Laptop screen damaged, is it cracked?

[quadomatic]

The screen on my Studio XPS 16 is damaged, though I'm not exactly sure what's wrong. I took a picture:

http://i.imgur.com/m0ENs.jpg

Is it cracked? Do I need to buy a new display?

 

[paul878]

Yes, you need a new display.
Open it up and get the part number.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Looks like you need an new display. Is your unit under warranty? How old is it?

 

[corkyg]

Hard to imagine a cracked screen would be covered by warranty. I may be wrong, but AFAIK, screens don't crack spontaneously by themselves.

 

[ch33zw1z]

^ Depends on the warranty purchased.

 

[MAG1969]

I dont see any cracks!!! But the soldered connection or others are most definitley bad....

 

[corkyg]

I dont see any cracks!!! But the soldered connection or others are most definitley bad....

Can't see the connection - but this may be what is perceived as a crack (red line.)

The wallpapetr is not good for such analysis - maybe a photo of a more solid, darker color would be better. I would right click and try some different backgrounds and resolutions.

But, yes - the connector could be bad.

 

[paul878]

I dont see any cracks!!! But the soldered connection or others are most definitley bad....

You have to flex the lcd to see the crack sometime.

 

[Lanyap]

A cracked screen usually acts differently. Looks like your LCD panel went bad. Go to support.dell.com and plug in your svc tag and see if you have any warranty left. IIRC XPS 16 had a 3 year warranty standard.

 

[quadomatic]

I should clarify that it's not actually mine. It's my friend's, and it fell off of his bed while in his backpack. I'll have him check if his Dell warranty is still good.

I took it apart and tried unplugging and plugging the display cable back into the motherboard but it made no difference.

Whether the screen is bad or some other part of the display assembly is no longer working, in either case would replacing the display assembly correct the problem?

 

[paul878]

I should clarify that it's not actually mine. It's my friend's, and it fell off of his bed while in his backpack. I'll have him check if his Dell warranty is still good.

I took it apart and tried unplugging and plugging the display cable back into the motherboard but it made no difference.

Whether the screen is bad or some other part of the display assembly is no longer working, in either case would replacing the display assembly correct the problem?

Trust Me, it is cracked, I have been repairing laptops computer for many years. Since the laptop was dropped you will want to check the hard drive too.

 

[paul878]

I dont see any cracks!!! But the soldered connection or others are most definitley bad....

When the connections are bad you will ONLY see vertical or horizontal lines all the way through.

 

[corkyg]

Trust Me, it is cracked, I have been repairing laptops computer for many years. Since the laptop was dropped you will want to check the hard drive too.

The XPS16 is a 15.6-in notebook from Dell. How much protection does a backpack provide? As we move to thinner machines, eg., Ultrabooks, it seems to me that backpacks themselves can be hazardous to laptops. If the fit is on the tight side, a simple forward movement of both shoulders can conceivably put excessive flex pressure on the machine and cause a cracked screen.

 

[paul878]

The XPS16 is a 15.6-in notebook from Dell. How much protection does a backpack provide? As we move to thinner machines, eg., Ultrabooks, it seems to me that backpacks themselves can be hazardous to laptops. If the fit is on the tight side, a simple forward movement of both shoulders can conceivably put excessive flex pressure on the machine and cause a cracked screen.

Yes, some people do claim that the screen had cracked on there own, that they have no idea what happened. And if they scream loud enough and be persistence about it, some company do replace it under regular warranty.