Im interested in getting a PC Laptop Motherboard Diagnostic Debug Card, such as this (pic used as an example): http://www1.dealextreme.com/product... Im wondering if these kind of things work ok as I have a laptop that just boots to blank then shut down after a few seconds. And it could be useful in pc's that I often fixup. Many thanks. Bill

They can be useful providing you can get the necessary information that allows you to interpret what is happening. The LED will outpost various codes as the BIOS goes through the POST and initialisation. The code it stops on will give you an indication as to which part of the process it failed on. You need to be able to get the codes from the motherboard manufacture for your particular motherboard. I don't think the one that is in the image will fit a laptop though. It looks as if it is designed for a PCI bus. Stuart

Thanks for the info. I might hunt on ebay for one. The pic was just as a reference, but it can be used for a laptop thru the parallel port connection. Thanks Bill

Is there any benefit to have more than 2 digits on the card? There seems to be some that have 4, 6 or 8 digits. Bill