Dell Laptop-Screen goes dark-Any suggestions

kossohead

Not sure if anyone can help or if anyone has had similar problems?

I have a dell laptop - Inspiron 6400, which is 13 months old (just out of warranty):mad:

If I switch the laptop on with the ac mains adaptor connected, sfter about 10 minutes the screen goes black, you can only just see whats on the screen.

But if I switch the laptop on without the lead and running with the battery only, its fine.....

I thought it was the ac adaptor, which dell sent me one on friday, but I still have the same problem?

I sent dell an email, which they want me to send back to dell to be fixed, but i know this will cost me a lot of monies.
They said it could be the motherboard?

Can I change this myself, how much are they, where do you get them from, etc..

Many Thanks

paul

slewis1972

Does the screen go dim before Windows starts?

Try and go into the bios and do a factory reset and see if that makes any difference.

Can you connect a external monitor to it and does that work, and does that go dark after 10 mins?

if so, check the monitor power settings in Windows?

Anything else happened on the machine prior to this?

If so, try and do a system restore to a time when it worked to rule out Windows causing the issue.

Another way to test is to boot and go into bios and leave it for 15mins. If the screen goes dark, it wont be a windows issue, more than likely a motherboard, which I doubt would be cheap. BUT I have heard instances where if you complain hard enough to Dell, as its just outside the warranty they will just charge you 50% of the cost.

Scott

kossohead

slewis1972 wrote: »

Does the screen go dim before Windows starts?

Try and go into the bios and do a factory reset and see if that makes any difference.

Can you connect a external monitor to it and does that work, and does that go dark after 10 mins?

if so, check the monitor power settings in Windows?

Anything else happened on the machine prior to this?

If so, try and do a system restore to a time when it worked to rule out Windows causing the issue.

Another way to test is to boot and go into bios and leave it for 15mins. If the screen goes dark, it wont be a windows issue, more than likely a motherboard, which I doubt would be cheap. BUT I have heard instances where if you complain hard enough to Dell, as its just outside the warranty they will just charge you 50% of the cost.

Scott

Thanks for the reply,

No the screen dosnt go dark before windows/vista starts.

I also booted and did bios mode, but same old problem i`m afraid.

I cant understand why the screen goes dark after about 5 minutes when connecting the ac adaptor?

The laptop is perfect if i run it off the battery, it dosnt go dark, it runs fine until the battery power goes?

Any idea how much a motherboard costs for a dell inspiron 6400

many thanks

paul

niccy

i am NO expert but my dell 8600 inspiron started playing up a bit like this and i replaced the inverter.
done the job for £20

fwor

According to UK consumer law, the laptop should function correctly for a reasonable amount of time, and 13 months is most definitely not reasonable.

You're in a good position here, because Dell is both supplier and manufacturer, so you won't get a shop pointing the finger at the maker and vice versa.

If you explain to them that you don't believe it's satisfactory under the Sale Of Goods Act and associated consumer law, they ~should~ fix it free of charge.

motorguy

niccy wrote: »

i am NO expert but my dell 8600 inspiron started playing up a bit like this and i replaced the inverter.
done the job for £20

+1

I'd say its the inverter. A relatively easy fix.

I'd be curious to know what happens if an external monitor is used?

kossohead

loaner wrote: »

You shouldn't have any problem getting Dell to fix it for free out of warranty.

---

Thanks or all your replies so far..

Last night, I sent an email to dell.

This is the reply.

I am agreeing with your concern however there is different socket and power
structure in Battery and Ac Adapter who charges the system.

I think that Dell system works for long time however it is electronics items and
can go bad at any time and this is the reason that Dell sells warranty along
with the system.

As per my knowledge, there is no discount scheme is running at this time however
I would not be able to tell you exact as depot department is only authorized to
give any discount.

Like you contacted me for the issue so I can give you 2GB flash USB drive. Of
course, this will not resolve the issue however it will surely minimize your
pain that you had due to Dell system.

Please check the link for 2GB flash USB drive and let me know if you are
interested.

http://ecomm.euro.dell.com/dellstore/basket.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs&itemtype=SNA&oid=fd929a51-2923-4092-a734-fd425c4e3b75

I am looking forward for your response.

Your case number for this interaction is ............

Thank you again for contacting Dell Hardware E-Support.

Respectfully,
Narender Shilak
Dell Hardware E-Support
UK & IRE Support
_http://support.euro.dell.com

WHAT A CHEEK TO OFFER ME THIS USB DRIVE, I THINK THEY ARE ABOUT £18 TO BUY. :mad:

I WILL TRY IT OUT TONIGHT ON ANOTHER MONITOR AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS?

THANKS FOR HELPING ME TO SAVE MONEY, BRILLIANT SITE :T

kossohead

loaner wrote: »

Call em up, say you expect it to last more than 13mths. You may get a better response.
If that doesn't work, mention sale of goods act.

Thanks

Whats the sale of goods act

PROLIANT

It sounds like the ACPI module that controls the backlight inverter is misbehaving, as suggested previously go into the BIOS and select restore default settings, this will not effect windows or your data it will just reset the software that controls things like your screen backlight and CPU etc, give it a go. You could also check dell's web site to see if there is any new firmware for the BIOS.