[alphamale303]

Gateway 1450 solo, 14.5 display. Wife using it and screen went almost completely black. Can see the images if you look closely. Someone suggested it may be a backlight or inverter? Wondering about replacing or checking it myself and an idea of what cost may be involved or should i leave it for a professional.

Thanks,
alpha

[mkk]

Yeah the backlight lamp(s) would be the first suspect. No warranty left? I doubt it's easy to get in there and if you're unlucky it could be something else than the lights themselves.

[alphamale303]

no warranty, is it an easy fix?

[The_Neon_Cowboy]

no cheap might be looking at mabe $100-200 , you might be able to do it your self
with a web guide depending how savy you are. I know (I could do it) most likely is just
the back light, But as mkk says it could be something worse and you ging to have to
intest quite a bit of time an money to find out. Unless there is a shop nearby that might
be able to test.


You might do somthing like find a guide then pick a couple up off ebay for cheap on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gateway-Solo-145...QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/LCD-Display-for-...QQcmdZViewItem

As new prices are probubly scray in compairsion

[niceguyrichy]

replacing your lappy screen is really not that difficult
hell, I can do it

just go google yourself a guide, pick up a cheap screen off ebay like neon suggested, and make sure to watch out for static , it's a killer.

[swimtech]

In my experience, the failures have occurred more often with the display itself - 10 to 1. Replacing the screen as a unit would be my advice - it really is easy. Never dismantled the LCD panel itself to replace backlights (sourcing the tubes?) but it looks to be quite a job...

If you decide to do this, I'll see what I can do to get the manual for you from Gateway if you need it - lemme know...

Edit: moved to Laptop and Notebook General and Technical forum...