Colourful/black thick line down centre of screen please help!

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SayApple

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Jun 23, 2013
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10,510
A while ago I started to get flickering lines down the middle of my screen, but I was still able to see what was behind it. That only lasted 2-3 hours or so and didn't happen often. I don't recall doing any sort of physical damage to the laptop either. However, today I started seeing a thick vertical colourful bar down the middle of my screen in the exact same place. I decided I should just try letting it sit for a while. When that failed, I restarted it. That failed to. I turned it off and waited, which also failed. Closing the laptop causes it to turn to black, as does CTRL+ALT+DELETE. I looked it up on Google and learned it could've been two issues, with either my monitor being the issue, or my graphics card. I don't want to shell out the money to find out which it is, and I don't have another monitor to test it out. I also have a picture of it, if that helps.
http://i.imgur.com/66bkzbo.jpg
Someone please help, as this is really beginning to stress me out and it is impossible to see anything past it.
 
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ShadeTreeTech

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Jun 23, 2011
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When you were playing a game on the laptop did it crash? I'm guessing no. That would mean it's probably not the video card. The most common failures of this type are a bad or loose LVDS cable. This is the cable that runs from the video card, up to the display on laptops. The cable is either failed (kinked, creased, or broken), or has come loose from either the videocard or the display panel. Is your Alienware still under warranty? If it is, YAY! Dell is awesome about getting Alienwares fixed, and fixed quickly. If it isn't under warranty, boo! You have to disassemble the laptop and reseat the LVDS cable on the mobo, and then test. If still no go, reseat on the display panel side. If still no go, replace the cable. Last but thankfully least of all, if it STILL won't go, replace the defective panel.

Replacement LVDS cable from Dell, probabably $30-80. Replacement panel, probably $350+ (more like 500+ for an Alienware panel). If you have disassembled laptops before, probably 1hr per stage. If you never have disassembled a laptop, you will probably break the frame of the laptop. I highly recommend getting the laptop to someone that has done it before (AKA a reputable repair shop).

Take it to a repair shop. If it's just a loose LVDS cable, just an hour labor. If it's a bad LVDS cable maybe 2hrs and a new cable (takes about 3 business days to get parts from Dell).
 
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

Titan
Mar 25, 2010
60,387
1,081
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Simple way to find out if it's the video card, you need another monitor though. Plug in the monitor and see if the line is there, if not, it's the screen.

You can find a screen on ebay pretty cheap, some even have the full lid on it so it's a lot easier to swap out.
 
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