screen dark on laptop

[youngman]

my daughters compac laptop 's screen is dark, but if she shines a light on the screen she can see the display. big bucks to fix?

[hemi_69]

it's either the inverter board or the backlight, if it's not under warranty and you have an actuall buisness do it it could be a bit pricy and depending on the laptop might not be worth it.

what is the model of her laptop that would assist in researching any known problems with it and also whats involved in replacing it

[opinionated]

Is it always off now or does it tend to 'randomly' come back on?? Does it come on if you shake the laptop (gently) or if you wiggle the screen a bit?? Just ruling out a loose connection.

hemi's right though, sounds a lot like its the backlight that has failed - lots of reasons that could happen though.

[Stickler]

Dont mean to sound like an echo but it seems like the backlight is out. If you can shine a flashlight onto one of the corners and see the display than it is definitely the backlight. If the laptop is under warranty, it will be replaced and should be free of charge. If it isnt under warranty, than call Compaq for an estimate. Chances are it would be cheaper to buy a new computer than replace the backlight.

Also another suggestion, try tilting the screen all the way back as far as it will go. As CjGaughan mentioned, the connection could be loose. If that is the case, than bring it in locally and they can fix it within 5 minutes.

My bet is on the backlight being burnt out as I have seen this issue tons of times before. Best of luck!!

[hemi_69]

with the Copaq it most likely is the back light but I never even thought of a loose connection (overlooking the simple stuff again lol) Toshiba is a little more common for it to be the inverted board though so it's still a possibility of that, deffenitly worth reading up on that particular model, check forums FAQ's known issues etc.

[mightymalibu]

alot of times if it is completely black, the inverter board may have a fault, if dark with streaks or part of the screen is dark, then you have bad backlight, the backlights on these monitors are mini florecent lights, these can be changed, but can get expensive,just the backlights for a set of 4 can run about $40, then the labour to change them, so at this point you may want to consider replacing the lappy...