Sullen Black Pixels

February 23, 2006 8:28 AM

My mom has a Gateway FPD1830 LCD monitor that has been sitting around her house for about a year or so not working. It died on her and she set it to the side in case she could find a place to repair it (its a nice 19" model). She's stopped looking and I'm getting close to needing a new monitor. Is there anywhere in Tampa, FL to get an LCD monitor repaired? Is it even fiscally reasonable to try and get the thing repaired?
posted by Ikazuchi to computers & internet (5 comments total)

I died on her and she set it to the side in case she could find a place to repair it (its a nice 19" model)

Thanks pretty cold :)

It's probably cheaper just to get a new monitor.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:46 AM on February 23, 2006

It depends on what is wrong with it, and how handy one is. A common failure mode with LCD monitors is that the backlighting fails- the 'picture' is still there but difficult or impossible to see without the transillumination. Try this- set up the monitor and fire up the computer, then take a strong light and shine it on the screen. If you can see the data on the screen, even dimly, you have a backlight problem. This can be as simple to repair as a small circuit board called an 'inverter', which costs less than $100 in most, if not all, cases.

Othjer causes of backlight problems are bad flourescent tubes. There's a cottage industry in replacing those, Google "LCD Repair' for help there.

Other failures are more hit-or-miss. Can you describe what the symptoms are in more detail?
posted by pjern at 8:47 AM on February 23, 2006

If the problem is dead or stuck pixels (i.e. you can see most of what's on the screen, but there are pixels here and there that are continually black, or continually lit one color) you won't find any reasonable way to repair it. You can either live with the pixels or buy a new monitor.

If it doesn't power on at all, it might be the power supply. If it uses a "wall wart" (big block that plugs into the outlet), you can easily check to see if it works using a voltmeter. If it uses a standard 3-prong computer power cable, then you'll need to have a professional look at it (unless you're handy with electrical troubleshooting).

Other than that, the backlight problems already mentioned would be a good bet.
posted by lethean at 9:13 AM on February 23, 2006

Lifehacker had something about fixing dead pixels not too long ago. Here it is.
posted by probablysteve at 9:43 AM on February 23, 2006

[fixed typo]
posted by jessamyn at 4:13 PM on February 23, 2006