[Gllug] Precision M65 screen - horizontal lines ... ut oh :|

[Chris Bell]

On Fri 27 May, general_email at technicalbloke.com wrote:
> 

> 
> Dells are extraordinarily fussy about their screens otherwise I would
> suggest you bring it over to mine and try a generic LCD panel in it (90%
> of 15" laptop LCD panels are interchangeable). It does sound like the
> panel is probably your problem though.
> 
   One of the problems is that they frequently make version changes on the
motherboard which then require any of the connections within the box to be
moved or modified, with different internal cables, etc. Screen version
numbers and markings can be very obscure.

> Genuine LCD panels for Dells tend to cost upwards of £80 but most
> vendors accept returns with a small restocking fee so as long as you're
> very careful not to mark the new panel you can order one and send it
> back if it doesn't fix your problem. In fact, as a consumer you can
> always return any product bought online within 7 days for a full refund
> under the EU distance selling regs so if you're feeling bolshy you can
> even tell them their restocking fee is illegal!
> 
   I have heard that there are just two screen manufacturers making LCD
screens for laptops.

> The only other thing it could be is the screen cable. I doubt its that
> if the lines are flickering but often these are available on ebay for
> £10 or thereabouts so if you want to diagnose it yourself this would be
> the cheapest part to eliminate.
> 
> If, after all that, it does turn out to be your GPU then make sure
> whoever you take it to for repair either "reballs" the chip or uses a
> brand new chip with leaded solder balls (technically no longer legal in
> the EU but you can get them from China :) There are a lot of repair
> places (the vast majority) that simply "reflow" the chip which is a
> crappy fix that is likely to go wrong again within a few months and
> leave your machine in a worse state than before. Similarly there are
> number of places that claim to do reballing that are full of s***. If
> they won't guarantee their work for over 3 months I'd stay well clear,
> also if they are too cheap be worried, a proper reball will cost over
> £100. If you struggle to find someone you can always drop me a mail, I
> have a guy who does reballing and he guarantees the fixes for 6 months,
> he's trade only though and it would cost £165 so it's often only worth
> it for fairly high end laptops - yours being 5 years old I'd put that
> money towards a new machine.
> 
   Recent laptop original manufacturer warranties are frequently extremely
short which reflects their own experience. Both reflow and reball will fail
if there is any damage to the multilayer motherboard tracks, leaving just
the replacement option.

> Hope this helps,
> 
> Roger Heathcote - technicalbloke.com
> 

-- 
Chris Bell www.chrisbell.org.uk
Microsoft sells you Windows ... Linux gives you the whole house.

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