HP laptop screen problem (horizontal lines)

[Thimblewad]

Soooo... My parent's have had this laptop for 8 years now. Regularly maintained and taken care of by me (cleaning, thermal paste, new RAM, disk etc.), but a couple of weeks ago, something happened. Horizontal lines appeared over the screen making everything pretty much unreadable. The screen is also way dimmer than before. I am looking for the cheapest way of fixing this (if possible) without replacing the actual screen. Any ideas?

NOTE: The secondary screen (over VGA) works fine, so it's not a GPU problem.

Photos which may help you understand the problem:

 

[Bill_Bright]

You have already done the necessary test - tried an external monitor. So short of replacing the inverter and CCFL (assuming being 8 years old, it has an inverter and CCFL and not LED backlighting), there really is nothing more you can do - except keep an external monitor connected and use it as a desktop.

 

[Thimblewad]

Thank you very much! So, basically, if I tear down the laptop and try to get the inverter out, would it be a good idea to go and try changing the capacitors (or whatever the hell broke) or try finding a new one? I presume not all are made equal.

Also, one more thing: can you see the white line on the 2nd picture? That line of pixels is completely white, a couple of line above that work normaly.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Not sure you need to replace any caps. This could all be an inverter/CCFL problem - especially since the external monitor works fine. Note there are many tutorials on line for replacing the inverter and CCFL. There may even be one for that specific notebook.

or try finding a new one?

Try finding a new what? Notebook? That's up to you but 8 years for any computer is a good life - even better for a notebook.

 

[Thimblewad]

This could all be an inverter/CCFL problem #1
Try finding a new what? Notebook? #2

#1 I'm gone lookin' for it.
#2 Parents already bought one, I was going to use this old piece it as my college laptop.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Frankly, notebook displays are too small for me. Plus, my neck gets tired of looking down at notebook monitors or having to hold my arms and hands up so high if I put the notebook up to eye level. If the computer works fine otherwise, there are many halfway decent 22 or 24" monitors for less than $150. Just a thought.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[darthvader78]

I have a similar condition but my laptop is just 2 year old..