T61 Dim LCD Screen problem

[nav3326]

Hi All

I have a ThinkPad T61 which I have been using for last five years. It has 14.1" WXGA screen. Model is 7658-CTO.

Recently, the screen started flickering for couple of days and then went too dark to read with naked eye. Laptop works perfectly fine with external monitor.

I changed the Inverter Card myself but the problem still persists. Based on the search I did on the internet it seems like either the backlight is a problem or potentially mother board is faulty.

Also, the "power-on indicator" on the LCD bezel is OFF (even with new Inverter Card) when I connect it to the external power. However, this indicator was dead since several months as opposed to the LCD Dim Screen which happened last week. All other indicators like wireless, bluetooth, battery, cps lock, num lock etc. work fine.

I wonder if the "power-on indicator problem" and "LCD Dim Screen" are somehow connected to some mother-board problem.

I took my laptop to the repair shop in town and without even switching the laptop ON, they told me that the backlight screen ($150) needs to be replaced (labor $130; total $280), which sounds overly expensive.

Anyways, I am wondering if anybody has had similar problems and/or experience with fixing such issues.

I appreciate any help in this regard.

Thank You