I feel like I haven't posted in a little while; there have been a few exciting (for me at least) things happen over the last week or so.

First up is the repair and then non repair of my powerbook's screen. I have a 15" Aluminium Powerbook G4 1.5Ghz. 2 or 3 months ago, the bottom third of the screen decided it would stop working - you cannot believe how annoying this is; you keep having to switch resolutions to 800600, resize your windows and the switch back to the native 1280854, so that you can see the whole of a window. So after much googling and coming up with very little I bought a few spares off ebay to have a go at fixing it. Things you need to know (based on my experience):

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• The problem (bottom 3rd of screen dead) is not a broken cable (the one connecting your screen to the motherboard).

• It is also not anything to do with the backlight or the inverter.

• It IS basically that the LCD panel is busted (or more accurately that connections to part of the screen are broken).

• Likely cause - the stiffness of the hinges; mine are horrible. I would recommend that you open the screen with 2 hands, trying to ensure that you apply consistent on the whole length of the sides. My guess is that basically the resistance on the hinges, combined with opening the screen from the top at the centre has bent the screen sufficient to break the connections in the LCD.

• Pretty much all the repair shops you talk to will say you need a new screen - this is much less hassle than fixing it yourself, but it is also VERY expensive. While we are about it, if the screen is completely black, it is most likely to be the backlight or the backlight inverter - these are fixable, but with the same caveats as fixing the problem I have with my screen.

• If £600 is too steep for you, and you are a hnads on type, you could try fixing your screen. The warning I would give is that Apple screens are not designed for easy access. They no fun to get into and even less fun to get back together. On the other hand, you can replace a backlight for less than £20! I would just warn that you might break your screen even more than it was broken to start with, and it might never clip together quite as well as it did in the first place and need a bit of taping together!

So, how do I take it apart?

1. Follow the instructions on ifixit.com to remove the screen from the powerbook.

1. Remove 2 hexagon-screws bottom side of the unit.

1. Disassemble the back cover with a metal ruler starting from bottom side corner.

That‘s it - it’s actually not that hard, but it does take some putting back together. I wish that I could say after all that, that I have a working screen, but the LCD replacement I bought didn‘t seem to work so it’s got to go back for replacement. Anyway, apart from buying a few cables (which I‘ll put up for auction soon), I’m no worse off than I was when I started! I'll let you know if I get it working!