e1505 screen busted (gray lines + rainbow etc)

I pretty much have no idea what's going on with my computer so I'll just describe everything.

Yesterday everything was working fine. Today I turn it on and the screen starts to show flickering gray lines and/or my login screen compressed into 20 pixels high and/or various rainbow colors with my desktop (I think it inverses the colors). But if I keep it on for a while, it all goes back to just a plain gray screen, sometimes with a few random straight lines across at points. It's kind of like an old CRT TV with a magnet nearby and on a channel it can't get a signal on.

This happens right when I turn the computer on; no software's even had the time to load (even BIOS).

When I smack it sometimes it goes back to normal, but quickly rainbow-inverses itself and eventually goes back to the gray screen (as always).

The analog video-out (the blue type, you know?) works and I'm using that with my external monitor now, so it's not a problem with the video card or some other part of the computer.

Anyone have any clues on what's going on or ideas about what to do?

Thanks!

edit: it's kind of like example one on this page http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2006/08/17/bad-video-on-lcd-screen/comment-page-8/. All the guy says is "I replaced the LCD", though, which doesn't really help.

 

If you can get an assembly guide, I would check the LCD's ribbon connector cable to see if it may have come loose. You may also want to see if pressing down anywhere along the keyboard upper strip cover causes the picture to show up clearer or not.

It's entirely possible that something has "busted" with the screen, but normally the kind of corruption you get on a screen that has physically been broken does not move or change colour (I know all too well).

Is the notebook still under warranty? If it's a problem with the ribbon cable, you may be able to have the repairs covered under warranty. If the screen itself has been damaged, though, you're out of luck unless you bought an accidental damage policy.

 

Maybe one of these links would help, if you want to check the ribbon connector.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins6400/en/sm/display.htm#wp1022270
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins6400/en/sm/index.htm

 

Thanks for the responses - I'm not exactly sure what the ribbon cable looks like, and I don't really want to go poking around in a laptop without knowing what I'm doing. Is the ribbon cable one of these: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins6400/en/sm/display4.jpg?

Sometimes I can get it to actually display what it's supposed to display for ~10 seconds. That probably means it's not some physical (irreversible) damage to the screen, right?

 

Yes that's it. Looks like a ribbon.
It's possible that one of the cables just worked itself loose somehow and isn't damaged.

 

Hmm, so I'd have to take everything apart to get at that? I'll save it for the weekend... lol

Hopefully it's just a cable getting loose.