Awful Graphical Glitch... SAGER 9280

Hello everyone!
I have been having a really strange and aggravating problem with my laptop screen.
I am a computer science major, so I have been trying to diagnose this problem aggressively, but no luck. Googling my symptoms didn't bring me any more information either.

First things first, the specs:
SAGER 9280
CLEVO CO. D900F
Windows 7 PRO x64
2.67 gigahertz Intel Core i7 920
6136 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies LTD 6.00 09/01/2009
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M [Display adapter]
Generic PnP Monitor [built-in] (17.2"vis, January 2007)

The problem itself is really hard to describe, so I did my best to film it, and uploaded it to youtube for you. Don't worry if you don't know what you're looking at at first, the graphics glitch becomes much more apparent halfway through the video. I first filmed it during a fullscreened video, and then while idling on the desktop.
I connected my laptop to another monitor, and confirmed that the glitch only happens on my screen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNe16ssSixM

This has been happening since I got the computer in November 2009.

Specific symptoms:
Horizontal flashing, streaking bands. very sporadic.
It happens most often when the computer's been running for a while. [screen getting hot?]
It mostly happens (80% of the time) on very dark pixels. when it happens I can switch to a white page and it will immediately stop, except for the task bar.
If I tilt the screen it definitely seems to affect it. It will go away and come back.

IMPORTANT:
When it first happened, I popped off the keyboard, and took off the hinge panels. The main LCD cord(there's two under there) runs through the hinge and behind the screen. I unplugged that cord, and plugged it firmly back in.
It stopped happening for three weeks. It slowly started happening again, so I did the same thing. It went away... and now it's back again.

I did contact Sager tech support, and they were nice, but they weren't much help. They actually thought the issue I was referring to in the video was the light reflecting from the screen. I can send it in and get it diagnosed and fixed, but I would be without my school computer for 2 weeks. I'm hoping you guys and girls can help me.

Thanks in advance!

 

yeah it definitely looks like an hardware issue (i.e. a bad connection), i think you really nailed it when you opened it up and unplugged/replugged your monitor power cord

maybe you could try to convince Sager to ship you a replacement display without having to ship your entire laptop to them?

 

Hmm.. any tips on how to get them to do that?
What they WILL do, is have me cover the full cost of whatever they ship me, and when i get it and swap it out, send it back to them, they verify that I wasn't lying, and then credit me back what I paid.
Is there a way to get them to just watch that video and admit that it's their fault and just supply me with a new one?

 

that defo looks like a graphics card problem. are you still covered by warranty as if you are i would ring them at tech support and explain you done this video and see if they will send one out before you return the other one. but of course they will charge you and if its found not to be the card then i dont think they will give a refund as the card will then have been used.
good luck

 

what you could do to reduce cost/risk on your side is get together with someone who has a similar system and swap part around (the GPU failure is another realistic hypothesis)

once you really nail it down to one problematic part it's not too much of a risk to cover shipping charges until Sager confirms the problem

their offer isnt too bad though, especially if you live in the USA, shipping parts around cant cost that much... better to pay 10-15$ shipping than to live without your computer for 2-3 weeks

 

id say its your gpu bro.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I thought it was definitely NOT my gpu, because the problem doesnt show up on an external monitor, only mine?
AKA the problem is AFTER the gpu, in the screen?
If the video chip were overheating it would have the errors on any and all displays that were rendered through that chip. Since that is not the case here the likelihood of an overheating or bad GPU is slim.
Right?

 

I HAD THIS PROBLEM TOO!!
wow they STILL havent fixed this 3 years later.

The the LCD inverter cable to the motherboard is getting crimped in the left hinge.

try this: next time it happens push in and out on the lower left hand portion of your screen, the left hinge, and the left side of the panel of where the power button is. push hard, but not enough to break it. you should notice it get worse or better.

 

I too have noticed that, but why is it only on dark portions of the screen?
(at least for me it is)

 

thats a new one on me. hopefully its not your gpu then.
hope you can get it sorted.

 

I have no idea, but that only confirms the problem is the same as mine. Like when you open a dark website you can tell its happening to the dark parts.

If you really want it to go crazy, go here:
http://www.techmind.org/lcd/index.html

RGB sub-pixel dot-inversion is what i think you should click on and hit F11. It'll go NUTS cause its matching the type of LCD you have. I wouldn't leave it on there too long (if this doesnt work, try another), but i dont thinks its hurting the screen either, cause like i said, the issue is the crimped lcd inverter thats shoved terribly into the left hinge. the more you open and close the lid the worse it'll get over time. if you want, Remove the keyboard and then remove the metal plate underneath in order to remove the Power button panel. Theres a screw to remove the left hinge too, if you want to loosen the cable up or move it around. Otherwise you may need a new one, which i think should be covered under warranty if you get them to watch the youtube video.

 

I had exactly the same problem posted here some time ago http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=407303 ...and to date...i still have it.

I went to the vendor, and himself had the same problem on a identical D901C he opened it and fixed it, well...for a while at least (check my that thread for details on how vendor fixed it) , and then it started all over again.

Tired of the screen flicker that appears so often i opened the keyboard and the metal plate underneath, and messed around with the wire with the duct tape used by vendor, this wire is on the left side of the board, on the top of a black square (the wire comes from the screen and i can't see the rest of it).
Booted up the machine with the keyboard still off and messed around with the wire until i founded a position that didn't cause that problem, then i put the duct tape back on the wire, closed the box and it worked for some days...although the problem came back.

This wire can't be the wire that alexmtakacs reconnected because there is no place to connect it it's just loose, can you upload a picture of the cable that you reconnected alexmtakacs?

I also noticed that the screen is more stable with the lid almost closed...well not almost closed but pointing downwards still witch is a major P.I.T.A.

Damn Doodles that RGB sub-pixel dot-inversion really makes it go wild :S, i tried to use your solution but i don't know what you meant by "Theres a screw to remove the left hinge" when the power button is on the right side, i don't have a wire near the power button as you can see in the image below. Are you talking about a D901C?

Here is the ducted wire


Here is one overall view of the board with no wire coming out near the power button

 

Any ideas/guide on how to open monitor?

 

Lift up that black panel that runs across above the keyboard, the one that houses the capslock light and power button... . Enjoy the wirey mess
(you can only lift it after removing that metal panel, but theres no screws to pull it off as the metal panel holds it down, just lift it right up and then you'll REALLY see the left hinge, and the screw im talking about)
EDIT:ADDING: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=252722
this is my old fix thread, you'll see an area that you didnt open up on yours. This fix is for a d901c, not d900f, however, the inverter is probably still plugged into the mobo at the same place, i dont see why it wouldnt be

 

Service Manual in my sig.