I have an older IBM Thinkpad T21, and it's LCD screen is developing colored/white horizontal lines across the screen. I imagine that the problem here is a loose wire since when I put pressure on the left side of the screen, the lines disappear and the screen is back to normal. However, when I release pressure on the screen, the lines slowly reappear. My question to you folks is, is there a permanent solution to this, or will I have to buy a new screen (I'm kind of low on the dough, so a self-repair technique would be preferred)? Any help would be aprreciated. Thanks!

If the problem is caused by wear and tear on the wiring (it's often where it passes through the hinge), repairing or replacing the wiring between the base of the computer and the display will cure your problem. However, if the laptop has ever been dropped, all bets are off, and you may have to replace the whole LCD display. Search for parts for your laptop on the web. Some older models have refurbished displays available at much less than the price of a new one - the backlight (CCFL) has been replaced - the LCD liquid crystals themselves do not wear out, so if the circuits within it are okay it's a good buy. Search using the laptop model number, or look up the part number for the display on the IBM site and use that to search with.

It would be unlikely that you could repair it since you asked the question. Unless you are very qualified on repair techniques then I'd suggest that you don't even attempt a repair. Consider a cheap external lcd display or old crt. There is a driver on the side of the display that is used a number of times to draw the display. If the lines are some equal distance then it could be that portion of the display. I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you goober.

Thanks for the help! I may take a look at the side of the display to see if any loose wires are visible. The lines now have formed one large line (they are all right next to each other, so I'll take a look on the side of the display where these lines form. I most likely will have to buy a new screen from ebay (not from IBM, I'm not paying $429 for a new screen, when I can get a new one for around $100 on ebay.

Don't buy a used display that the backlight (CCFL) has not been replaced in. Backlights have a finite life - the bulb is cheap but they are finicky to replace yourself.