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I have the mid 2012 MBP non retina. I would like to upgrade the LCD panel in it to something better than 1280 x 800. Is there an LCD panel that i can put in this?

Sorry no, the newer retina displays use a different method of communication between the logic board and the display. Yours uses LVDS signaling Vs what the retina uses is Internal DisplayPort (iDP) You can still use an external monitor!