this post was submitted on 26 May 2026
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is a laptop whose display is working no more still of any use ? (hear-me.social)
submitted 1 day ago by codewizard@hear-me.social to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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@asklemmy is a laptop whose display is working no more still of any use ?

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[–] HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml 5 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

The way I see it, it's basically downgraded to a desktop (assuming it has a separate display output). People use laptops like that as desktops and even home servers all the time.

The two major things to look out for is you probably want to configure it so that closing the lid doesn't put it to sleep, and if possible, detach the battery and just run it off the charger to prevent the battery from puffing up from being constantly charged.

Hell, detach the screen entirely and you basically have a DIY modern Commodore 64.

[–] prime_number_314159@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

Some laptops let you set a maximum charge for the battery at 70 or 80%, which is better for long term storage, and still offers the backup power supply if needed.

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 59 points 1 day ago (1 children)

sure.

You can attach an external display. Or turn it into a small home server

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Or as an always online syncthing node, but that basically makes it a homeserver.

[–] Xaphanos@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

With a built-in ups.

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

Yup, many laptops even have a sim card slot so with that you could even configure it to fall back to mobile data in case of a power outage that also takes out your homes wired internet.

I have a thinkpad at work that has been in that role for years. Its the central syncthing node for like 10 other laptops and computers. It then also does regular backups to off site storage in case anything bad happens with the syncthing setup.

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 14 points 20 hours ago

ultra low profile headless server with built in UPS? Heck yeah!

[–] h54@programming.dev 15 points 21 hours ago

If you have an external monitor, turn it into a halftop.

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 11 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

If you run any services (jellyfin / a media server, torrents, document storage, etc), have them run on it.

[–] codewizard@hear-me.social 2 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

@dessalines sounds interesting, but how does something like jellyfin work on a laptop without any display ?

[–] tophneal@sh.itjust.works 8 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

You use the laptop to run the server that dishes up the content for the client devices that have working displays to watch on

[–] codewizard@hear-me.social -5 points 21 hours ago (3 children)

@tophneal too nerdy stuff for me.

[–] shrek_is_love@lemmy.ml 12 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Now I'm curious why you chose that particular username πŸ€”

[–] patatas@sh.itjust.works 5 points 17 hours ago

building inspector maybe

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 3 points 20 hours ago

You won't be able to do this then. You'd need to learn your way around linux, servers, ssh, etc to be able to run these services.

[–] tophneal@sh.itjust.works 3 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I’m afraid if the display is actually dead then most of the options to keep the laptop computing will likely be β€œtoo nerdy” for you. Pretty much all of them will involve using it as a headless server.

[–] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world -1 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

....what the fuck are you on about? Have you never seen an HDMI jack on a laptop before?

[–] tophneal@sh.itjust.works 2 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (2 children)

Nah you’re right, I was mid-first cup. HDMI, usbc dp are both potential options to use video out. I’ve been corrected. Rude as fuck way to do that though.

[–] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

I suppose that was rather rude if you're like, going by what words mean or something. I apologize.

[–] Manalith@midwest.social 1 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Cut them some slack, they're rampantly paranoid.

[–] tophneal@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 hours ago

Yeah, I suppose you’re right

[–] coolfission@lemmy.world 2 points 20 hours ago

To make it easy, start off with plugging your old laptop into external monitor. Install RDP, VNC, ssh, ftp depending on your OS. Install tailscale and join the network. Now with another computer, connect to that same network with tailscale and then you can connect and see your laptop screen with RDP. Or if you want VNC you can get a β€œdummy” hdmi adapter or try installing software for dummy monitor output. After that, use wired ethernet to plug old laptop in router, set to never turn off (recommend removing laptop battery beforehand) and there you go, you have your own personal server you can access anywhere including your phone! From there, look into self-hosting with apps like jellyfin, immich, etc. tons of great resources online.

[–] sexy_peach@feddit.org 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Could also maybe be repaired

[–] codewizard@hear-me.social 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

@sexy_peach that costs an awful lot of money, and the investment is really not worth it considering the age of the machine.

[–] luthis@lemmy.nz 1 points 15 hours ago

It costs like $100 to order a replacement screen, depending on the model.

[–] sexy_peach@feddit.org 2 points 19 hours ago

Then ignore this idea

[–] MonkeyDumpster@lemmy.org 1 points 14 hours ago

i have a macbook pro from 2019 and the display has some defect and all the colors are inverted. i installed ubuntu and used it as a desktop for awhile.

[–] Soulphite@reddthat.com 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Yes, you and a group of your closest friends could have a grand ole time at the local park playing Frisbee with it.

[–] shrek_is_love@lemmy.ml 2 points 17 hours ago

Or baseball!

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 day ago

I'm using an old broken netbook to prop open my living room window

[–] mumblerfish@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I used a laptop with no screen and no harddrive for a while, mainly for presentations during teaching. The laptop plus a usb with linux and the pdf on it, hook it up to the projector. Worked fine. I think I also stripped if from most of the ram.

[–] codewizard@hear-me.social 0 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

@mumblerfish the projector acted as the display ?

[–] mumblerfish@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago

Exactly. Showed presentations for my students on it.

[–] DornerStan@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 17 hours ago

Turn your smart TV into a dumb TV by disconnecting it from WiFi and plugging the laptop in. No more (less) tracking and spyware, no more ads.

[–] AgentRocket@feddit.org 1 points 16 hours ago

You could hook it up to a tv and use it as HTPC (home theater pc), i.e. streaming movies or music from the web or an hard drive or even gaming. Depending on the hardware either natively on the machine or streaming using steamlink or geforce now.

[–] GiorgioPerlasca@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Replacing a display in a laptop is a routine operation for IT companies hardware teams. So it should be easy to find a shop that replaces the display.

[–] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Totally, assuming of course it's a business class laptop (indeed if it's a thinkpad or similar most anyone can grab a $50 screen from China, find a yt tutorial and have a go themselves with a fair chance of success). On the other hand if it's a glued together ultra thin consumer POS, it's likely more than it's worth to get it fixed.

[–] IWW4@lemmy.zip 3 points 22 hours ago

It depends on why it stopped working. If the display doesnt work because it got dropped chances are other parts of it are broken as well.

Assuming everything else is functioning properly and it has an HDMI/VGA/DVI etc, than it can be connected to an external display.

[–] lemonhead2@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

u might be able to buy the display cheap and fix it. I've previously bought the same model on ebay