HomeIn this post I explain how to replace a damaged LCD screen from a Dell Vostro 1500 laptop. In my laptop the LCD screen was cracked it could not be repaired. This set of instructions will work for Dell Inspiron 1520/1521 and many other Dell laptop. If it works for you, please mention the laptop model number in the comments below.
Before you start do not forget to turn off the laptop, unplug the AC power adapter and remove the battery.
STEP 1.
On the screen bezel you’ll find six screw seals. Four rubber seals and two plastic seals.
You can remove these seals with a sharp object.
Remove all six screws found under the seals.
STEP 2.
Start separating the screen bezel from the display cover with your fingers. You can use a piece of soft plastic to separate the bezel.
Continue separating the screen bezel on the top of the display and after that move to the lower part.
Finally, remove the screen bezel.
STEP 3.
Remove four screws securing the LCD screen to the left mounting bracket.
STEP 4.
Remove four screws securing the LCD screen to the right mounting bracket.
STEP 5.
Remove two screws securing the web camera.
STEP 6.
Separate the LCD screen assembly from the display cover. As you see, the web camera is still attached to the screen assembly.
STEP 7.
Plase the LCD screen assembly upside down on the palm rest.
The green ribbon cable is the video cable and it has two connectors. One of the is connected to the LCD screen and another one to the inverter board.
Carefully push on two latches on both sides of the LCD connector, release the cable and disconnect it from the LCD screen.
Pull the second connector up and disconnect it from the inverter board.
STEP 8.
Remove the screen assembly (LCD screen and inverter board).
The inverter board is attached to the bottom part of the LCD screen. The inverter board can be replaced separately.
The best way to find a new replacement screen is searching by the LCD screen model number or Dell part number. Both numbers can be found on one sticker with a barcode.
You can find a cheap replacment LCD screen for Dell Vostor 1500 and other Dell laptops here.
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August 27th, 2010 at 6:26 am
Thanks for your instructions. Very well with picture by pitcure.
Replaced the screen of Dell Vostro 1500, which was cracked while travelling. Don’t leave your Laptop in handbag if they ask you to check-in on boarding a plane. Probably it is too late if you are reading this post.
Bought on eBay and came perfect with 2 years warranty.
August 23rd, 2010 at 10:36 am
Hi,
I’m trying to fix my vostro 1500 with a similar issue.
There is a purple haze, as well as some static, over all of the menu bars in windows/firefox/etc. It’s very annoying. Also, on the windows startup screen there is a very curious looking white ring that kind of pulsates with static:
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/8199/imag0104k.jpg
I’ve done a system restore, reinstalled video and bios drivers, opened the laptop and jiggled the lcd cables to see if there is a break, blown dust off the motherboard, all to no avail.
To my knowledge, there are three culprits left: lcd, inverter, or motherboard. I have my suspicions, but if anyone can offer any advice please do.
Thanks!
August 12th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
I just followed these instructions for a friend’s Vostro 1500 and everything worked out great. I did not have the exact inverter so I bend some of the small metal flaps that hold the inverter in place.
I appreciate you for putting this page together. Thank you.
July 10th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Mark,
The new screen is not compatible. All connectors have to match.
Nope, you have to return the screen and replace it with a compatible one.
July 8th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Hi, I would like some advice. I ordered a new LCD screen for my Laptop: a Toshiba Satellite 1400 S152. The supplier sent me what was supposed to be a compatible screen. When I came to install it, the cable connector is smaller and therefore does not fit the screen’s socket. Same issue for the ccfl connector but this should not be so much of an issue.
Is there a way of connecting my cable to the wider socket of the screen? Are there any “adapters” available? Do I need to replace the cable/ connector?
July 5th, 2010 at 10:43 am
Thank you so much … This Article really helps me to fix my laptop …..
Thanks a Lot ……
May 8th, 2010 at 10:20 am
I replaced the display on my Vostro A860 with these instructions and it worked great! Less screws, no webcam and the inverter board was attached to the laptop and not the LCD. I went with glossy instead of the original matte and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
May 7th, 2010 at 11:51 am
I recently replaced the inverter for the Dell Vostro 1500, which light up the screen again, but the screen was blinking and created a buzz in the inverter area, and then it just turn dim again, so I decided to check the connection to see if something was loose. After so, I turn on the laptop again, to see that everything was going on okay, and everything seem quite smooth but the buzz was still there Do you have any idea what’s going on here? Is this the result of randomly used inverter sold on ebay? I did try to remove the ebay inverter which is identical to mine with my old one and the old inverter doesn’t make any buzz (maybe because it was dead) and still dim, so my guess is my inverter really broke and the ebay inverter have some buzz issues or I did something wrong when I was replacing it …
April 25th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Johnny,
First of all, remove yellow tape securing the connection.
After that unlock the connector on the webcam board.
Insert the ribbon cable into the connector and lock it.
