The short answer
Usually a straight panel swap, and one of the cheaper repairs there is. Labour from $99 plus the panel, against several hundred to a few thousand for a new laptop. The $40 diagnostic first confirms it is genuinely the screen and not the graphics chip or the cable behind it.
Last updated , written by Bryce Elliot
Before you hand it over.
- I don’t look through your filesI open what the repair needs and nothing else. What’s on your computer stays your business.
- You know who has itOne person, at one bench, in Lake Country. My name is on every repair.
- No comments on what I findWhatever’s on there, I’ve seen it before. I’m there to fix the fault, not to remark on it.
- I’ll say when it isn’t worth fixingIf the repair costs more than the machine is worth to you, you hear that first. Five-minute fixes are usually free.
How much does a laptop screen replacement cost?
Labour starts at $99, and the panel is charged at cost on top. Panel prices vary more than people expect, because a standard 15-inch matte display and a high-resolution touch panel from the same brand are not remotely the same part.
That is why the $40 diagnostic comes first. I identify the exact panel your machine takes, price it, and call you with the full number before ordering anything. You approve the total, not an estimate, and the $40 comes off it.
For almost any laptop worth keeping, this comes in well under replacing the machine, and dramatically under what a big-box counter quotes for the same job.
My screen is black but I can hear the laptop running. Is that the screen?
Maybe, and this is exactly the case worth diagnosing before spending money. A black screen on a running laptop can be the panel, the backlight, the ribbon cable between lid and body, or the graphics chip on the mainboard. Those range from a cheap fix to a very expensive one.
A quick test you can do at home: plug the laptop into an external monitor or a TV with an HDMI cable. If a picture appears there, the computer and its graphics are working and the fault is in the lid: panel, backlight or cable. If the external display is also blank, the problem is deeper.
Shine a bright light at an angle onto the black screen. If you can just make out a faint desktop image, the panel is displaying and the backlight has failed, which is a different and often cheaper repair than a full panel swap.
The screen is cracked but everything still works. Do I have to fix it?
Not immediately, but cracks spread. Each open and close flexes the panel a little, and a crack that starts in one corner tends to creep across the display over weeks. Liquid crystal also bleeds outward from the damage, so the black blot grows even when the crack does not.
The other reason to deal with it is that broken glass in the lid can work its way into the hinge area and the cable run. A cracked panel replaced now is a simple job; a cracked panel that has been flexing for six months sometimes takes the cable with it.
Do you use original or aftermarket panels?
I source quality replacement panels matched to your machine, and I tell you which you are getting before ordering. For most laptops the practical choice is a compatible panel of the same specification rather than a branded part at several times the price, and for most people that is the right trade.
What I will not do is quietly fit a lower-resolution or non-touch panel because it was cheaper. If the only affordable option is a downgrade from what you had, you hear that first and decide.
How long does a screen replacement take?
The fitting itself is short. Most panel swaps are a couple of hours on the bench, including testing for dead pixels, backlight evenness and touch response before it goes back to you.
The wait is the part. If I have the panel, the job is typically done within two days of you approving it. If it has to be ordered, that is shipping time on top, and I tell you the expected wait on the same phone call where I give you the price.
A cracked or dark screen looks like the end of a laptop, but in most cases it is one of the cheapest repairs to do. I source quality replacement panels, swap the screen cleanly, and test it properly for dead pixels, backlight and touch before it goes back to you. I handle laptops, all-in-ones and many phones and tablets, so before you spend hundreds on a new device, let me quote the fix first.
Most screen replacements are done within two days once the part is in hand, and I serve Lake Country, Kelowna and Vernon. The $40 diagnostic confirms it really is the screen and not the graphics or cable behind it, and it comes off your final bill. With flat $60-an-hour labour and fair part pricing, you almost always come out well ahead of replacing the whole machine or paying big-box rates.
What’s included
- Cracked and shattered laptop screens
- Black, dim or flickering display fixes
- Phone and tablet screen replacement
- Quality replacement panels sourced
- Backlight and ribbon-cable checks
- Dead-pixel and touch testing
- Diagnosed the day you drop it off
Big-box stores charge around $100 just to look, and keep it. Mine comes right off your screen replacement, and you know exactly what’s wrong the day you drop it off.
Flat $60-an-hour labour and fair part pricing means most repairs cost $50 to $150 less than the big-box chains. You deal with me directly, not a sales floor with a repair desk attached. Honest, upfront pricing every time.
Serving Lake Country, Kelowna and Vernon with drop-off and in-home options. Book online or call and you talk to the person actually fixing your computer.
What customers say.
“This is the first time I have used Lake Country Computer. Bryce is easy to talk to, as computer stuff is not my wheel house. Bryce just explained very clearly. Email contact on all issues. Cost of service is consistent with market value.”