Please Help!!! Dropped Laptop / Strange Screen

[andywhitehurst]

Hey all,

A few days ago my Vaio dropped off the side of the bed, a distance of about 6-8 inches, and landed back side down on the floor (ie. the power socket and back of screen were on the carpet). Since then, the bottom two thirds of the screen has been blank...

The backlight of the screen still works, as I can see it turn on when the Vaio is booted up, but no actual picture is displayed. The remaining third of the screen is fine, as is the display when run through an external monitor.

Can anyone shed any light on what the problem may be? Is it a simple case of a wire coming loose somewhere or does it sound like something more major (ie, is a replacement screen needed...)?

I'm sorry the description isn't that clear - I'll try and get some pictures up as soon as I work out how to transfer them from my phone...

Thanks,

Andrew.

[robpaxton]

The problem could be caused by virtually anything - you have been very unlucky as I've dropped notebooks further than that & haven't had any problems.

Unless you are used to taking notebooks apart then I would get the computer looked at by an engineer, notebooks can be difficult to dismantle.

Check your house contents insurance first though - you may find that you are covered for this sort of accident.

[andywhitehurst]

Thanks for the reply Rob.

I'm pretty proficient at dismantling laptops - this one's currently sat on my desk in pieces - but I'm not sure exactly where to look for this problem.

Does anyone have any experience of dealing with Sony with these matters? I'd be loathe to take it to an unofficial repair shop, but then again I'd imagine the Sony service comes at a premium... (it's a good year or so out of warranty).

Thanks,

Andrew.

[kee-lo_]

Check the inverter cable is properly connected

[andywhitehurst]

Cheers for the advice - I'll check it out. I'd imagine a replacement inverter's a fair bit cheaper than a replacement screen, too...

Thanks,

Andrew.

[kee-lo_]

Yeah they're in the £100 region

[andywhitehurst]

It looks like it could well be the inverter, although it appears Sony build the wireless antenna into the lid which makes it pretty tough to disassemble. I haven't managed to ascertain whether it's simply a loose connection or a damaged component yet, although either way it's certainly a better outcome than having to replace either the screen or the graphics card...

Thanks for all the advice guys, you've certainly saved me a lot of time and money

Regards,

Andrew.