Repair help: the screen or the inverter?

Hi guys,

I would like to try and get the screen working again on my old notebook so I can use Audacity properly, but I don't know how to determine the faulty component. Basically, the screen (on the nc8430 in my sig) is completely black when I boot the machine from cold, however, when I resume operation from standby/sleep, there is a garbled image on the notebook screen, which means that the back-lighting works to some degree. I know the graphics card is working fine because I had been using an external monitor with no problems for a long time. I can't get any pictures up at the moment, but the image that appears is fuzzy, low-res and mirrored vertically down the middle of the notebook screen. After some research, I've read that I can buy an inverter for about £11 which may be able to fix the screen. On the other hand, I was told it would cost £150 to replace the screen when I first took it in for repair

So, does anyone know how I can check what needs replacing???

Cheers.

 

Not sure if you can do anything to check on your own in determining what is causing the problem.

When back-lights go, usually the problem would itself in a predominantly black screen, with a barely faint image displaying ('barely faint' as in - barely visible in pitch black environment and not sufficient enough to work with AT ALL).

Your issue sounds more like an inverter problem.
Although I wouldn't exclude the possibility of a video cable or the screen itself (perhaps even the back-light itself).

£150 for repairs?
When I had my back-light replaced, I took my old DELL laptop to a repair shop in London - Paddington area (I think it was called something along the lines of Computer Market), paid £40 and waited 24 hours.
It's working fine to this day (the repairs were done on 25th Nov 2008).

Depends on where you go really, along with what type of repairs are necessary.
I would try avoiding shops that charge obscene amounts of cash for the repairs.

Who told you exactly the repairs would cost £150?
Perhaps you can ask them what the problem was exactly?
If it's something like the inverter or the screen itself, and if you are technical enough, you might be able to fix it yourself for a lower fee.

 

What you're describing doesn't sound to me as a faulty inverter. A laptop with a fault inverter has a very dim display and not a mirrored image. My guess would be a faulty display cable or a faulty screen.

For the inverter, display screen, and a screen you should try ebay. Those items are usually cheap there.

Have you checked that your display cable is properly connected to both the motherboard and the screen? maybe the display cable needs to be reset

 

For screens, I usually drop in a new inverter first no matter what. New inverter = around $12. New screen = around $70. To me, it's worth the shot. Besides, in my experience, inverters fail much more commonly than the screens themselves.

 

I don't think I'm as experienced as you, but I second you in this with my short/small experience

 

Thanks for the replies, I'll probably go ahead and buy an inverter. Here are some pictures to illustrate what I meant by a garbled image:

The external monitor:


And this is the picture on the notebook screen. Note that I haven't enabled mirror imaging or anything. There's only supposed to be an image on the external monitor:


I'll let you guys know how I get on

 

it's definitely not the inverter. I don't think it's the screen either.

I would bid my money that the fault is around the GPU driver or the display cable.

 

That is definitely not an inverter issues. Like Deks said, failed inverters give you a black screen with a barely present image. Your problem looks like a display cable issue. Your GPU should be fine as the external monitor works.

 

looks like ur display cable is loose... open up ur laptop and check its connection and get a replacement if u can...

 

Ah right, thanks everyone, I'll try to find a replacement screen cable then. I opened the notebook up the other day and couldn't see anything that was loose. I was hoping it'd be the inverter because that's an easier replacement than the screen cable. The saga continues...

 

LOL...... we'll be waiting!

 

UPDATE!

I received my replacement screen cable today so I popped it in the old bird, fired her up and....success! My old notebook has been returned to its former glory. Spent £15 on the cable - compare that with the £140 quoted from the local repair shop Needless to say, I am feeling remarkably chuffed now.

Much kudos goes to everyone who contributed, thanks!!!

 

Just curious - where along the cable did it break? My money's on inside the hinge, but if it was somewhere else, you may end up with another fried cable

 

I haven't inspected the old cable so I can't tell you unfortunately, but it is a good point you made. At least I know I can go on eBay again if this cable goes bad.

The disparity between the screen on the nc8430 against the Sony CW's screen is quite staggering - 15.4' 1680x1050 matte screen with regular backlighting versus 14.1' 1366x768 glossy LED screen is massive! The screen on the Sony is so much brighter and vibrant. The nc8430 was kind of renowned for having a somewhat dull screen, but the difference is now very apparent, but the viewing angles (especially the vertical) are far superior on the HP.