laptop display

thanks trying this now, hope I don't screw it up all the way lol, feels like the thoughts when i built my pc lol, thanks

Just out of curiosity David, when you had it running the external monitor, did the LCD display go black, or was it still the funny colours?

One other thing I thought of was if you boot it to the external monitor there should be a function key or sequence to toggle between the internal and external display.

You might try hitting that to see what happens?

:)

I think on dells it is function + F8, also you can set it in the bios. BTW does the monitor function properly until windows loads? I worked on a dell where you the monitor worked until windows loaded. You could get into the bios and all that. In the end I had to reload the OS and use the display adapter drivers that it came with.

as far as hooking up the external monitor it boots perfectly, great color, and all, while the laptop display stays black. I reseated the lcd display and it took out all the fuzziness but it still acts like theres no color, and it's basically like faded, think the screen is gone :(

Hi David, I am afraid that it does sound like the screen has gone south. The reason I suggested trying toggling between the LCD and external screen is that this sometimes works.

I can remember the days when I worked with a lot of Dells (laptop and desktop) and the laptops were quite likely to get "confused" after you had them connected to a data projector. The toggling trick worked then.

I must admit that was some 4 years or more ago, and I haven't heard of it recently.

thanks all for the help, it was alt + f8 by the way thanks, it switches between both and the desktop monitor has great color but the laptop dosen't so after reseating the lcd, I think it must be the screen, thanks everyone as always for all the help, now as i have never looked for this kind of thing, do i need a special dell lcd, or do they sell remanufactured ones? lol

Hi David,

You need a special Dell one for that family of laptops.

Now, you may well be able to get a generic one from a third party supplier that will do the job, but you must make sure that it is for THAT specific make/model.

I would not touch a refurb. with a barge pole............ remember why Packard Bell no longer trade in the USA and got taken over by NEC?........... using undeclared second user components (that failed again) ;) Lots of class actions there :D

First move is to get a quote/estimate from Dell............. they will do a repair that has a warranty:)

thanks, will do

sorry but gotta ask, last post on this topic, anyone know if a dell inspiron 5100 lcd is compatible to a 1100 screen? thanks for any info on this

It depends,

There are two screen sizes (14.1", and 15.1") In theory the screens can be interchangeable between the 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150 models. You need to watch out for whether you have a 20-pin or 30-pin connection.

:)