So, the screen on my MS1057 (S262) appears to have spontaneously died.

The Symptoms: When powered on, the screen does not display anything. After checking in a dark room it appears the backlight doesn't work either. The problem first appeared a few days ago, after I had shut down the laptop after a few continuous days of running it. When I booted up, the screen decided to not display anything.

As far as I can tell the rest of the computer still works, for when I plugged in an external VGA monitor what should have been on the screen displayed on the monitor, so this seems to be an issue isolated to the screen itself, or something of that nature.

Possible Causes: The last time I took apart this laptop was when I first assembled it, so there's been no messing about with internal junk. I tend to run Folding@Home continuously on this machine, so that obviously heats it up considerably, but I do make certain that the fan intakes/outflows are unblocked, and the CPU temperature levels off around 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Maybe running the machine continuously screwed something up? I don't know.

Failed Solutions: I called MSI's tech support, but upon my reading the serial number the techie deduced that my laptop was a barebones model, so MSI's standard 1-year manufacturer's warranty can't come into play. My reseller was buy.com, and their only cover is for returns/replacements for the first 30 days, or something like that, so they can't help me. Additionally, they tell me to go to the manufacturer for warranty issues, and multiple calls to MSI have all resulted in a bust.

So, what are my options at this point?

 

Look very carefully at the screen from different angles when the computer is running, with and without the aid of a bright light. Can you see a feint copy of whatever is on the display (it will help to have something with big contrasts)? If you can see something then it means the backlight is not working and, most likely, it is the inverter (which produces the voltage needed for the backlight) has died.

John

 

Are you in the USA?

Was it purchased within a year?

If both are yes follow this link and fill in "all" the information, in the tech support case # put notebook review so i know it's you. Once i receive it i will setup an rma with msi for you, when i receive the paperwork i will foward it to you.

http://www.rkcomputer.net/rma_form.htm

 

I'll try this as soon as I get a chance.

I'll fill that out. Thanks for the help.

 

Well, I checked multiple times in a variety of different lighting levels and all I see is black. The screen appears to not be displaying anything at all and the backlight also seems to be out of commission.

At the next opportunity I'm going to try reopening up the sucker so I can see if perhaps a wire has come loose or something has been jostled the wrong way.


Was it purchased within a year?
And here is my second dilemma. I dusted off my old Buy.com account to check when I purchased this laptop, and it turns out that I'm about a month too late. I bought the barebones shell in late May of 2006, and now it's July of 2007. So, I'm afraid I've passed the 1-year limit.

 

For anyone reading this thread in the future, I had a similar problem with the same model laptop. I opened up the laptop and unplugged the monitor cable and plugged it back in and haven't had any problems since, hope it helps.