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My laptop is struggling so hard
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Ole Blue Offline
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Sad My laptop is struggling so hard
All right, all you tech-savvy folks out there... I've got an issue with my laptop that is literally driving me nuts - the screen has gone black (well, rather very VERY dark). It is still working and I can see it if there is a flashlight/bright light shone onto it, and right now I'm hooked up to an external / stand-alone monitor but my HP Pavilion dv6 laptop is not doing very well on its own.

Right now, I think I've traced the problem back to either one of two things - 1) the backlight has died [hopefully the less likely of the two] or 2) a wire connecting the display has come ajar and the backlight no longer gets power [more likely, since the display has sporadically had this issue in the past - I usually fixed it by tapping the display gently until it turned back on].

What are your suggestions? I think I may take it into Staples to have them look at it (though I am not that pleased with having to pay lots of money). Any help / ideas are welcome.
05-19-2014 07:58 PM
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oklalittledixie Offline
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RE: My laptop is struggling so hard
Sounds like a backlamp. It could be burned out or you could have a loose connection. It could be worse. My motherboard is going out and I just had to order a new machine for $1200. Your problem is most likely fixable.

If it is under warranty, call your manufacturer. If it is not, see how much they charge to diagnose and fix. I would also find a local shop that has a good customer reviews and have them take a look.

Just to clarify, it works when you hook it up to an external monitor?
(This post was last modified: 05-19-2014 08:33 PM by oklalittledixie.)
05-19-2014 08:33 PM
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oklalittledixie Offline
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Post: #3
RE: My laptop is struggling so hard
For informational purposes only. If you are not a technician, do not try this. I just wanted you to see how the problem is diagnosed.


05-19-2014 08:50 PM
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Ole Blue Offline
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RE: My laptop is struggling so hard
(05-19-2014 08:33 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  Sounds like a backlamp. It could be burned out or you could have a loose connection. It could be worse. My motherboard is going out and I just had to order a new machine for $1200. Your problem is most likely fixable.

If it is under warranty, call your manufacturer. If it is not, see how much they charge to diagnose and fix. I would also find a local shop that has a good customer reviews and have them take a look.

Just to clarify, it works when you hook it up to an external monitor?

That's what I was thinking. Hopefully it is just a loose connection.

My laptop isn't under warranty anymore since I got it a lot more than a year ago. :( I think it will be way too expensive to ship it off - I might be better off just purchasing a new one than doing that. I may take it to a good local shop like you've suggested.

Yes - I have it hooked to an external monitor now and it's working just fine.
05-19-2014 08:58 PM
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oklalittledixie Offline
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Post: #5
RE: My laptop is struggling so hard
(05-19-2014 08:58 PM)Ole Blue Wrote:  
(05-19-2014 08:33 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  Sounds like a backlamp. It could be burned out or you could have a loose connection. It could be worse. My motherboard is going out and I just had to order a new machine for $1200. Your problem is most likely fixable.

If it is under warranty, call your manufacturer. If it is not, see how much they charge to diagnose and fix. I would also find a local shop that has a good customer reviews and have them take a look.

Just to clarify, it works when you hook it up to an external monitor?

That's what I was thinking. Hopefully it is just a loose connection.

My laptop isn't under warranty anymore since I got it a lot more than a year ago. :( I think it will be way too expensive to ship it off - I might be better off just purchasing a new one than doing that. I may take it to a good local shop like you've suggested.

Yes - I have it hooked to an external monitor now and it's working just fine.

I would take it to a local shop before you buy another machine. If you like your machine, I'd go get a professional diagnosis before you drop a grand on new one. Many shops offer a free diagnosis. It's probably one of two problems: A burned out backlamp or bad inverter. Both are relatively inexpensive. Backlamps run about 40 dollars plus labor, and inverters run about $30 plus labor.

Your problem does not sound as serious as mine.
05-19-2014 09:07 PM
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georgia_tech_swagger Offline
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Post: #6
RE: My laptop is struggling so hard
Google the service manual for your laptop.

This is where suddenly people who take my advice of what kind of laptop to buy appreciate it and those who bought the crapbox at Best Buy are SOL.

Lenovo is OUTSTANDING on the Thinkpad line in providing both full service documentation and well thought out design that makes getting in there minimally painful.

After that the Dell business division does good work. The Dell consumer stuff usually has service manuals available, but the design is purely for their convenience in manufacturing so it can suck to do the work.

HP's business line is so-so.

No experience with HP consumer, Samsung, Toshiba, Acer, MSI, or any of the others ... but have repeatedly heard bad things about Toshibas all around.

With Apple you're completely dependent upon third party instructions and they have a bit of a fetish for permanently gluing **** together because at Apple they actively hate you and plot to make you buy a new product from them as frequently as possible.
05-19-2014 10:56 PM
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Ole Blue Offline
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Post: #7
RE: My laptop is struggling so hard
UPDATE: It was a crooked wire. I was playing a video game this evening and magically the screen came back on, full intensity! Hooray!
05-23-2014 01:58 AM
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