Laptop Backlight Issue

[Gustave]

So a co worker's laptop started going really dim, almost blacked out after a few minutes into boot. You can still see windows load or the bios with a flashlight. It would start off fine then go dim. I ordered a backlight inverter for cheap off ebay and replaced the original one. This did not correct the issue and the same thing was happening. So next I ordered an LCD backlight and replaced that. Total was about 25$ in parts.

After replacing the backlight I tried the original inverter and... still the same issue. Looks good for a few minutes then goes dim.

So I then put the new inverter and new backlight in and to my surprise it did not go dim. The only problem now is the monitor is not very bright. I can read everything fine in the dark but any kind of glare and it makes it difficult. Definitely a strain on the eyes.

My question is do you think it's the El Cheapo inverter causing this or the backlight? When you first boot it's really bright for a split second when the backlight first gets power so that leads me to believe it's not the backlight but the inverter is choosing not to give that much power.

[xerodok]

90% of the time, the backlight/screen/inverter isn't the problem, as they rarely wear out. It's most likely the port on the motherboard that sends and receives the data displayed on the screen that goes through the inverter and back to the motherboard. Try opening up the panels enough so you have access to the screen cabling that goes all the way from the screen to the inverter to the motherboard.

As laptops get older and they are used a lot, stuff tends to wiggle out of where it's supposed to be plugged in at. Make sure everything is plugged in accordingly.

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/8...e507tlapto.jpg

If everything is ok, and that doesn't fix the problem, there's something wrong with the there could be something wrong with the inverter, but I doubt it. Otherwise it's laptop's motherboard.

[Gustave]

I'll check the connection to the motherboard. I am familiar with that part you have the picture of. It plugs into the lcd and the inverter. After replacing the inverter and the backlight I figured it was the motherboard. This laptop burned up the GPU in it about a year ago and dell replaced it. I wouldn't be surprised if the motherboard was the issue.