Screen problem with PCG-GRT915M

[daveyryan]

Hi.

Someone bought me a Vaio PCG-GRT915M some time back. All's been well until recently, when it started playing up when I turned it on.

What happens is that when I switch it on, all I get is a grey screen with black lines across it horizontally. Usually, after a lot of turning off and turning back on again, it will eventually boot as normal. I reinstalled it completly (with XP Home), reset the BIOS defaults, tried it plugged into the mains and running on battery, but no joy. I fear it's something nasty like a problem with the screen or the graphics card, but wondered if anyone else had any ideas that would avoid a possible costly repair bill ...

Thanks!

[carthorian]

Have you tried restoring it to factory defaults, or a clean install from yourself? Have you installed the latest (and correct) drivers from vaio website?

[daveyryan]

Have you tried restoring it to factory defaults, or a clean install from yourself? Have you installed the latest (and correct) drivers from vaio website?

Yes - completely reinstalled the notebook with the disc supplied to as it was when I first got it, and updated appropriate drivers. Couldn't see any bios updates, though ...

[kee-lo_]

You probably need a new inverter board. It's not going to be cheap

[daveyryan]

You probably need a new inverter board.  It's not going to be cheap

Thanks for the message. Is it possible to either get an inverter board from a high street shop and install it myself, or take it in for repair, or would it have to go back to Sony?

When you say "It's not going to be cheap", is it even worth doing?!

Thanks

[kee-lo_]

I don't think you'd be able to buy it from any high street shop, if you're not 100% confident it's best to get a professional to do it.

I'd imagine that would be around £300

[rich912]

The inverter unit for your model is available from Nexttronics and depending in the screen you have will cost between $70 and $100 plus shipping.

Have a look
here.

[kee-lo_]

Not as scary as I thought

[daveyryan]

The inverter unit for your model is available from Nexttronics and depending in the screen you have will cost between $70 and $100 plus shipping.

Have a look 
here.

Thanks for that. However, the diagrams look a bit scary. I've had some experience repairing desktops, but me thinks that trying to repair this with so many little bits and pieces flying around will end in disaster 😞

Any ideas of a decent place in the south west of England (I live in Bristol) that could sort this out?

Many thanks

[rich912]

Try these people, they should be able to give you a quote by phone or email.