Monitor died suddenly due to voltage problems?

[BobTheSlob]

I have a Samsung 710T. Last saturday I was up playing Gunbound till 2:30am (it's the TIME, not the game that matters..don't bitch if you hate that game). Anyway, I get up at 10:30am on Sunday, turn my computer on, and my monitor is dead. Also..on that same day, my computer stops turning on with my regular wall socket, and I have to change wall sockets. So..I have an apparently random electrical problem, and my monitor is dead. IT's not *dead* per se, but I get about 1/2 a millisecond of picture every 10 seconds, otherwise it's just really really dark and I can only see the picture if I put my face practically ON the screen. IT's unusable.

Does this make sense? My monitor and computer and in a surge protector. Can a voltage problem slowly kill a monitor? I'm confused and angry that I have to use a 14" CRT asshole.

 

[MovieMan80]

Sounds like the backlight on your lcd is on the fritz. It could be either a dead backlight 'bulb', dead backlight inverter board, or some combination of the two.

If the monitor is out of warranty (IIRC Samsung is three years) then you might be able to find replacement parts on ebay fairly cheap. Or you could sell your monitor for a decent amount to someone willing to repair it. Since the picture still works it's still in a fairly fixable shape so it's worth some money still.

 

[BobTheSlob]

Is it normal for a backlight to die so fast? It's still under warranty as it's only 1 year old. And it didnt even *start* to die. It just was dead when I woke up, having used the monitor only 8 hours before. Does this sound normal at all? I don't want to send it to get fixed only to have my shitty power grid kill it again.

 

[MovieMan80]

Is it normal for a backlight to die within a year? No. But if you are having power issues then it is a possibility. Companies put a lot of work into building their components resistant to power glitches but it's impossible to protect against all of them.

Did you have your monitor plugged into a surge protector or a uninterruptible power supply?

I always tell people to at least have a surge protector, you're spending several hundred dollars on a computer another 20 to protect it won't be a big deal. If you're doing homework or paid work from home then get a UPS. $40-50 for a small one may seem like a lot but if you lose a term paper or a project you've invested a few hours since saving last, a ups is a life saver. Plus a ups will let you ride out all those annoying brownouts and power sags.