What Was Happening
A Kingston University student brought in an Acer Aspire 5 that had been dropped during a lecture — the machine had slipped from a desk and landed screen-down on a hard floor. The display had a large dark spreading area from the impact point in the lower-left corner, and a crack line running upward across about a third of the panel. The upper right of the screen was still producing an image, but it was unusable as a working display.
The student had an assignment due the following morning and needed the machine repaired the same day. They were also on a tight budget and asked directly whether the repair was worth doing on a 3-year-old budget laptop, or whether they would be better served by a replacement.
Our Diagnosis
We connected an external monitor via the Aspire 5’s HDMI port. The external display showed a clean, stable image at full resolution — the GPU and video output path were healthy. The fault was isolated entirely to the internal display panel.
We then gave an honest assessment of the overall machine:
Storage: 512GB SSD, SMART data clean, 34% used. Healthy. Memory: 8GB DDR4, test passed. Healthy. Battery: 78% of original capacity after 3 years — normal wear for the age. Cooling: Fan and heatsink clear, temperatures within normal range. Chassis: Intact. The drop had been absorbed by the screen; no cracking or deformation of the main body.
Our assessment: the machine was worth repairing. The hardware was in good condition, the repair cost was well below replacement cost for a machine with equivalent specifications, and the SSD storage meant the machine would continue to perform reliably for at least two more years. A budget replacement with equivalent specifications would cost several times the repair cost and involve migrating all data and applications.
How We Fixed It
The Acer Aspire 5 A515-56 uses a standard 15.6-inch 1920×1080 IPS panel — one of the most commonly stocked replacement panels in our inventory. We confirmed panel availability and proceeded with the replacement.
Screen replacement on the Aspire 5 is a straightforward procedure: the bezel is removed, the panel unscrewed and lifted forward, the video cable disconnected, and the replacement panel connected and fitted in reverse order. Total disassembly time for this model is approximately 20 minutes.
Post-fit checks: full brightness range, colour uniformity across the panel, screen uniformity at white and black, and a video playback test at full resolution.
The Result
The Acer Aspire 5 was returned to the Kingston student before 5pm the same day — in time for the assignment deadline. The display was working correctly at full 1080p resolution. The machine was returned with the same data, applications, and settings it came in with.
Repair vs. Replace — the Honest Conversation
For students on a tight budget, a broken laptop screen creates a genuinely difficult decision. A new laptop is expensive; a repair may also feel expensive if it approaches a significant fraction of the machine’s original purchase price.
The factors that make a repair worthwhile are: healthy underlying hardware, a repair cost that represents good value against the machine’s remaining lifespan, and data continuity (no migration, no lost files, no reinstallation of applications).
The factors that make replacement the better decision are: multiple hardware faults, a drive that is failing or near capacity, a machine where the repair cost approaches the cost of a replacement with better specifications, or a machine old enough that even a successful repair gives only a year or two of reliable life.
In this case — a 3-year-old machine with a healthy SSD, healthy memory, clean SMART data, and a single isolated fault — the repair was clearly the right choice. We will always say so when it is not.
Prevention Tips
- Use a laptop bag or sleeve when transporting between lectures — a padded bag absorbs the impact that a bare machine takes directly to the screen
- If a machine is dropped, check for display damage before restarting — starting a machine with a fractured screen can spread damage if the panel delaminates further
- Budget laptops generally have widely available replacement panels; a cracked screen on a budget machine does not mean the machine is beyond economic repair
Local Help in Kingston KT1
We carry out laptop screen replacements and general repairs for students and residents in Kingston KT1 and KT2. We’re about 18–25 minutes from Kingston via the A308, with free collection available for customers who can’t travel to our Putney workshop.
Related Services
- Laptop Repair — hardware repairs for all laptop makes and models
- Laptop Repair in Kingston — local service covering KT1 and KT2
More Case Studies
- Asus X501U screen replacement in Putney — budget laptop screen repair with similar diagnosis process
- HP Pavilion X360 screen repair after a drop — drop damage on a convertible laptop
- Asus X200E keyboard replacement in Putney — another common repair on a budget Asus laptop