Dell Inspiron B130 Laptop Display Problem

[clarkmb2]

My 4-year old Dell was working fine yesterday but not today. No display yet I can see an extremely dim image as it boots up. Any thoughts on whether or not it's repairable?

[PoonDoggy]

Are you sure that the backlight is up? Try hitting Fn with the up arrow key and see if that helps.

[clarkmb2]

Thanks PoonDoggy. Unfortunately that didn't work. I can see a very faint desktop.

Thanks again.

[PoonDoggy]

yeah,sounds like the backlight went out all together. It is repairable but it'll cost a chunk of money.

[LeftCoast]

Might be power inverter also...easier fix, but more expensive part.

This guy is selling the one i might need, but i still don't want to shell out $36 bucks on a maybe.

Gateway 4540GZ 4542GP 4541BZ laptop LCD Screen Inverter - eBay (item 120301719805 end time Jul-30-09 23:01:49 PDT)

[MD1032]

I think if the inverter went bad, he wouldn't see an image at all. It sounds like the backlight just died. Do you know if the laptop has one or two backlights?

[LeftCoast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MD1032

I think if the inverter went bad, he wouldn't see an image at all. It sounds like the backlight just died. Do you know if the laptop has one or two backlights?

That's not what my research tells me...I've been dealing with no screen on my Gateway 4542GP for a while now. Both a bad backlight and a bad power inverter would show a "shadow" of the screen, and if you shined a flashlight into it you can see the images. The problem is diagnosing whether the inverter is broken or the CCFL (bulb). The bulbs are good for up to 30,000 hours.