My Laptop Screen Stopped Working ? laptop screens

[iGuest 3]

HiI have an Acer Aspire 5742. the screen has stopped working but other than that the machine is fine, I am using it now infact with an external monitor, so it's not the graphics card. I presume it is some sort of electrical connection between the motherboard an the screen, but do not want to fiddle about with it... anyone come across this before ?? anyone offer any easy solutions other than paying a shop to take a look at it ?? :-) thanks

[novic_1223 0]

simply put, if it doesn't come on and you haven't done any major changes with programs or updates then its probably a hardware problem. you should open up your laptop remove the screen and find a similar laptop to connect it to. if the screen works with the other laptop then by all means its functioning but if it doesn't then its just a hardware problem. so you end up with two choices, either you stick with your monitor (i would) or buy a new screen. don't make things more complicated that they should be. go to a technician and save yourself the headache or be a nerd and try to fix everything (and save cash >.<)

[mrdee 1]

I had a similar problem with my laptop before, what happened was:

it started with my screen flashing, and going dark eventually, but coming back on after a few seconds.

 

This evolved to a stage where I had to give my laptop a gentle tap in order to make it come back on, and I assume you guessed the rest of the story: it ended up not coming alive at all.

 

The thing is, laptops have a light tube that sits just underneath the screen, it is quite simple, remove the screen bit and it should be found at the very bottom of your display, it is like a long, thin stick.

 

(You could compare it to a mini version of a fluorescent light tube).

 

The possibilities are that

 

The tube has come loose.

The tube has had it.

If it has come loose or a wire/connection has become detached, you will easily spot it.

It is also a fairly easy job to re-connect the loose bits or to put the light stick back into its proper place (no need to mention, of course, that you should not apply too much force or pressure and you should handle the light tube carefully).

 

If, after a little bit of gentle rocking and wiggling, the tube does not come back to life or if it is completely, or for a good part, black (in other words, burned out), then you know it is curtains for your light tube.

 

In that case, do not despair, you can either contact Acer (the manufacturer of your laptop) nd ask them to send you a replacement, although they probably might be reluctant to do so, after all, their engineers have to make a living too.

 

Or, you can, like I did, look for one on Ebay.

The item to look for is either CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp), or Backlight lamp for Laptop / Notebook LCD

screen.

 

You will usually find them quite reasonably priced (IIRC I paid Ł6.99/US$11.00 for it).

 

If you decide to do it that way, you could save yourself quite a bit of money compared to (I assume your laptop is out of guarantee already) paying for the part plus paying the engineer's wages on top.

 

Good luck, and let me know how you get on.