T41p LCD problems - inverter, backlight or new LCD

[psyheah]

The 14.1" SXGA+ LCD on my T41p has been on the fritz for some time. I have been using it connected to an external monitor for 5 months now.

Just for fun, I tried pressing Fn-F7 and to my great surprise, the LCD of the T41p came on, after a fashion.

The LCD started with a reddish/pinkish hue, then it ran properly for about 30-45 seconds, then it goes completely dark again. Pressing Fn-F3 a couple of times brings the LCD back again, but only for another 30-45 seconds. When the LCD goes dark, I can still make out that the LCD still images on it.

Does this mean:

1. My inverter needs replacing
2. My backlight needs replacing, or
3. My whole LCD needs replacing?

Thank you for any advice you can give me on this vexing matter.

[wearetheborg]

Backlight is dying. It needs to be replaced. Its a very delicate procedure, most people recommend replacinig the entire lid asembly.
Meanwhile, use the LCD at its lowest brightness level. That prolongs the time its on.

[psyheah]

I have tried to lower the brightness to its lowest settings using Fn-End, but now the LCD screen only stays on for about 20 seconds before going black.

Now the LCD screen stays pink throughout the 20 seconds it stays on, whereas before this, the pink tinge would actually go away, and the screen stay on for 40 seconds.

I guess it must be the end of the road for the backlight?

[Robbyrobot]

I guess it must be the end of the road for the backlight?

Looks that way. Depending on your skills and interest, you could try replacing the CCFL (backlight tube) since you hardly have anything to lose. But it is often not a simple job - the main problem appears to be the fragility of the CCFL and the difficulty of getting to it in the LCD panel - and for many the effort is simply too great. The alternative, however, is a good deal more expensive: a new LCD panel.

[GomJabbar]

I recently bought a T42 14.1" XGA display lid complete on ebay for $117 shipped. Of course this is a used one pulled from another T42, but it works fine. IMO, replacing the entire lid is the easiest option.

[psyheah]

Thanks for your input gentlemen.

I restarted the system about 40 minutes ago, and to my surprise, the LCD stayed on for a full 20 minutes (albeit at the lowest brightness level) before going black again!

There was a distinct pinkish tinge when I raised the brightness level to maximum using Fn-Home.

I doubt I will be able to handle the replacement of the CCFL backlight myself, so I will bring it to a computer repair shop with specific instructions just to replace the backlight.

Can I be fairly certain that it is the backlight that needs replacing? The technician at the repair shop is saying that it may be more than just the backlight, no doubts in hopes of padding the repair cost.

As for buying a replacement 14.1" SXGA+ off eBay, I have not been able to find any reasonably priced 14.1" SXGA+ LCD's. The only one I found is offerred at $250!

[wearetheborg]

Yes, you can be fairly certain that its the backlight that needs replacing.


How much is the repair shop asking to replace the backlight ?

Another option is to sell the T41P, and upgrade to a newer laptop (a T42/43 perhaps ?)

[psyheah]

I won't know how much the backlight replacement will cost until I bring it in to the shop tomorrow. Hopefully, they won't try to gouge me too heavily.

I am planning to replace my T41p with a newer model either from Lenovo (T61p) or HP (8710w), but I would like to keep a fully functioning T41p as a backup, and for travel.

I might even upgrade the 1.7 cpu to a 2.1ghz 765 Dothan, the 60gb 7200rpm hard disk to 100gb 7200rpm, and the RAM from 1gb to 2gb just for the hell of it.

If only I can get the LCD working properly again.

[wearetheborg]

If you're thinking about so many upgrades, why not just get a used T42/T43, and sell the T41P for parts ?

[psyheah]

I kind of lost track of the changes/upgrades going from the T41 to the T42/43 series.

What would I get by buying a T43 to replace my T41p?

[pianowizard]

What would I get by buying a T43 to replace my T41p?

You would get a much louder fan and possibly a 2010 hard drive error.

[psyheah]

You would get a much louder fan and possibly a 2010 hard drive error.

That doesn't sound like much fun.

[pianowizard]

That doesn't sound like much fun.

Of course not. You'd be better off upgrading to a T42 or T60. Both are superb machines, though the T60 is slightly better.

