Laptop with broken or busted monitor screen: other alternatives just in case

Two months ago in August, not long after I returned from Chattanooga, TN on my birthday weekend, just as I was about to test out my tethering capabilities of my new bluetooth cell phone, my Acer Aspire One netbook that I bought at Wal-Mart for $350 dollars, had a busted-up, broken screen that was fractured in half on the left side. All that money spent for nothing, not to mention the fact that seeing broken LCD screens like the one I had made me feel ITCHY AS HELL! I felt frustration afterwards, so I had to go to my regular family desktop PC and had to use the CRT monitor to transfer all my AA1 files to my external hard drive before I went up to Best Buy to have it recycled. Damn shame too; it was my very first one that I bought myself, and the warranty didn't help me out at all since it didn't cover busted-up broken LCD screens! This made me think twice about getting another laptop in any form for more than how much I get. It must've fell over to the side of my bed or something.

But in case I find a laptop that sells for less than $200 at Craigslist, in case of a tragic history repeating itself, I want to be prepared. I learned to use a VGA port when my older sister gave me her big laptop, an HP Omnibook to me as a hand-me- down, and it was the first laptop I ever owned (before the AA1). After my strap on one of my old bookbags broke before I left my college, the screen on the laptop turned white as a ghost every time I powered it on, and the laptop started to crumble and fall apart. I felt the same frustration as I did with my netbook, as though I lost a piece of an incomplete jigsaw puzzle. I learned how to use it as a base while using the VGA port as a backup monitor. But the problem is that in case of a power outtage, i'd lose my CRT monitor's power and i'm stuck with a portable PC that I can't even see through even with my backup laptop batteries. Any suggestions or similar laptop LCD screen situations would be helpful.

Also, no store sold any replacement screens for my AA1 netbook, not even Best Buy, and I didn't want to waste any money in repairing it. Google "broken/cracked laptop/notebook/netbook LCD screen" to see what i'm talking about.