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October 22nd, 2009 09:00

Inspiron E1705 Video/LCD Panel Dell can't seem to fix

I purchased this computer in August of 2006 and thought it was a great laptop until August of 2008. In Aug. 2008 I was using my computer and the screen all of a sudden went blank. I called Dell support and they sent out a technician to replace the motherboard and that didn't work. A couple of days later the technician came by again and replaced the LCD panel and that did work, for a little while (a few days). I had to send in my computer to Dell support and they concluded that the video card was broke. They replaced the video card and I had a functioning computer for about 4 months and then the same problems started happening again. The screen would go blank a few seconds after the computer was turned on. The technician came out again and replaced the motherboard and everything was fine, for a short while AGAIN (couple of weeks). By this time I was fed up and thought to hell with this computer and Dell but I was still under warranty. Then this summer I made a third attempt to utilize Dell's technical support. The technician came out again and replaced the motherboard, video card, and LCD panel. The funny part was when he replace the LCD panel the replacement didn't work but the original did so we stuck with the original. The fixes from this third runaround with Dell support was in May-June 2009 and guess what...my screen doesn't work AGAIN!!!!!! This time when you load up the computer there are vertical lines across the initial Dell screen and the Window's XP load up screen. When the desktop tries to load up you see a little flash on the screen and then it goes blank. I have tried to load up the screen in safe mode and that does work. I have the latest BIOS, the battery and power supply are fine (they haven't got much use over the last year), and I've taken care of this computer. This is an example of a faulty computer with poor technical support to fix it. I still have my warranty until August 2010, but I'm afraid that Dell is going to keep putting junk into my system and not fixing the problem. When next August comes around I will still have a broken PC but I will have to pay someone else to fix it.  Does anyone on this forum have a solution for me before I contact Dell support again.  I will reinstall the video driver but I've consistently had similar problems with this computer and I doubt it will make a difference.  If it's the inverter or the back light I'd expect Dell support would know that from the symptoms I've given them but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't.

 

 

13 Posts

October 22nd, 2009 10:00

about one month. but it's the same exact problem, nothing diffrent

 

13 Posts

October 22nd, 2009 10:00

yes, since i have everything backed up,

i'm just going to reformat my hard drive.

i've already done a pc diagnastic and all the hardware is ok , the only thing it came back with was unable to read video memory, and thats a software issuse.

what do you think?

October 22nd, 2009 10:00

What do you mean by "reboot"?  Are you going to get a new one or do you mean you're going to try and reformat your hard drive? What do you mean? 

October 22nd, 2009 10:00

Have you tried using Dell Technical Support? 

13 Posts

October 22nd, 2009 10:00

It's funny, becuase i have the same laptop, and about the same exact thing is happening. i'm thinking on just rebooting my laptop,

 

13 Posts

October 22nd, 2009 10:00

what video card do you have?

I've got the Geforce Go 7900 GS

October 22nd, 2009 10:00

Maybe the video driver needs to be reinstalled.  I wish it was that easy for me but doubt that will solve this problem.  How long have you had problems with your computer?

13 Posts

October 22nd, 2009 11:00

i'm reinstalling the drivers right now

Dell told me that the new E1705 is the 9500

13 Posts

October 22nd, 2009 11:00

they are'nt much help, i payed 40 bucks and got nothing,

October 22nd, 2009 11:00

I don't know what the video card is off the top of my head.  I'll have to look when I get home tonight.  At least you didn't buy a $400 extended warranty like I did.  I subscribed to a forum on notebookreview.com and a guy told me that they try to replace parts on the E1705 with parts from the Studio models.  I think there is a 1700 series Studio Dell Laptop and it's kind of the next generation of the E1705.  Maybe there is a driver update for the 1700 series laptops that would be adequate for the E1705.  It's just a hunch.

October 22nd, 2009 12:00

you sure you don't mean 9400?

13 Posts

October 22nd, 2009 12:00

yea thats it

October 22nd, 2009 13:00

The lines do appear when I hook up the laptop to an external display.  How can I have a bad video card when Dell just replaced it in May?

13 Posts

October 22nd, 2009 13:00

thanks for the input,,, i'm going to try that if my reformat doesnt work

October 22nd, 2009 13:00

Hello,

Have you tried attaching an external display to your Inspiron 9400?  Use FN+F8 to switch between the laptops LCD and an external display.  If the distorted lines appear on an external display as well, this is a video card issue.  If not, the issue is with the laptop LCD.

Regards,

 

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