Fool's Gold: Screw You, Samsung!

My laptop screen has been broken for a while and I finally got around to getting a quote from Samsung's repair centre as to the cost of getting a replacement LCD screen. They said it would be $280, which is outrageous.

They can charge that much because people buying repairs want their item fixed ASAP, and tend to just throw money at the problem, putting speed and reliability before price. I'm in that camp. I was perfectly willing to pay them whatever they wanted, so I could finally be reunited with my Sims 3 family.

At the advice of my super geek brother, I had a peak around the web to see if I could find a cheaper alternative. I found my way to aliexpress, which I've never used for electronics before, and they had the absolute cheapest options. There were multiple stores offering the exact same LCD screen that Samsung would've sent me, but for $100 instead of almost $300!

The moral of this story is that stuff is cheaper online. Groundbreaking, I know.

If you do decide to buy replacement parts online, be SUPER careful. It's really easy to accidentally order the wrong part! I have a Samsung NP300V5A-S04NZ, and I almost bought a screen that would fit an NP300 laptop, but not the exact one I have. Check all the numbers and letters! Make sure the photo looks right.

Also, if you don't have a tech genius sibling, you can order the part yourself and use a PC fixing service to replace it, if you're not confident.