LCD problem with laptop?

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Hi folks,

I have a Dell Inspiron 4150 notebook computer. My first problem with it has arisen. My girlfriend just phoned me at work and told me that the screen has gone extremely dark, to the point which anything that is not white is barely visible. According to her, when she boots the laptop, the screen is the correct intensity until the win2k boot screen, at which after a few seconds, it goes dim. The display is fine with an external monitor. Half an hour prior to this, she noticed flickering on the screen. Can anyone shed any light on the situation?

Thanks,

Edmond

[Cryptic1911]

sounds like it needs an fl inverter board. they are usually cheap (~$50-100)

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What does an fl inverter board do, exactly?

[Cryptic1911]

it's a power inverter for the lcd's backlight if i'm not mistaken.. sounds kinda like the high voltage transformer from crt monitors. anyways, when its dying the light will flicker on/off and eventually it will stop working. when it's not working, the screen is still working, but since no light is coming through, you can barely make out anything. i've had a couple go here at work, and usually they are intermittent.

is it still under warranty?

i was having a hard time finding a site with it and a price, but here's one place.. looks like you have to request a price though. http://www.247laptoplcd.com/laptopinverterrepair.htm

I did lookup the inverter # from their site.. I found some japanese site that says its a samnsung inverter for a samsung lcd (probably what dell uses), and it said $20.. but I dont know if they sell to the public

[gamma]

Thanks for the info Cryptic.

One more question...How hard is it to replace the inverter once I have the part? I have never really tinkered with a laptop before...All my experience with hardware has been reserved to desktops thus far.

Thanks.