You must say what model computer you have. That link is for a 10 year old post about a 2008 computer so it does not apply. You should have reported the dim screen as soon as you got the laptop. It could have been returned or replaced by Dell.

You did the right thing by trying a monitor to check if it is the screen or the computer. It is not easy to replace a laptop screen. Check the service manual for your model to decide whether you would want to attempt it. No guarantee it would work or if the part is even available.

Thanks for the reply, mine is a Inspiron 15 5000 I bought from Costco just over a year ago. The issue with the screen is new, and when I say very dim is almost black, I noticed by chance that pointing light to the screen would let me see something, otherwise, I would tell you it is completely black. 

There are really two separate possibilities.  One is that the screen backlight has failed, and the other is that the power circuit to the backlight has failed. Without a schematic or anther system to use for testing, it's going to be difficult to say which it is.  You can try searching to see if someone has made a schematic available (you'll need the full model number - Inspiron 5559, etc. to search).  

Even with a schematic, you'll still face a couple of problems:

First, replacing a failed component requires a source of parts, and it's becoming increasingly common that parts aren't readily available short of having a board that is dead from other causes having salvageable components on it.  

Second, you'll need access to a hot air SMT rework station to remove and replace the component(s) you identify as faulty.  It's not always possible to identify the faulty components visually, and even if there's visible damage to a component, there's no guarantee other components either aren't affected, or worse, that something else may have caused that failure.  

Because of the labor cost involved, most businesses won't do board-level repairs any longer.  Just a couple of hours of a skilled technician's time can easily wind up with a repair costing more than a mainboard swap.

@ejn63 Thanks very much for your detailed reply, it was very helpful! You are right, plus I just don't have the tools or skills to complete that repair, if I was sure it was the screen itself that would be easy to repair but I don't know and I don't want to waste $200 to Dell to find out the screen wasn't the issue. I decided to buy a new laptop, this time HP, I've never had any issues with HP. This was my first Dell and only lasted a year.

Thanks again!

You may want to up the warranty to 3 years on the new system - the fact of the notebook market is that more than 50% of all notebooks are actually made by just two suppliers - and the other 50% by just a few more manufacturers.  Your new HP may turn out to have been designed, engineered and built by the same company that built your Dell - using components from the same suppliers.