Help me fix a laptop...

[ibex333]

Found a laptop in the garbage. Was missing the hardrive, battery and ram. Older HP model with HD5650 graphics.

Bought battery, HDD, and ram, and the thing sprung to life! Voila! But, apparently has a screen issue. The screen shows big gray vertical bars and no image. Sometimes the screen "wakes" from this daze and shows a normal beautiful image, but after a few minutes, it always goes back to those gray bars.

I plugged in an external monitor, and the laptop works fine. No gray bars on the monitor, runs rock solid for hours. So it's not the video card. The laptop itself is fine.

What gives? Is this difficult or expensive to repair? I am assuming the screen is fine too. It would be a shame to run this headless. Must be some sort of part that plays a role in converting the signal from the video card to the screen... Don't know enough about these things.

 

[inachu]

the lcd is bad. Just needs a replacement. Or just use it like you are.

I would not do anything else if I were you. External is fine.

 

[ibex333]

Really? It's the LCD? What a shame...

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Sounds like the problem I encountered with a 17-inch Toshiba laptop, a couple of years ago.

Beautiful machine. Aluminium keyboard. Dual core. Built like a tank (and yet, quite snappy, once the memory was upgraded). LCD was dead. Couldn't replace it no matter what I tried (new panel, new inverter). Works perfectly with external monitor.

So I just took the screen off (including the hinges), and I was able (and lucky enough!) to make it look good. Most people now think its a bona fide all-in-one PC, kinda like the modders used to build inside old Commodore cases or mechanical keyboards. Works really well, I still use it as a software testing machine.

 

[cholley]

it's the LCD like other have said, or, and more likely, the cable that runs from the computer to the LCD, could be an easy/cheap fix or an expensive PITA, these ribbon cable are a common failure point as the route through the hinge assy. and crack over time

 

[John Connor]

Really? It's the LCD? What a shame...

Why is that a shame? I broke my laptop LCD and just bought a replacement on ebay and fixed it. No biggie.

You shouldn't use Skype on a forum my friend. Google Skype resolver. Your IP doesn't show up, but your snap does.

 

[Yayo3p]

I would first connect another monitor to the laptop and make sure that its not the graphics card that went bad. If you connected the monitor and the monitor shows display then the LCD screen is bad. I had the same problem with my Alienware laptop. But in my case the graphics card went bad.

 

[cholley]

I would first connect another monitor to the laptop and make sure that its not the graphics card that went bad. If you connected the monitor and the monitor shows display then the LCD screen is bad. I had the same problem with my Alienware laptop. But in my case the graphics card went bad.

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