Dropped my T30

[jamman]

Was going through the airport security last week, and the guy behind me knocked my T30 off the table. Later, when I tried to power up...screen shows some white at the bottom, which slowly spreads in splotches up across the unlit portion of the LC to finally the entire screen becomes white.

The computer can output correct video to an external monitor.

I took the LCD out of the frame and looked at the video cable/invertor cables, etc. I can't see any problems there.

I removed the Keyboard but wasnt certain whether to try removing the fan, as it was, I wasn't certain where the video card was, or if there was anypoint in looking at it.

Also, no sound is coming from the machine/headphone jacks.

I bought this machine last summer for 400/bucks on ebay. I've replaced the harddrive, added a G wireless card (and did the BIOS fix), and replaced the two 256K simms with 500K simms (but have a folded postcard wedged in place to get the front memory stick to work!

Is it worth investing more to replace the screen or should I bail on this one?

Is it possible it's just a connection on the motherboard/video card?
Any advice as to what I might be able to check for myself?

Thanks for any advice!

[agarza]

Sounds like a combination of motherboard failure with something on your LCD. I think is not worth to fix the machine, you're better off buying a used T4x laptop which is more faster than the Pentium 4 your T30 had. I'd go with a T41p or a T42p like the one in my sig.

Good luck

[pianowizard]

Was going through the airport security last week, and the guy behind me knocked my T30 off the table.

That totally sucks! Did you get any compensation from that idiot?

[Stargate199]

It may be possible that the LCD itself is damaged beyond repair. If you can get a hold of another LCD, see if that works. Not quite sure what to do about the broken headphone jack and speakers. IT may just be possible that a cable became loose or something like that. That totally sucks what happened to your machine. Replacing the motherboard and LCD would be cheaper than buying a new machine, but then it would give you an excuse to upgrade to something newer.

[truk]

I have to agree with stargate199. I have an almost identical machine (obtained the same way, same upgrades, just no memory problem) and I've had it apart several times (not particular reason usually, just bored). The video card is situated underneath the touchpoint on the keyboard, and can't be removed. The video connector are above, beside the fan. DO NOT REMOVE THE FAN (they can be a pain). You almost definitely need to replace the screen (possibly the inverter, but sounds like screen.)

You also should check the speaker connectors under the touchpad. You can get USB audio for about $20 if you can't get the sound going. You may want to make sure the "mute" button i not stuck down. I bought this for a friend laptop: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6829126101

I hate to have to buy a new laptop. If you DO decide to replace it, sell it, as people buy and repair laptop problems all the time (check ebay.)