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So I recently received my Pi in the post and i'm now trying to think what to use it for.

I've had a look around and I quite like the idea of attaching a screen to it and using it as an RSS Reader/News updates etc..

The question I have is this, I have an old laptop lying around the house that I no longer use and wondered if I can make use of it. Basically I want to dismantle the laptop and utilise the screen, i'd then attach the screen to the Pi and mount it on the wall. I don't want to create a laptop from the Pi (I know there are a lot of posts about the LapDock, I don't want to use this, I just want the screen).

Is this possible? If so, how difficult would it be to achieve? (I want to avoid having to purchase lots of extra parts if possible, the odd cable is fine but I want to do it on the cheap)

Thanks in advance

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What's the donor laptop? Lot of this will depend on what you have to work with ... – Maria Zverina Jun 29 '12 at 19:19
Good question, but duplicate of Can I use the screen/keyboard of a laptop with the Pi? – ACarter Jun 29 '12 at 19:22
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Maria it's this one - cl.ly/HkYN ACarter - I'm not looking to utilise the laptop in any way apart from the screen, that thread is focusing on running the laptop, I'll be discarding mine bar the screen – Max Jun 29 '12 at 19:24
Yup, totally my fault, didn't read the question properly. – ACarter Jun 29 '12 at 19:30
Sorry, can't undo the vote. – ACarter Jun 29 '12 at 19:32
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3 Answers

up vote 8 down vote

A lot of it depends on the LCD module that you have but I think you might have success buying one of these. I converted 2 of my old laptop screens to standalone monitors and infact one of them is used as a monitor for the raspberry pi. Here is the link to the ebay seller from whom I bought my lcd controller.Its simple just buy the controller attach the laptop monitor to it and connect your pi to the screen. (provided you are ready to shell 30 dollars for the controller)

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@SteveIrwin +1, nice answer! Many of us have at least one broken laptop that would be perfect for such a transplant. – Avio Sep 28 '12 at 9:38
That would also be perfect for testing laptop screens. – Jon Hulka Mar 25 at 22:19
up vote 6 down vote

You may be able to connect using the DSI connector on the RPi see: http://elinux.org/RPi_Screens at the DSI connector section but it will depend on the interface that currently exists and you may need to get some converters or get some interface blobs: http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2061#p39441

Even if that could connect sorting out the timings would be a driver hack issue so if that is your idea of a good time then I wish you luck, I've not tried this myself but the first link shows that some people have managed it on a variety of LCD screens.

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+1 as probably the best answer this will get until this is actually attempted. – Jivings♦ Jun 30 '12 at 0:10
up vote 2 down vote

In case you'd want to build your own LCD controller, this guy seems to have it covered:

http://g3nius.org/lcd-controller/

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