Screen comes on then dies

Toshiba S1400-503 Lantop
Model: PSI40E-03CSR-SW

Hi,

Yesterday, I switched on my labtop and it said the battery was dead, then the screen went dead in spite of being plugged into the mains. It then worked when I plugged it into a new plug outlet. Today, the screen said the battery was dead (still on the mains supply). I removed the battery (still on mains) but screen was still dead. I replaced the battery (still on mains) and the screen came on for about a minute, then died. I fiddled around with the mains supply connection thinking I might have a loose connection but they were ok.

Does the computer work only with a good battery in place?
Or can it still work on the mains with a bad battery?
Surely, if you take out the battery, the computer will work on the mains supply?

The labtop is about 6-7 years old. I have always only started up the computer before I plug it into the mains.

 

I would suspect the inverter, which provides power to the display backlight. If you look hard under different lighting conditions then you may still see a feint image on the display when the computer is on.

Do you have access to a monitor? This would confirm my theory.

John