DELL Inspiron 8100 LCD replacement

A taxicab won an arguement with my laptop several months ago ... but at least the screen sort of works (picture a baseball hole in a window). All works OK with a docking station, but now I need to fix the display. I'm guessing that the glass inside is broken (obviously), but now I'm confused as to how much I need to buy/repair. The DELL directions to replace it aren't that complicated, but how do I know the parts to buy? My system summary (from my service tag info) just says "LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY, 15, HITACHI, V.2, LONSDALE/LAVACA" ... do I need to know SXGA, VGA, etc? Should I take it apart and then see a part number? I see several parts listed on ebay; one looks promising because it's the whole hinged top with inverter and LCD cable .. seems like less work ... what do y'all think?

Sarah from Tampa