatsoever, so I’ll mess with it by looking at some of the pictures and info provided. I’ll hopefully get back on here to tell what happened. wish me luck!

  70. 70 Julie

    I have the same question as a couple other people have. however, I have not seen a reply yet. I had a cracked Sreen ( hit by a hard flying object) I bought a replacenment on e-bay. It did not come with a converter. How do I remove it from the old one and put it on the new one? Any info would be great. And also thanks for the article and thinking of others by taking tthe time to complete this task and post it. really good job.

  71. 71 coolcaio

    BEAUTIFUL, very nice and down to earth explanations. I had a bluish color on my screen and searched for people having the same symptoms on a Dell 600m. At first I though it was my loose screen, since it would get the colors back for a while when I moved the screen back and forth. I followed the pictures and turns out the connections to the motherboard was loose, all I had to do was push and snap it back in. It worked like a beauty. I have my computer back!! Soooooooo happy!! Thank you, thank you, thank you all for the additional info as well.

  72. 72 Clint Hatchett

    It seems a lot of people have the problem with the vertical bars on the Dell 6000 LCD screen. I have seen everything from “check the cables from the MB to the LCD” to “it’s the inverter” to “replace the LCD.” The only success reports I’ve seen have been from those who have replaced the LCD. Anyone have any luck with other options? I have fiddled with the cable, but am ready to either buy an inverter or LCD…would like to make the right decision.

    Thanks!

  73. 73 max

    I’m having problems with my Dell 630m screen. Getting lines in both ways and flicker and everything. I’ve tried to get the screen of but the screws on the side(6) are to tight to screw of. Screwdriver only goes round. Anyone got any tips?

    I’ve “solved” my screen problem by first pressing in the upper left corner. When this started to fail I had to keep pressing all the time and I’ve not taped a bit of paper to the side which is applying pressure all the time. This fails on occasion but it’s better than sitting there and pressing.

  74. 74 Phomarith

    Hi all,

    I am trying to replace a DC on my Dell Inpriron 6000 laptop. However, I am running into a problem. I was able to remove everything except the motherboard so that I can desod the DC and replace it wit a new one. If any of you have the answer to this I would really appreciated it very much. Have a n nice Thanks Giving.

    Thanks

    Phomarith

  75. 75 ricardo

    i need a screen for dell 600 m how much whith shipp to puerto rico?

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