and it's a laptop u say? and the vertical lines are multi-coloured? I'm sorry to say but it sounds like either the display connection to the motherboard is loose, the graphics chipset on the motherboard is frazzed, or the motherboard in the laptop is bent/cracked, the last being what I suspect the most from ur description of no keyboard input. I've seen this a few times before, if u actually tend to use laptops on yer lap; which sort of defeats the object really, don't it? in these situations there's no quick fix, and you can't do it yourself. Professional repair I'm afraid, I hope it's still under warranty, otherwise it will be expensive. The last time i did one of these it was hardly any cheaper than getting a new laptop. Sorry, no good news today.

btw switching it on and off repeatedly may well result in the occasional successful boot, these are usually intermittent problems getting gradually worse, but u will screw ur Windows installation up to the point that even if the hardware gets fixed u'll have trashed Windows (or she will) Get it down to the repair shop straight away and see what it's gonna cost.

if she gets really stuck for repair if it ain't under warranty, as ur in the UK I believe, u can post it to me recorded and I'll do it as a favour, cost of parts only, but even so it will still be pricey, i would reckon. I'm in Stoke-on-Trent, where is the laptop?



Edited by - Tawakalna on 30-11-2003 14:10:34

Thanks for the info, however depressing. Thank you very much for the kind offer (it's in Southampton at the moment) but it is still under warranty It was only bought about 3 months ago! And it's only been used on a desk... ho hum.

Cheers

Nick

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sorry I can't offer any quick help. It will still be under warranty if it's new, probably return-to-base. if repair is not possible ur end, my brother-in-law (the reliable one!) works in Eastleigh, if it can be got to him, he will bring it up to me next time he visits, which will be just before Xmas. If it is mobo, as I suspect, ur looking at several hundred pounds just to get the part. Laptops are expensive to repair

I hope it's not a Dell. Cause if it is...she'll have a hell of a time to try and send it away.

Life: No one gets out alive.

that's SO true. God help anyone who buys a D(h)ell, they are the work of Satan.

Wild wild wild way out there soft solution..... Be more kind and gentle to your laptop.

Some people, believe it or not, actually grap the screen panel to lift the laptop up, when opened to reposition it. This is, well, not good for the thing as you can well imagine.

What this does, often, is loosen up the connectors (and can break things too, like the MB and such, I guess). When you unplug and wait, you usually end up closing up the laptop as well. This sometimes CAN restore the physical connections but what you'll have, in the end is a mechanically worn/broken laptop.

Solution. Tell the young lady to be more careful with her laptop but also point out to her that she's probably gotten the thing going downhill already.

I've also seen people use them as bookends, steps, coasters and dinner trays

Mine hasn't moved in nearly a year. It's grown roots (speaker cable, DSL cable, Mouse/keyboard cable, power, you get the picture) in my desk. I suspect it will have to be dusted eventualy.

Dell is bad? Sory to sound noobish, but I have a few friends who like Dell PC's a good bit. If it's just thier laptops, than yes. They s*ck.

You might want to tell your friend to start backing things up sounds like to me

my dislike of Dell is the same as my dislike of Compaq and all other pre-assembled POS that has a corporate brand on it. Great new, look lovely inside and out, but usually very difficult to work on and if anything goes seriously wrong, difficult to repair/replace parts. The big firms are of course expecting u to get shot of the thing after a couple of yrs anyway. Often u can't even upgrade them. u buy as is and it stays that way until u replace the thing. And like many of the big corporates who flood the market with these things, the after-sales service is awful, often if u don't have the rip-off xtd warranty u'll be stonewalled for decent service. Laptops are a different matter because there's little in the way of serviceable parts, but u still come up against the same obstructive service. I would never buy a branded PC and I can't say I like laptops very much either, they're more style than substance. all shiny silver and flashing lights, pah, what rubbish! it's what's inside that counts.

I hate dell because when I call them too fix my comp, it takes FOREVER to get though to them that all I want is for them to return to depot so they can fix it.

Once I sent it, when I got it back, the prob had not been fixed. It took me 3-5 months to finaly get them to send it back.

Life: No one gets out alive.

Good news then, it's not a dell

She'll be taking it to the place she got it from in a couple of weeks after the end of term. I'd already told her to save anything she wanted to keep in 'cold storage'.

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That's funny cause Dell have a great reputation for speedy repairs in Australia. They must just suck everywhere else.

My current PC is a Dell. As I already have swapped out the video card and upgraded the proc, I have been in violation of my warranty agreement. It is 3.5 years old now and chugs along at only 1.9ghz. It's an old 423 pin socket P4 so you've got an idea of what it can't do. I cannot overclock the board as Dell, like Compaq and others, locks up the bus clock. But I am not a fan of overclocking so it's not really a loss for me.

So far so good on the working parts, though. So I cannot agree with those that say Dell is no good. To me, it really depends more on how much work "under the hood" you intend to do.

Umm. Yeah, the help desk leaves a lot to be desired but that goes with the territory. I cannot think of a major PC maker whose helpdesk is really there when you need them.

Would I buy another one? Maybe. Probably not. But that's because I have new and different dreams for my next machine.