When I turn on my Sony Laptop the display will turn on but will have horizontal lines and looks scambled (so I cant actually read anything on the screen) This used to happen 1 in every 20 boots but now is a lot more frequent - 2 in 3 boots. If I apply a fair bit of pressure to the back of the screen the it will come good but as soon as I let go it goes all scrambled again. I am able to hook up the laptop to an external screen so I know the video card is alright. I suspect that it may be a loose wire between the screen and the motherboard. I took my laptop to a family friend who is an electrician and he said that I would need a new motherboard. Im not sure if his diagnoses is correct as the screen does work fine now and again and I can use it on an external screen with no problems. I guess its possible the connection to the screen on the motherboard is damaged thus the suggestion for the new motherboard. He said it would cost 295 for a new motherboard and 50 for labour. I would appreciate any suggestions or thoughts.

Ok the electrician is wrong. The mb is under the kb not behind the screen. There is a ribbon cable that runs from the mb to the lcd. On the back of the lcd there's a connector for the ribbon cable. Ill bet you have a loose solder joint on the connector. Fixing this will require removing the backpanel from the lcd. Taking it into a shop will cost $100 to $200 maybe a little more. WinXp Amd 64 3000 Msi Neo2 Platinuim 1 gig ddr 400. When we cast a pebble into a pond we should look past the first ripple.