Laptop Display problem

noname123_2

When I booted my laptop up this afternoon the screen was messed up. It had a vertical line about 1cm thick on the righthand side about 5mm from the edge which was black and about 1cm missing from the middle of the display which made the windows logo read "widows". Since then, the right two thirds of the screen have developed flashing horizontal lines which make that part of the screen unreadable. Is it a software problem or is it a problem with the lcd or other hardware? If it's a hardware problem, is it cost effective to fix it bearing in mind it was only a cheap laptop in the first place?

It's an acer travelmate 2300.

Sorry if this has been discussed before but it's difficult to run a search when you can't see most of the screen!

TIA

albertross_2

Does it look physical or electrical, has is been dropped/sat on/heavy stuff placed on top?

This is physical damage:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=510016

noname123_2

I'm not aware of it having been dropped or sat on or anything like that recently. It doesn't have any physical damage that i can see.

albertross_2

so it doesn't look anything like the pics?

if not, try pinching (lightly!) around the edge of the screen casing, and putting a bit of pressure over the keyboard area, in case the screen connector has come lose.

noname123_2

Yes it does. I didn't see the link when I was writing my reply. Oh dear. Looks like I need to browse the cheap laptops thread then. Thanks for your help.

albertross_2

if it has jagged cracks/splintered look, it's physical damage, usually by dropping, putting something heavy on top, sometimes it can be caused by bad design of the hinges, you could always try acer if it is newish.

have a look at www.dmxdimension.com or ebuyer.com if not. There are also some recent threads on here about cheap Dell's

If you have an external screen, you could plug that in to make use of it.