This a.m. dell laptop screen very dark. Flickers brighter once or twice, but then stays dark. Can just barely make out what's on scrren. Tried the lightener button on keyboard, but didn't help. Any suggestions? Thanks, vandal67

Have you dropped it latley? Best case senerio: the connection between the MB & the screen is loose or the cable is bad. If that is not the case my best suggestion is don't buy another Dell. God gave us beer so we would know he loves us. Ben Franklin

A laptop screen that turns dark means the backlight inverter is dying or has died. Have a local repair shop that you trust check it out. You didn't mention how old the laptop is but the average lifespan of inverters are about four years. BTW ... Sabbas wrote my best suggestion is don't buy another Dell. What do you recommend and why. i_Xp/VistaUser

For some info about replacing a voltage inverter or backlight, and what some typical symptoms are, see response 5 in this: http://www.computing.net/hardware/w...

vandal67, To begin with, I consider myself a computer hobbiest. XpUser is a pro, I trust his judgement over my own and suggest you do the same. Take the machine to a repair shop you trust and please let us know the results. XpUser, I concede I am bias. I despise the firmware that Dell imbeds in their products and consider it the equivilent to M$ WGA. However, I also concede that their mobil products (I own one) are superior to their desktop products. But, I find Toshiba, Acer, and Gateway (I own one) to be much more foregiving, to manipulation, OS swapping (Vista to XP/Linux, etc. etc.) than a Dell. Furthermore, the price of Dell's replacement parts is cost preventive. For the price of a replacement mobo you can just about pay for a Gateway. God gave us beer so we would know he loves us. Ben Franklin