Laptop screen broken help!

[kaszal]

Does anyone recognise this fault on my laptop screen? The screen is still bright but the detail is almost illegible and there's vertical lines everywhere. It happened suddenly overnight. I've connected the laptop to an external projector and the image is fine so I guess the CPU/graphics card is OK (?) I did a quick search and found it might be the inverter. Can I replace this at home?

Please help as I need this for work, not to mention browsing my favourite rc website

[jphillips]

hi there

this problem looks like the invertor you can get then off ebay

if you get stuck My mate works for a computer repair company and can get almost any part

t

[bodgit]

I broke my screen last year and once you get the bezel and screen off the invertor is easy to change it just plugs in to cable both ends.

[Richard Lowe]

If the backlight is still on (ie - screen lit up) it's not the inverter, especially if it's an LED screen that doesn't have one

It's either the panel itself or the ribbon cable that connects the screen to the motherboard, the panels are roughly £35 and cable's around £10-15 from ebay. If the screen corruption changes as you open/close the lid chances are it's the cable, otherwise its the panel.

If you post a picture of the laptop or the model number I can give you an idea how easy they are to take apart, I do loads at work.

[neallewis]

Reseat any ribbon or surface mount connectors relating to the display. Also check/move any display cables that carry signals to the screen from the main-board. Some laptop models can break cables around the hinges. A failing cable could exhibit the fault shown. Locate your inverter, again check and re-seat any cables/connectors. get the inverter model number off the original unit, google or ebay search for a replacement. It won't be expensive, and simple to change if you have got this far, but as Richard said above, if the back light is on, then it ain't the inverter.
You can normally pickup whole screens salvage or replacement spares cheap enough too from ebay.

[imull]

If you have problems fixing it and can survive a couple of weeks I can take a look at it at the Apex GP.

As Neil says, it looks like the cable or it could be the GPU (is it an nvidia based laptop?)

[kaszal]

Thanks for all your helpful replies.

I looked at the original invoice and it says this is the screen I have...

Latitude E6400

230-10192 Display : 14.1in Widescreen WXGA+ (1440X900) with LED backlit

So it looks like it's not the inverter but could be the cable or screen itself.

Unfortunately I've already ordered this inverter but luckily they accept returns...

Dell Latitude E6400 14.1" LCD Backlight Inverter

I'll open the laptop up to check everything is connected properly and also get the part number for the original screen.

[Richard Lowe]

Looking at a picture of it those are usually dead easy to take apart, remove the screws that are under the rubbers round the screen bezel then pull at the clips holding the bezel on

[imull]

If the screen is LED there is no inverter, so it's not that.

It's the cable or the GPU itself.

[kaszal]

Still haven't taking it apart. The vertical bars "follow" the cursor arrow as I move it around. What could that be specifically?

This is the screen I've got...

230-10192 Display : 14.1in Widescreen WXGA+ (1440X900) with LED backlit

[neallewis]

Possible sign of GPU failure perhaps? What chipset is it? Nvidia par chance?
Nvidia chipsets that are (BGA) ball grid array packages (basically chipset attached to the mainboard on balls of solder) and have a tendency to become un-soldered over time with the heat that the GPU generates. As the device ages, they get filled with dust, cooling becomes less efficient, etc. A possible fix is to oven bake the mainboard (if you are feeling adventurous), or send it away to be re-flowed, or replace the mainboard.

I'd still strip it and reseat any GPU/Screen related cables/connectors however.

Have you updated your drivers? might be worthwhile doing.

[kaszal]

Thank you.

I connected the laptop to an external projector at work and the image is fine. So am I right in concluding the graphics card etc is OK?

I took it apart to get the part number for the screen so shall I just replace that?
Here it is. I can get the same one off eBay for about £70

[neallewis]

Ok, it's probably not the gpu, if it's working on the external output. Did you reset the screen connections? If you wiggle the lead/ribbon at any point along its length, does it improve or make the problem worse? If that seems fine, i'd take a punt on a new screen, if it's cheap enough. Oh, do driver upgrade first, just to rule that out.

[bodgit]

As above its definatley worth wriggling the ribbon connections. I had same problem a a while back. I put a little finger pressure on each connector and found that a few wraps of insulation tape kept the joint working.

[RudolfXC]

Also try lightly sqeezing the edge of the display as these problems are mostly caused by internal connections to the LCD panel coming apart.

[kaszal]

I called Dell and we did a few diagnostics to confirm the screen itself was at fault. They were very helpful but wanted £205 for their technician to come out and replace the screen. In the end I bought one here for £75 and did it myself...

www.requireit.co.uk

Very helpful and they made sure I was getting the right one. Got it the next day, now my laptop is good as new!

[Cardnim]

EDIT: -- Too late! doh.