[wearetheborg]

You would get a much louder fan and possibly a 2010 hard drive error.

That doesn't sound like much fun.

I believe many people are quite happy with the T43s. Bill considers it to bt the best of the T4x lot.

-T43 motherboard uses a 533Mhz FSB (as compared to a 400Mhz T42),
-This I believe allows overclocking the dothans - a 1.7Ghz dothan can be made to run at 2.2Ghz !! There are guides to do this (pinmod) on this forum. I belive this wont work with a T42 motherboard.
-T43 uses DDR2 ram - much cheaper than DDR1.
-Finally, since the T43 is a newer machine, better chance of finding one with warranty.

[psyheah]

I believe many people are quite happy with the T43s. Bill considers it to bt the best of the T4x lot.

-T43 motherboard uses a 533Mhz FSB (as compared to a 400Mhz T42),
-This I believe allows overclocking the dothans - a 1.7Ghz dothan can be made to run at 2.2Ghz !! There are guides to do this (pinmod) on this forum. I belive this wont work with a T42 motherboard.
-T43 uses DDR2 ram - much cheaper than DDR1.
-Finally, since the T43 is a newer machine, better chance of finding one with warranty.

You make a good case for considering the T43's. A couple more questions if you don't mind:

1. Is the fan on the T43 much louder than on the previous T4x's?
2. Is it worth paying the premium for a T43p?
3. Is it difficult to upgrade the hard disk to 100gb 7200rpm? Most of the T43p's I have seen only come with 60gb drives.
4. Is pinmodding difficult?

Thanks.

[wearetheborg]

[

You make a good case for considering the T43's. A couple more questions if you don't mind:

1. Is the fan on the T43 much louder than on the previous T4x's?
2. Is it worth paying the premium for a T43p?
3. Is it difficult to upgrade the hard disk to 100gb 7200rpm? Most of the T43p's I have seen only come with 60gb drives.
4. Is pinmodding difficult?

Thanks.

I'll let others answer 1 & 3 (or better yet, you can do a search - these are common issues).
2. If its not going to be a gaming machine, then a 14" T43P premium is not worth it. However, 15" T43P comes with a super duper UXGA Flexview screen, and if you like nice screens, the premium is worth it.
Actually 15" SXGA+ T43's also come with a flexview screen, so it may be worthwhile to stick to T43.
4. No - its fairly simple, see eg:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=452126

WRT the hard drive - may I suggest sticking to the stock HDD, and using an external HDD for additional space ? Since this will not be your primary machine, you may not need to have access to all the data on the laptop. You will then also be able to shar data between the primary and the secondary laptop with ease. Also, it will be much cheaper - you can use 400-500GB desktop drives in the external HDD.

I've been using the external HDD setup for years.

[GomJabbar]

I had seen the following site for backlight replacement, and I have posted links to them previously. I see they have changed their pricing and service since I was last at the site. You can send in just the reflector and have them replace the backlight in it. I am not sure if this is a good idea or not. It is better than doing the entire job yourself, but there is still some risk involved. They also will replace the backlight in a laptop screen for a better price than they had posted previously. I personally have not used this service. I only know of them through some online searches I did awhile back.

http://www.moniserv.com/doc/inverterrepair.html

[IBMbuilder]

Singapore? way too far. I could do it for $35 here in the US. It won't be too hard to replace the back lite lamp. I have done it at least 20 time. The hardest thing is to get no white spot on the bottom of the screen, a good job is to get the Light to be uniform across the bottom.

[psyheah]

Singapore? way too far. I could do it for $35 here in the US. It won't be too hard to replace the back lite lamp. I have done it at least 20 time. The hardest thing is to get no white spot on the bottom of the screen, a good job is to get the Light to be uniform across the bottom.

Yes, it takes 17 hours on a non stop flight to LA. Then 3 hours in immigration.

Getting a backlight replaced in Singapore is like pulling teeth. The repair shops here would rather replace everything they can, ie inverter, lcd cable, lcd screen, mobo, gpu, so they can charge as much as possible on the basis that the customer doesn't know what's going on anyway. They hate it when I tell them it's only the backlight that needs to be replaced.

Frustrating as hell!