My laptop screen is cracked. Do you fix that?

Cracked screens are among the most common repairs Advanced Computer Consulting handles, and the answer is generally yes for mainstream Windows laptops. Parts are available for most models, and it is a same day or next day job when the part is in stock.

Do this first, if the screen still shows anything: back up your files, or bring it in before the display fails completely. A cracked screen often keeps working for days or weeks and then stops, and recovering data from a laptop you cannot see is a larger job than copying files off one you still can. If you cannot see well enough to do it, plugging an external monitor into the laptop will usually get you a working display in the meantime, and that is also a useful test.

Two things that decide whether it is worth repairing:

• How old is the laptop? On a machine three years old or less with a decent processor, a screen replacement is straightforward economics and the laptop has years left. On a six year old machine that was slow before it broke, the repair cost goes toward a replacement instead and we will say so.
• Is it just the screen? Whatever cracked it may have done other damage. A drop that breaks a screen can also damage the hinge, the case or the drive. We check before quoting, so the number you get is the whole repair rather than the start of one.

A touchscreen or a 2-in-1 costs more, sometimes substantially, because the digitizer and glass are bonded to the panel and the whole assembly is replaced. Worth knowing before you get the quote so it is not a surprise.

Bring the charger with the laptop. And if there is anything on it you cannot lose, say so when you drop it off rather than assuming, so we treat the drive accordingly.