cmay5, did you try the bios version 1.16 update I mentioned on my March 2nd post above? I haven't had any issues with the screen blacking out since I did the update. Best Buy is the WORST for pointing the finger at the manufacturer when they don't know what the real problem is. They even basically threatened me when I said I'd do the update myself (because they refused do it), that if anything went wrong, my service contract would be voided.

wow, I never realized how popular my thread would be! Anyways, I think it is an overheating issue, because if I hold it up with the bottom fans not touching anything, it seems to get sufficient cooling and work well without any issues. Although it is rather annoying to have to hold up the bottom of the laptop the whole time of usage.

Ah my 2nd and 17th post about overheating.

I would suggest you purchase one on those cooling bases that Laptops can sit on and cool down (they come with fans and all)
Sorry don't have a pic or link, maybe someone could provide one

always could try a system restore

problem

i have the same probem

I got my Acer Extensa 5420 in December of '07 and i'v been having this same problem its been sent back to the manufacturer and they replaced the fan because it was overheating as well. It doesn't black out/ gray screen any more but it is still shutting down, i think because of the ATI graphics driver overheating/not working properly. =/ Has anyone else figured out what it acutally is yet ?