My Toshiba 335e’s screenlight died, although other than that it works perfectly, if I’m in bright enough light to see the screen. It’s almost 4 years old, but it suits my needs and many of the accessories will work only with the 330e series Toshibas, so I’m not looking for a new one.
This brings up two related questions–
A) Can this be fixed?
B) Can this be fixed without paying a Toshiba authorized service centers a lot of money (I’m not opposed to paying to get it fixed, but it could end up coasting more than a PDA)?
With most backlighted LCD screens I’ve taken apart, the light element is a separate unit from the LCD screen. My guess is 99% this element could be replaced. The problem is going to be to get one cheap enough. Normally new replacement screens on older laptops and PDA’s cost more then just buying a used unit.
What I would do is try and track down a PDA like yours that has a working screen but a dead CPU. It can even have a cracked screen if the light element is separate.
A word of warning if you attempt to replace this yourself. LCD screens are somewhat brittle outside of their holders.
Since posting, I did a quick look through ebay and amazon.com, and I’ve noticed that there are hundreds of the 330/335/355’s fairly cheap out there. I’ll probably get a replacement. The alternative of fixing it looks like work.