I'm having a similar, but opposite problem with my brand new (4 days) Dim 8300.  My SyncMaster 173T monitor goes black for 1-3 seconds every once in a while.  Then it comes back on as if nothing has happened.  I checked my power settings and changed it from 10 minutes to never go off.  It still happens, just did as I was getting ready to type this.

I upgraded the driver the first night from Dell's site.  Any ideas??

 

I don't have an answer but if you get one could you please post it.  My system is 2 years old and my monitor just started blacking out for a few seconds at a time while I'm working.  It's intermittent so it's hard to identify what is causing it.

I have a brand new 4600 with the same problem. So far, Dell support has been no help. Also my disk access light blinks about every second when nothing is going on. They haven't solved that one either. Could the two be connected??

My monitor shuts off periodically throughout a session. Sometimes the button works to turn it back on, but usually it requires me re-adjusting the monitor before the button works.  Sounds like maybe a "short".

  Do Dell Support personnel acutally read these forums and offer assistance to problems? Or am I just wasting time trying to find answers to problems here?

There are Dell support folks who read these formus, but I get the impression that they only respond to the ones for which they know the answer.  Apparently, they don't know why our monitors black out at random.