I have a Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop with a 15.4 inch screen. A few weeks ago
the screen went dark; you could barely see the screen. I hooked up an
external monitor and it works fine.

After doing some research it seemed the inverter was the likely culprit. I
bought one off of ebay and installed it. I still have the same problem.

Any idea what else it could be? If it is a bulb could you point me in a
direction on how to fix it?

TIA.

BR

In news:GqKdnfnLhM0w6YbVnZ2dnUVZ_h-vnZ2d@rcn.net,
Big Bubba typed on Fri, 2 May 2008 16:10:16 -0400:
Yes, dim display is almost always the inverter or the lamp. Although in
most cases I know, dim laptop displays is an old worn out lamp. Most
lamps only burn about 25,000 hours. Some can get about 50,000 if you are
lucky.

The lamp is attached on the side of the LCD. The inverter has two high
voltage wires (with about up to 1800 volts) going to it. Just following
the wires and you will find the lamp. Some designs this is a nightmare
and some they are pretty easy.

And remember you can't get any lamp that will fit. If they are not meant
to work together (lamp and inverter), a few things can happen.

1) Won't light or too dim

2) Either or can run very hot and burn something

3) They say the lamps can explode

--
Bill

BillW50 wrote:
The best choice is to buy a working display for the identically same
notebook from eBay, etc., with a 30 day warranty.

I believe that, from all of almost ten years of reading CSL, that the
inverter is a far secondary failure from the CCFL lamp. (Yes, CCFL and
'lamp' is redundant!) The problem with the lamp is that each mainboard,
coupled with the display, requires a specific lamp for replacement.
Lamps are not in general sold retail, and a specific lamp must replace
its identical equivalent in the display.

Next, is how to replace that lamp and not destroy the display unit in
the process. Some displays are trouble, some are not.

Q

Greetings BR..

You didn't get the extended warranty? Ouch..
(Verify that there are no factory recalls on your 8600)

The previous descriptions are a rather complicated way of saying:

1. back up all your data
2. Either let Dell of folks that are factory authorized on Dell
laptops replace the CCFL or take your chances on a 'junked' 8600 that
you can use for parts WHERE the display still has some life in it.
This is keeping in mind all the time that you'll put into the repair.
3. After the shock of the estimate from above, contemplate a new(er)
laptop. The words are 'extended warranty.'

Welcome to the expensive world of laptops! If you don't think so yet,
you will IF & when you get this laptop fixed.

Good luck!

Cheers,
Mr. Mentor



"Big Bubba" <spamhere@aol.com> wrote in message
news:GqKdnfnLhM0w6YbVnZ2dnUVZ_h-vnZ2d@rcn.net...
|I have a Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop with a 15.4 inch screen. A few
weeks ago
| the screen went dark; you could barely see the screen. I hooked up
an
| external monitor and it works fine.
|
| After doing some research it seemed the inverter was the likely
culprit. I
| bought one off of ebay and installed it. I still have the same
problem.
|
| Any idea what else it could be? If it is a bulb could you point me
in a
| direction on how to fix it?
|
| TIA.
|
| BR
|
|

In news:sDLUj.88$oJ4.3378226@petpeeve.ziplink.net,
dBc typed on Thu, 08 May 2008 23:01:44 GMT:
Well let see... I have owned seven laptops since 1984.

1) Epson Geneva PX-8, CP/M 2.2 ROM based ('84)
2) Sharp PC-4501, V20, 640KB, ('89)
3) Toshiba T1950CS, 486 20 MHz ('94)
4) Toshiba 2595XDVD, Celeron 400MHz, 192MB ('99)
5) Toshiba 2595XDVD, Celeron 400MHz, 192MB ('99)
6) Gateway MX6124, Celeron 1.5GHz, 1GB ('06)
7) Gateway MX6124, Celeron 1.5GHz, 1GB ('06)

All of them I purchased with a warrantee of 90 days or less. And 1, 2,
4, 5, and 6 are still working great. Number 3 had taken 5 years to cook
itself to death and they didn't design it with a fan and they should
have. And number 7 I purchased for spare parts off of eBay for $200 and
it works great except for the lamp, loose DC jack, and the left shift
key doesn't usually work. And they only told me about the lamp. LOL

So in 24 years and 7 laptops later, only a warrantee greater than 5
years would have changed something for me. And that would have only
helped with one laptop anyway. I seem to recall Consumer Reports say
something like most laptops needs to be repaired 40% of the time after
the first 4 years. Which is really different than with my own personal
experience.

--
Bill

Greetings Bill..

Regarding:
" All of them I purchased with a warrantee of 90 days or less."

"So in 24 years and 7 laptops later, only a warrantee greater than 5
years would have changed something for me."

With all that money you've saved over the years in no extended
warranties, you should now easily be able to purchase something else,
potentially newer and more reliable.

Cheers,
Mr. Mentor



"BillW50" <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote in message
news:4823a597$0$6431$834e42db@reader.greatnowhere. com...
| In news:sDLUj.88$oJ4.3378226@petpeeve.ziplink.net,
| dBc typed on Thu, 08 May 2008 23:01:44 GMT:
| > Greetings BR..
| >
| > You didn't get the extended warranty? Ouch..
| > (Verify that there are no factory recalls on your 8600)
| >
| > The previous descriptions are a rather complicated way of saying:
| >
| > 1. back up all your data
| > 2. Either let Dell of folks that are factory authorized on Dell
| > laptops replace the CCFL or take your chances on a 'junked' 8600
that
| > you can use for parts WHERE the display still has some life in it.
| > This is keeping in mind all the time that you'll put into the
repair.
| > 3. After the shock of the estimate from above, contemplate a
new(er)
| > laptop. The words are 'extended warranty.'
| >
| > Welcome to the expensive world of laptops! If you don't think so
yet,
| > you will IF & when you get this laptop fixed.
| >
| > Good luck!
| >
| > Cheers,
| > Mr. Mentor
|
| Well let see... I have owned seven laptops since 1984.
|
| 1) Epson Geneva PX-8, CP/M 2.2 ROM based ('84)
| 2) Sharp PC-4501, V20, 640KB, ('89)
| 3) Toshiba T1950CS, 486 20 MHz ('94)
| 4) Toshiba 2595XDVD, Celeron 400MHz, 192MB ('99)
| 5) Toshiba 2595XDVD, Celeron 400MHz, 192MB ('99)
| 6) Gateway MX6124, Celeron 1.5GHz, 1GB ('06)
| 7) Gateway MX6124, Celeron 1.5GHz, 1GB ('06)
|
| All of them I purchased with a warrantee of 90 days or less. And 1,
2,
| 4, 5, and 6 are still working great. Number 3 had taken 5 years to
cook
| itself to death and they didn't design it with a fan and they should
| have. And number 7 I purchased for spare parts off of eBay for $200
and
| it works great except for the lamp, loose DC jack, and the left
shift
| key doesn't usually work. And they only told me about the lamp. LOL
|
| So in 24 years and 7 laptops later, only a warrantee greater than 5
| years would have changed something for me. And that would have only
| helped with one laptop anyway. I seem to recall Consumer Reports say
| something like most laptops needs to be repaired 40% of the time
after
| the first 4 years. Which is really different than with my own
personal
| experience.
|
| --
| Bill
|