Inspiron 5000e with a "grey lcd" can this be salvaged?

[Jay Jay]

Hello fellow TS'ers,

I need some advice and this forum has always come up with the goods

Recently I took possession (free) of a Dell Inspiron 5000e, when I power it up the laptop goes through all the normal processes of starting the fan, checking the drives etc however the lcd outputs a blank fullscreen "grey image" and the occassional black and grey bar at the top (with blue & white stripes on the left, black and white stipes on the right).

Even though the screen is a blank "grey" It is possible to adjust the brightness by using the appropriate function key combos, I don't know if this sheds any light on the problem.

Is there anyone is familiar with this problem and would replacing the LCD remedy the fault? I didn't pay any £££ for the laptop so I'm open to realistic solutions, otherwise I can always use it for spares/repairs.

Jay

 

[Nodsu]

You should try with an external monitor to see if the problem is with the LCD or the graphics controller.

You may have to press some hotkeys to enable the secondary monitor at bootup. Read The Friendly Manual

 

[Jay Jay]

Thanks for replying, Nod

I managed to try it today with an external CRT and it works quite happily with a VGA display so the problem must lie in a fault within the LCD...

Thanks again,

Jay