The other days I left my laptop on for a couple hours (3-4) and when I
returned and moved the mouse so it would exit the "screen sleep" state
if flickered and the lcd screen was visible for a second or two then it
went very dim. (enough to see slight shadows but not enough to
distinguish what is on the screen).

The laptop still functions ok, because I connected it to an external
monitor and I can use it with out any issues.

Also, when booting up I can see the DELL startup screen, the LCD dims
when windows takes over.

With the external monitor I was able to go into the device manager, no
errors when shown.

Any suggestions?? Thanks!

Sounds like backlight failure. That is a usually a vendor repair issue.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> The other days I left my laptop on for a couple hours (3-4) and when I
> returned and moved the mouse so it would exit the "screen sleep" state
> if flickered and the lcd screen was visible for a second or two then it
> went very dim. (enough to see slight shadows but not enough to
> distinguish what is on the screen).
>
> The laptop still functions ok, because I connected it to an external
> monitor and I can use it with out any issues.
>
> Also, when booting up I can see the DELL startup screen, the LCD dims
> when windows takes over.
>
> With the external monitor I was able to go into the device manager, no
> errors when shown.
>
> Any suggestions?? Thanks!
>

"Bob I" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%23vVFHj%(E-Mail Removed)...
> Sounds like backlight failure. That is a usually a vendor repair issue.
>
> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>> The other days I left my laptop on for a couple hours (3-4) and when I
>> returned and moved the mouse so it would exit the "screen sleep" state
>> if flickered and the lcd screen was visible for a second or two then it
>> went very dim. (enough to see slight shadows but not enough to
>> distinguish what is on the screen).
>>
>> The laptop still functions ok, because I connected it to an external
>> monitor and I can use it with out any issues.
>>
>> Also, when booting up I can see the DELL startup screen, the LCD dims
>> when windows takes over.
>>
>> With the external monitor I was able to go into the device manager, no
>> errors when shown.
>>
>> Any suggestions?? Thanks!
>>
If you are VERY handy, you can try replacing either the backlite bulbs or
the inverter. Check lcdpart.com for parts.
Dave

Hi,

Just in case for breaking your warranty, I'd recommend you to contact Dell
support and/or check their forum before doing repair.

<(E-Mail Removed)>
???????:(E-Mail Removed)...
> The other days I left my laptop on for a couple hours (3-4) and when I
> returned and moved the mouse so it would exit the "screen sleep" state
> if flickered and the lcd screen was visible for a second or two then it
> went very dim. (enough to see slight shadows but not enough to
> distinguish what is on the screen).
>
> The laptop still functions ok, because I connected it to an external
> monitor and I can use it with out any issues.
>
> Also, when booting up I can see the DELL startup screen, the LCD dims
> when windows takes over.
>
> With the external monitor I was able to go into the device manager, no
> errors when shown.
>
> Any suggestions?? Thanks!
>

I also think it's probably a backlight issue but just in case it's not:

Some laptops have an option to switch between the lcd screen and an external
screen. Usually you have to press a combination of keys or do something in
the display properties. On my Toshiba you press Fn+F5 to toggle between
either or both screens. The fact that you can see the Dell startup screen
means it may be a Windows problem. Is the Dell startup screen at normal
brightness?

--
Kerry
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> The other days I left my laptop on for a couple hours (3-4) and when I
> returned and moved the mouse so it would exit the "screen sleep" state
> if flickered and the lcd screen was visible for a second or two then it
> went very dim. (enough to see slight shadows but not enough to
> distinguish what is on the screen).
>
> The laptop still functions ok, because I connected it to an external
> monitor and I can use it with out any issues.
>
> Also, when booting up I can see the DELL startup screen, the LCD dims
> when windows takes over.
>
> With the external monitor I was able to go into the device manager, no
> errors when shown.
>
> Any suggestions?? Thanks!
>

The backlights and inverter are most likely failing. This can be serviced by
DELL.

--

JANA
_____


<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
The other days I left my laptop on for a couple hours (3-4) and when I
returned and moved the mouse so it would exit the "screen sleep" state
if flickered and the lcd screen was visible for a second or two then it
went very dim. (enough to see slight shadows but not enough to
distinguish what is on the screen).

The laptop still functions ok, because I connected it to an external
monitor and I can use it with out any issues.

Also, when booting up I can see the DELL startup screen, the LCD dims
when windows takes over.

With the external monitor I was able to go into the device manager, no
errors when shown.

Any suggestions?? Thanks!

Thanks for your comments. I have another laptop, maybe a year old, that
has issues with the power cord connection so I try to swap out the
backlights, any warnings???

Thanks again.....

>any warnings??

Yeah.. Don't ruin your warrenty.. If it is less than a year old I'm sure
that it is still under warrenty. On top of that I bet that they don't have
the same or even similar inverter. I bet you could find someone to fix that
power cord issue fairly cheap or sell it on ebay for good money since there
are no major issues with it.

- Mike

If you can see the dell logo and boot info on the screen at boot up, the lcd
should be okay. you can try to boot off a floppy and see if the lcd stays
on for 10-15 minutes at the DOS prompt. If it does the lcd should be fine.
you can try deleting the monitor from the device manager in windows, it will
find the display again and reload the driver on the next boot. If it's a
driver issue, you'll need to totally remove the driver and reload it.

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> The other days I left my laptop on for a couple hours (3-4) and when I
> returned and moved the mouse so it would exit the "screen sleep" state
> if flickered and the lcd screen was visible for a second or two then it
> went very dim. (enough to see slight shadows but not enough to
> distinguish what is on the screen).
>
> The laptop still functions ok, because I connected it to an external
> monitor and I can use it with out any issues.
>
> Also, when booting up I can see the DELL startup screen, the LCD dims
> when windows takes over.
>
> With the external monitor I was able to go into the device manager, no
> errors when shown.
>
> Any suggestions?? Thanks!
>

Hi There, Had a problem on a latitude lite that, it was the ribbon connector
from the display to the motherboard that needed reseaing, the strip at the
top of the keyboard flips off then remove a couple of screws to lift the
keyboard and get to the connector itself, just reseat it
hope that helps


"(E-Mail Removed)" wrote:

> The other days I left my laptop on for a couple hours (3-4) and when I
> returned and moved the mouse so it would exit the "screen sleep" state
> if flickered and the lcd screen was visible for a second or two then it
> went very dim. (enough to see slight shadows but not enough to
> distinguish what is on the screen).
>
> The laptop still functions ok, because I connected it to an external
> monitor and I can use it with out any issues.
>
> Also, when booting up I can see the DELL startup screen, the LCD dims
> when windows takes over.
>
> With the external monitor I was able to go into the device manager, no
> errors when shown.
>
> Any suggestions?? Thanks!
>
>