Hi,

I have a 3 year old Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop which has always been pretty reliable. Recently a single thin (maybe one pixcel wide?) whiteish vertical line has appeared down the centre of the screen. Is there any mileage in trying to get this fixed or is this sort of problem normally not fixable? Don't really want to fork out for a new laptop right now.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

Try connecting an external monitor to the Dell Inspiron 9300 and see if the vertical line is also present on the monitor. If the monitor display is fine, then your laptop’s LCD display panel is defective. If the monitor also displays the vertical line, then your problem is with either the video card or motherboard located inside your laptop.

Friend recently had exactly the same thing happen on his Compaq - he was advised it wasn't worth doing anything about it. Did you pay a lot for the Dell?

Try connecting an external monitor to the Dell Inspiron 9300 and see if the vertical line is also present on the monitor. If the monitor display is fine, then your laptop’s LCD display panel is defective. If the monitor also displays the vertical line, then your problem is with either the video card or motherboard located inside your laptop.

Many thanks webfact for this suggestion, I will try it. It guess if it's the screen that's faulty it's a new computer I need. However, if it's the video card, is this likely to cost an arm and a leg? Any rough ideas on cost? Thanks.

rixalex, yes I guess I paid a fai bit at the time, I think about £1,000 for the spec that I chose.

Thanks.

It guess if it's the screen that's faulty it's a new computer I need.

The Dell replacement LCD screen (which is the most likely cause of your problem) will run you 6,000-7,000 baht. My Sony LCD screen went, and it cost me 9,500 baht. Still, why would you shitcan a laptop, when the repair cost is 10% of its value? Just something to consider.