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bluestem
@comcast.net

bluestem

Anon

inspiron 1545 video problem

I have a 4 year old laptop with a video problem ... when I open the laptop I'll get these weird patterns, brilliant red and turquoise, all over the screen. Eventually I can wiggle the screen on the hinges and find the sweet spot so the video looks great. Sometimes I can fix it by pushing on the bottom screen bezel.

pog4
Premium Member
join:2004-06-03
Kihei, HI

pog4

Premium Member

those dells have a little slot on the right side of the bezel above the keyboard. gently insert a screw driver and pop the whole thing off. underneath, you will be able to see the various cables and connectors going to the screen and the power inverter. it may simply be a loose connection or the cable might be frayed.

there are more things to troubleshoot but this is the easiest first step.

bluestem
@comcast.net

bluestem

Anon

I pulled the screen bezel a few weeks ago and everything looked normal, nothing loose. I'd guess taking the screen out is the next step but I don't know what to look for.

pog4
Premium Member
join:2004-06-03
Kihei, HI

pog4

Premium Member

The next place I'd look is behind the frame around the screen and behind the keyboard.

The frame can also be popped off relatively easily. However, be careful to apply gentle pressure as close as possible to each clip to avoid flexing and snapping the plastic.

The keyboard comes off by removing the few screws at the top and sliding the whole thing up and out. This should expose the video connector that comes from the screen. Try making sure it's firmly in place.

Also see if it the laptop behaves normally with out the frame and bezel in place.
FourWheelKid
join:2006-03-03
Lafayette, LA

1 edit

FourWheelKid to bluestem

Member

to bluestem
Sounds like the lcd cable is loose/damaged in some way. Not hard to fix. This ought to help. »support.dell.com/support ··· p1187506
They can be found online for fairly cheap:
»www.parts-people.com/ind ··· cd+cable Make sure which one you have before buying (not saying that parts-people's terms for returning things are bad, its just one more thing you have to go through). If the part doesn't fix it, I'm pretty sure they'll let you return it.

louist
And So It Goes
Premium Member
join:2001-12-01
Oakland Gardens, NY

louist to bluestem

Premium Member

to bluestem
Had exact same problem. Also thought it was loose connection because wiggling the screen seemed to help sometimes. Turned out to be bad screen. Bought replacement screen from a Canadian company via Internet. (exact replacement was about $ 90 USD delivered) and installed using internet instructions - it was relatively easy. Totally repaired. If you are reasonably handy you can do it yourself. good luck.

captokita
Premium Member
join:2005-02-22
Calabash, NC

captokita to bluestem

Premium Member

to bluestem
I would try replacing the video cable first, as it's the cheapest solution, and will likely take care of it. I had never come across this issue until recently, and have seen 5 or 6 laptops in the past 6 months with this very problem, and it was a bad cable.

thender
Screen tycoon
Premium Member
join:2009-01-01
Brooklyn, NY

thender to bluestem

Premium Member

to bluestem
It sounds like a bad screen. Open your laptop, what does it use? Does it a use a CCFL backlit LCD screen with a wire coming out of it in addition to the data cable, or an LED backlit LCD with just one data cable going to it?

Most of the times people assume it is the cable when it is actually the LCD. The reality is that a bad cable usually results in no video, not patterns on the screen. You should hope for an LCD problem. While it is slightly more costly than a cable problem, it is FAR easier to fix than a cable problem, which requires disassembling everything.

PeteC2
Got Mouse?
MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT

PeteC2 to bluestem

MVM

to bluestem
said by bluestem :

Eventually I can wiggle the screen on the hinges and find the sweet spot so the video looks great. Sometimes I can fix it by pushing on the bottom screen bezel.

This is what tells you that more likely than not it is the cable.

Generally, if it is the LCD itself, thatwould not result in an improvement of the display.

retzer
join:2001-01-20
KeepatawFlat

2 edits

retzer to bluestem

Member

to bluestem
OP, I'll bet you a paycheck it's your inverter cable. My 1545 was doing the same thing, funky red and blue all over the screen. A little research and some poking around led me to suspect the inverter cable. Found one on ebay for $7.99 and just changed it (not too hard, I can talk you through it if you want, there's also video out there if you need it). And now all is right with the world again.