700m screen lockup problem

I just got a brand new 700m for about a month now and I seem to be having a weird problem.

WHen the machine sits for a while (30 minutes or more) still plugged into the AC adapter...the screen will go blank and there will just be a few lines illuminted in blue at the top of the LCD.

The screen and keyboard are completely unresponsive and i have to hard power down the system to get it to reboot.

I have reformatted and installed XP Pro. I have installed all the drivers and the intel chipset driver from the intel site.

Any else have this problem? Thanks.

 

That sounds like a hardware issue to me. I think you're going to need to send it in for repair.

 

do you have hibernate / standy / screensaver or anything like enabled (quite possibly you do now, since a reformated XP will default to set stanby values)?

if so, turn all of those options off so that the computer is set to run / stay on / no screensaver. let it run and see if the problem happens again. if so, then there is some issue related to your machine coming out of standy (search forum or google since i seem to recall seeing this problem before).

if you still have the problem after turning all that stuff off, then Brian's probably nailed it, hardware issue.

 

Hi
I have been facing exactly the same problem. Got my 700M a couple of days ago, and noticed this problem first a day ago. Since on one occasion the screen went blank when I was working on it, it cant possibly be a screen saver or powersave mode thats causing the problem. Has anyone figured out whats going on?
Thanks
Shan

 

I'm not sure, but again, it appears to be a hardware problem. Have you tried contacting Dell?

 

I have the same problem.
I got my 700M on 7/28. Call Dell tech support trying to resolve the problem. I even had their field technician visit my home to replace the LCD and monther board. As soon as techician left, the problem, screen lock up, happened again.
Then, Dell sent me a replacement on 8/23. Open th box and let the pc run. Guess what? Screen lock up in 10 min.

So, I can tell the 700m model made recently definitely has the problem.

so, my next step is that I want the refund from Dell.

I give up on this 700m model.

 

I did call Dell today. They asked me to reinstall the video driver, after downloading it from their website. Did that. Few minutes later, it went blank again. I restarted and connected the 700m to my external monitor and left it on for a long while. Nothing went wrong. So its seemed as though the 700m lcd is at fault. But then again, I have been using the laptop for the last 3 hours with no problem, so I cant figure out whats going on.

I do however personally know three 700m users and none of them have complained of this problem, and they are all very satisfied with its overall perfomrance. So I would still give them the benefit of doubt and hope this gets sorted out soon.

 

Ok, now I am certain about this being an LCD problem.

This is atleast the fifth time the LCD has gone blank, with precisely the symptoms that gizmodo described. I have observed that its going blank is independent of
1. Being connected to the A/C power, as it happened when on battery as well as when on A/C power
2. Being in the idle state, as it once went blank when I was working on it.
3. The video driver, as I installed the new driver they asked me to, and it happened both before and after that installation

Further, last night, I connected my external flat screen monitor to the 700m and switched the display to CRT, and left the system running overnight. There was no problem, no blank screen.

I am now pretty sure that it is an LCD problem. I hope as hell that Dell accepts this fact and sends me a new system. I am very skeptical about such hardware issues being conclusively corrected.

If anyone has had this problem, and gotten it solved, please let me know.

 

THIS SCREEN LOCK UP IS VERY ANNOYING.

I've tried everything possible, downloading almost everything the technicians could think of, and running all the tests over and over, but this screen lock up continues.

Everyone who has this problem should keep calling Dell and bother them about it. There is probably a problem with all those who recently purchased the 700m, I as well. Maybe then Dell will finally admit there is a problem and actually fix it. I've talked to more than 20 technicians and most of them say it is a software problem. But then they will trasnfer you to a software person and they will tell you to pay $99 or $249 to TRY to get it fixed.

I have 2 700m's right now. I basically had 3 new laptops having a technician replace my motherboard and lcd. I am going to ask for another one and see if the screen locks up again with my 3rd 700m.

 

Hi People, try turning your screensaver off and see if the problem remains. According to members of the Dell Forum, turning off the screensaver seems to solve this problem. I have the same problem with my two weeks old brand new Dell 700m and this is what I am going to try.

Apparently the problem occurs when the screen saver starts while the system is trying to go in to stand-by or hibernate mode.

Good luck to everyone including myself. Dell support was NO HELP at all!

 

Have a look at
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_video&message.id=139632
Turning off screensaver still doesnt solve the problem. Just reduces its frequency.

 

finally I have dell's refund by sending a letter to their headquarter. I give up on dell 700m and looking for others instead.

 

It just happened to me again. Was browsing the Internet and than let the laptop idle for about 5 minutes. Don't have screen saver turned on. And the flashing screen lockup came back! Erk!!! What can I say?!