April 24th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
I replaced my inverter but I did not realize the web camera was connected to the screen so I accidentally yanked out the connection. When putting everything back together, I tried to place the little orange strip back into the connection for the camera, but I don’t think that worked since my camera is not working even after re-installing the driver.
Is there any trick to placing that power connection into the camera?
Thanks.
April 10th, 2010 at 7:50 am
Unfortunately I did not find your web site until after my repair. I think this would have helped me. I replaced the inverter on my Dell Vostro 1500. I did not remove the screen and hence had a very difficult time accessing the screws that attach the inverter cover to the bottom of the screen. Based on your instructions it looks like it would be best/easiest to remove the screen to obtain good access to the screws that attach the inverter cover. At least one person commented on the difficult of removing the attachments to the inverter. I had a similar problem due to a lack of understanding of the cable attachments. The wires on the right clearly just pull off to the right. However the cable snaps directly onto the board.
March 14th, 2010 at 9:16 am
Please somebody help me:
I have problem with my dell laptop model, Vostro 1500 as soon as I start my laptop it shows dell screen after couple of minutes the screen becomes so fade but operational; how can I fix the problem? Will I have to replace the screen or it might be some other problem as well?
With Regards,
Sarah
February 15th, 2010 at 4:47 am
Many thanks for that – it’s works for the Dell Vostro 1400, with some differences. I’ve listed the differences here – with some photos: http://www.heath-whyte.info/david/computers/replacing-dell-vostro-1400-screen
Thanks again
February 9th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Orlando,
Sounds like the LCD screen is damaged and has to be replaced. A broken (cracked) LCD screen cannot be repaired.
You said the screen is white and I assume the backlight still works properly. It means the inverter board is OK.
February 9th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
I have Dell Vostro 1500 and my problem is the LCD screen looks white and look like a big crack all the way down with a big ink spot (but the screen is not crak from the outside). Wich one is the problem: the LCD screen or LCD inverter.
January 30th, 2010 at 10:49 am
I have a Vostro 1500 and I have a problem with the replacement LCD screen. My kids cracked my screen so we ordered one. It came last week and I installed it. When I powered up the computer I got 8 screens come up and then it would go blank. It would only keep going if i went into safe mode, but still showed the 8 screens. I hooked the broken one back up and it works fine.
Emailed company, they rushed me out another one. Hooked it up and same thing. The oem is a Chungwha and the replacement is a Chi Mei. Both 1280×800 glossy.
I am stumped! Here is a shot in safe mode of teh eight screens.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13745394@N07/4316587558/
January 29th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
I used your photo instructions for a Vostro 1000 and they were great. Thanks for posting the photos. Keep up the great work, it helps a lot of people. Thank you…
January 23rd, 2010 at 11:53 am
Do I need to remove the LCD screen to replace the inverter board on a Vostro 1000? I took the bezel off and can’t seem to get at the inverter board. It’s covered with a metal piece. Thanks.
December 24th, 2009 at 12:04 am
I had inverter problem and bought one from ebay. New inverter worked one week and gone. I bought the second one and tried to use that, not really working. When it works, there is a noise at right lower corner ( I mean the lower right corner of the lcd screen ). I even see very small sparks there. So, screen sometimes work sometimes not. Sometimes, it tries to work makes a clikk noise at that corner and does not work. Do you think st is not ok with inverter, not really compatible or problem is st else ?
Thank you,
Yakup
November 27th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
robyn,
Not sure why you are experiencing this problem. There is no trick to it.
I guess you are not pulling hard enough.
November 27th, 2009 at 8:50 am
I am having difficulty removing the inverter connector.. im not sure if im not pulling hard enough or if there is something else i should be doing?
November 22nd, 2009 at 1:27 am
No there is only one listed in the device manager. I suppose I could try uninstalling that one anyway. I did order a new inverter that should be here in a few days.
The part that boggles me in this case is the white screen during POST. It has a vertical purple bar also which would normally indicate some sort of hardware failure. Very strange. I’ll be back with any updates…and more suggestions are very welcome!
November 20th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Jason,
Check the device manager. Do you see two display drivers installed. Try removing them and let the system re-detect the LCD screen.
Try reinstalling the display adapter.
Let me known if it works. I knot that this method worked for some other guys. I doubt that replacing the inverter board helps in this case.
November 20th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Having same problem as a few of you listed. Replaced cracked screen, now screen will be blank/white during POST/BIOS. If I then FnF8 the screen will work fine with the exception of the brightness going back down at approx 70%. I have ordered a different inverter to try. Have any of you had any luck solving this issue?
November 13th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
When I went into Device Manager, I found two Display Adapters. I disabled one of the two (the second, figuring it was added last) and now the screen is back to its normal brightness! That’s:
Start > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager > Display Adapters
That’s for Windows XP. Not sure if it’s the same for other versions.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Gordon,
Try reinstalling the video driver. Check out this post. Let me know if it fixes the problem please.