15-08-2013, 09:37 PM
Here's a fiddly job and something I'll avoid in future ...
A couple of months ago, I noticed the screen on my Dell notebook computer getting very dark down the left side of the screen. A few days later, the whole screen was black. Bugger it. I have way too much data on the disks in this machine and I can't afford a new replacement anyway. I connected it up to the TV and sure enough, the screen was the problem as I had a picture on the telly. I decided to eBay myself a replacement backlight CCF for $22 from the US. It arrived last week and I was shocked - it's a miniature fluorescent tube made of glass like a general purpose lighting tube, but about 300mm long and 2mm diameter. As delicate as buggery.
Of course, getting the notebook apart and pulling the screen components out was a major drama - even with two hands it wouldn't have been fun but it took me two and a half hours and I completely used my entire collection of expletives twice over. I had bits everywhere.
In the end, I got the new part installed and when I finally tidied up I only had four minuscule screws left over. Not too bad ... but I was tired and couldn't give a toss whether the bloody thing would work when I plugged it in and switched it on.
It did actually work though - it's not perfect as the there is a slight variation of brightness across the bottom of the screen, but it's good enough.
Would I recommend it to you if your own treasured machine developed a similar fault? No way! The best option would be to buy another standalone flat panel monitor cheaply (perhaps off eBay) and run that off the notebook using a VGA or HDMI or whatever cable. But, as Captain Mainwaring would say, I'm a stupid boy and I've got too much time on my hands at the moment.
A couple of months ago, I noticed the screen on my Dell notebook computer getting very dark down the left side of the screen. A few days later, the whole screen was black. Bugger it. I have way too much data on the disks in this machine and I can't afford a new replacement anyway. I connected it up to the TV and sure enough, the screen was the problem as I had a picture on the telly. I decided to eBay myself a replacement backlight CCF for $22 from the US. It arrived last week and I was shocked - it's a miniature fluorescent tube made of glass like a general purpose lighting tube, but about 300mm long and 2mm diameter. As delicate as buggery.
Of course, getting the notebook apart and pulling the screen components out was a major drama - even with two hands it wouldn't have been fun but it took me two and a half hours and I completely used my entire collection of expletives twice over. I had bits everywhere.
In the end, I got the new part installed and when I finally tidied up I only had four minuscule screws left over. Not too bad ... but I was tired and couldn't give a toss whether the bloody thing would work when I plugged it in and switched it on.
It did actually work though - it's not perfect as the there is a slight variation of brightness across the bottom of the screen, but it's good enough.
Would I recommend it to you if your own treasured machine developed a similar fault? No way! The best option would be to buy another standalone flat panel monitor cheaply (perhaps off eBay) and run that off the notebook using a VGA or HDMI or whatever cable. But, as Captain Mainwaring would say, I'm a stupid boy and I've got too much time on my hands at the moment.
Steve Murray