How To Upgrade HP 650 Display

[Murume]

I have an HP 650 laptop that has very low memory and a very low pixel density. I want to upgrade the dislay from the 1366 x 768 to 1920x1080 but this guy says it's not a good idea to do that. Does anyone know how I can safely upgrade my display?

The HP site says the laptop can take up to 8GB memory. Is it advisable to buy an 8GB module and use it on one slot or should I avoid using more than 4GB on one slot?

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

Here's your Service manual:

Manual

Easy question first. It actually takes up to 2 x 8 gig or 16 gigs of RAM:

Two customer-accessible/upgradable memory module slots Support for DDR3L 1600-MHz PC3-12800 dual channel memory Support for 16384-MB of system RAM in the following configurations: ● 16384-MB total system memory (8192-MB×2 or 4096-MB×4) ● 12288-MB Total system semory (8192-MB + 4096-MB) ● 8192-MB total system memory (8192-MB or 4096-MB×2)

So I am not sure what you have now (apparently 4 gigs in a single module) but you can add one more 4 gig module to have 8 total or buy 2 x 8 and have 16 gigs. Post back if you need help finding specific memory.

The Manual lists both 1366 x 768 and 1920 x 1080 panels and there is only one type of cable for either 15.6 inch display so all you would have to do is swap panels. The panel itself will run around $100 and then there is labor. It is not as hard as you might think but a lot of people would not want to do it themselves so let us know which camp you fall into. Don't believe everything you watch on youtube. 

There are a couple different types of screen specified and when I do an upgrade job like this I remove the old screen and check its part numbers before ordering a replacement. Post back if you need help with that. 

If this is "the Answer" please click "Accept as Solution" to help others find it. 

[Murume]

Thank you very much Huffer.

Your reply got me excited for a bit but then I realised you were probably referring to the HP ProBook 650 G1 and not the HP 650 Notebook B830 that I have.

Do you think the same reply applies to my 650?

[Huffer]

My bad. The reply is not accurate for your model but I am looking for your service manual. If a 1920 x 1080 screen was offered by HP on that model using the same cable then the upgrade is definitely possible. If not it is very hard to know if it will work. You can always swap in a 1920 x 1080 screen but the trick is to know if it will display right. 

[Murume]

I want to buy this module and a screen made for the ProBook. Please advise

[Huffer]

I cannot find your service manual. The only HP 650 Notebook Manual I can find only shows up to 3rd generation processors and yours has a 4th generation processor. The manual I did find only lists 1366 x 768 screens so I cannot tell you to do it. Also says 8 gig is max memory, so maximum 4 gigs per slot. Your model is a budget laptop and as you pointed out I mistakenly pulled the Manual from the much higher-end Probook series. 

[Murume]

So if my model does not have the proper connection for the 1920x1080 screen can I just buy the cable and go ahead with installing a higher res screen?

[Murume]

I'm starting to think this laptop is not worth upgrading.

Thank you very much for your help

[Huffer]

Upgrading to a total 8 gigs of memory is very worthwhile, but I am pretty sure the FHD screen will not work right. If HP did not offer that kind of screen on it then the motherboard/video card is not set up to drive that display. You should remove the Solution so others do not see it and blindly follow my error. Sorry again but glad you caught it before you spent any money.