[Vostro 1400] Sudden Pink Screen -> Graphic card not recognize anymore

Hi,

EDIT:/ Not very sure I posted it into the right section, sorry about that. :S

Before telling you what happened today, I'm gonna explain what happened 4 month ago.

My Vostro 1400 felt from a Bag onto the floor (30cm).. At this time, the Backlighting of the screen didn't work. I tried to open to check few connections.. didn't find anything... closed it, and it was working again. (Don't ask me why.)

____

Today, I was working on Photoshop (as you can see) with battery and power. Suddently, my screen turned pink (see picture), and didn't respond. I rebooted it, no more picture (only backlighting).



I tried:
-to Reboot it again and again.
-to Connect an external screen on the VGA, I had a maximum of 4 bit picture (640x480).. I finally could notice that my Graphic card wasn't even recognized ("Plug and Play" instead).
-Shaking the whole computer nervously and it WORKED ! At least untill the welcome screen of Vista (I saw Dell logo and Vista Loading).
-to Open the whole computer, check every connection (especially the one under the keyboard, on the left)



Nothing worked..

My opinion is that my graphic Card has a False Contact because of the fall 4 month Ago. (I can't explain why it suddently disconected while my computer was quietly standing on my table ...)

My question is: Is there anyway I could access to the graphic card (I tried, but didn't find it myself, didn't find any explanation in the Dell documentation neither: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1420/en/SM/index.htm )

Is there any way I can change that card? Or locate the problem?

Thanks for your help.

Dell estimate a 650€ reparation at the first time, I don't think it's gonna be less this time, so I won't even try. (No warranty anymore)

Thanks

 

The graphics are integrated in the Vostro 1400 - both Nvidia and Intel options. Fortunately, a quick search will show replacement motherboards for as low as $249, and they are even cheaper on eBay.

See also: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=165973

 

Hey thanks,

I found out about this :
http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/...ment-to-all-affected-customers-worldwide.aspx
"
Dell will offer a 12-month limited warranty enhancement specific to this issue. For all customers worldwide, we plan to add 12 months of coverage for this issue to the existing limited warranty up to 60 months from the date of purchase for the following systems:

- Dell Precision M2300
- Dell Precision M4300
- Dell Precision M65
- Dell Latitude D620
- Dell Latitude D630
- Dell Latitude D630c
- Dell Latitude D820
- Dell Latitude D830
- Dell Vostro 1310
- Dell Vostro 1400
- Dell Vostro 1510
- Dell Vostro 1710
- Dell XPS M1330
- Dell XPS M1530
"

I called Dell (France), My warranty has expired since 03/09 but, after 15min of waiting, she confirmed me that this warranty extension was still effective. They are taking take of that problem FOR FREE. Hell yea.