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I am not interested in spending more than 50e to fix it...thanks

I assume this requires a new LCD screen? It took a few days of going in and out to finally settle on half the screen with blue lines, half normal.

yes its knackered!

I've found ebay good for locating replacement screens cheaply - all ya gotta do then is fit it - last one i did myself following instructions i found online. Bit of a pain in the a given I have no experience of it but actually not comlplicated...

good luck!

Could be the LCD or video card. Can you connect the laptop to a monitor? If the picture quality is fine then it's the LCD. But if it looks the same on the monitor its the video card/motherboard. A new LCD is usually about $100 for the part and motherboards can be upwards of $250.

Peace

Balou wrote:Could be the LCD or video card. Can you connect the laptop to a monitor? If the picture quality is fine then it's the LCD. But if it looks the same on the monitor its the video card/motherboard. A new LCD is usually about $100 for the part and motherboards can be upwards of $250.

Peace

+1 Agree

So:
1. Get a VGA cable
2. Connect laptop & tv/monitor (for TV change source to VGA)
3. Right click on Windows desktop (near the top since that part looks okay. Still okay if you log in?)
4. Click Setting tabs (might have to resize window if you dont see everything i say to do below)
5. Click once inside the 2 screen box
6. Check box "Extend my desktop on to this monitor"



If it looks good on the monitor then there is your BEST/Cheapest route. I would get an external USB keyboard/mouse and LCD monitor before i would replace the laptop screen. Depends if you need it to travel or not i guess.

If it looks bad on monitor then its your integrated video card. I've opened up 20+ laptops and would NOT recommend it to someone who hasn't even build a desktop from parts (ie. mobo, case, cpu, PS, HDD OS install FULL build)
Post the results, and thoughts of next steps! Good luck!

Thank guys. To me, it sounds like its the LCD screen. This was a freebie laptop I got from an old job, so its not worth spending any money (well i would have spent 50e) fixing.

I need another backup laptop, will go on Marktplaats for something.


Thanks for all input.

If you go for another laptop avoid all Sony Viao and HP. Dell is a pretty good choice. I'll tell you that a Dell Latitude D830 can be found on ebay for $300. Its a super sturdy business class laptop. Can run Win 7, XP, and OS X. I'm bias because this is what I own. I've dropped it from waist level about 6 times and its still running great.

Why avoid Sony vaio ? Iv been thinking of getting one

Cisco wrote:Why avoid Sony vaio ? Iv been thinking of getting one

Overpriced, unreliable and expensive to fix. Look at Lenovo, Toshiba, Asus or Dell.

Peace

With any laptop heat is an issue from day 1. Always keep laptops on a hard surface or ideally on a laptop pad that has a fan. Extended gaming sessions can really build up heat, and if it's on your lap, bed or other soft material air might not ventilate properly. It won't happen over night but if it can happen it will. I killed a $1,000 gaming Asus laptop this way! The video card over heated and warped the heat sync! I now tell all my clients to NEVER game on a laptop. It's just not worth the risk.

I have an Asus.Like him very much.Really good for an organizing files,pictures downloads,a lot of memory and sharp image on a screen.Better than Sony i think,cheaper too

A good friend of mine who has been in the computer business for many years told me that you get the most for your money in an Asus. I bought an Asus a little less than one year ago and it has been fantastic.
I did disable the touchpad and use a wireless mouse, though when the wireless thingy that plugs into the usb port is removed, the touchpad is functional.

A good little tip when buying a second hand laptop is to grab a price for, Keyboard, LCD, invertor and PSU from Ebay. You got a rough idea of repair costs. Most of the Hardware repairs I get in at work revolve around these issues, virus or hard drive.