Laptop screen issue

[corned]

Hi all.

My (reasonably) trusty Dell Inspiron has just developed a problem with the screen. A couple of vertical lines have appeared - one down the left edge, but really annoyingly also right down the middle. They appear to be white, or possibly light blue, but don't appear immediately the image does. By that I mean that as soon as the screen shows something, a split second later these lines appear. Then they stay for good.

Clearly they are not lines of dead pixels. Is this anything which a bit of spannering could fix, or is it buggered?

 

[timskemp]

If you feel brave open it up, there's likely to be one edge of the screen that placing pressure will bring it back to life, insert a bit of folded paper packing and reassemble. Note you may break it more...

Replacement screens (non-original, normally chi-mei) are becoming cheaper now, ebay may be your friend.

 

[Shude]

I had something similar on a compaq at work, took the keyb off and found where the screen connected to the main board - connector wasn't properly seated! A push to all the connectors then reassembly fixed it.

 

[corned]

Thanks, chaps.

I am typing this while looking at the thing in a stripped-down state. The issue persists for the time being, but I have a nagging doubt that what you are both suggesting is the right kind of diagnosis.

If the screen was 'dead', then surely the lines would be black, not light?

The two cables between the screen and the base show no signs of breakages. I have had a good tug at them and it all seems secure and in one piece.

I'll keep digging...

 

[corned]

Well, the cable connectors are fine at both ends. With the screen out and 'hanging' on its cable, no amount of manipulation will bring the lines back into operation. I have been gentle, rough, but no change, so unfortunately I think it is now a permanent problem.

Having had a quick look on ebay, I am looking at about £130 for a new screen, or someone is offering refurbed ones at about £85, which makes it questionable as to whether it's worth sorting.

For the time being at least, it's a live-with issue.

Thanks for your help chaps.

 

[crockers]

When a new laptop can be had for under £400 repairs are often not worth it - especially as the new one is of a higher spec and may be running a better OS.

IMHO that is.

 

[Rory]

Google "dell vertical line".

After only gentle huffing & puffing Dell came and fitted a new screen for my daughter's laptop at 30mths old even though it wasn't one of models listed as being affected, and it only had a standard 12mth warranty.

ETA:

I found the old Dell blog about this. I am the second Robert in that thread - posts in Oct 2007. They've reversed the order of the posts so references to posts above and below may need to be reversed:
http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2007/06/19/17774.aspx

 

[corned]

Quite right, Crockers. That's why it's a 'live with' rather than a fix, unfortunately.

Rory - that's very interesting indeed. Typical that mine lasted long enough to out-live the 3-year business warranty. It's 4-and-a-bit years old, so I'm going to give tech support a go, but I am not hopeful. Thank you very much for posting that link - it was very useful.