Vertical line on laptop monitor ... is this the beginning of the end?

October 25, 2007 3:16 PM

Vertical line on laptop monitor ... is this the beginning of the end?

Today while I was working on my Dell Inspiron 9200 laptop, a vertical line appeared on the monitor. I rebooted the laptop, but the line, which looks like it is just one pixel wide, is still there. Is this a sign that my laptop monitor is about to bite the dust?

posted by momzilla to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Suggestions to try and fix this.

If those don't work, and the laptop is still under warranty, Dell will replace the screen for you.
posted by autojack at 3:23 PM on October 25, 2007

Sounds like a cable/connector problem.
posted by evil holiday magic at 3:45 PM on October 25, 2007

I had an old Toshiba Tecra that had a similar line show up -- I continued to use it for about a year or two with no further problems (other than a dead pixel or two).
posted by Rock Steady at 5:12 PM on October 25, 2007

It probably wont get worse, but it's unlikely to go away either. If its still under warranty take it in and theyll fix it no questions asked. If not, youll have to decide how much it bothers you.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:43 PM on October 25, 2007

I've had laptop screens last years after having a pixel column fail, so it's by no means a sign of impending doom. I never heard of any of those ways to fix them though, that's quite handy.
posted by scalefree at 7:33 PM on October 25, 2007

Does your line line up (*rimshot*) with your microphone? If the sheilding on the mic stops working on a laptop, you can get vertical lines on the LCD.
posted by Kreiger at 2:56 AM on October 26, 2007

My 8 year old laptop has had a line like this for the past 2 years. It hasn't amounted to anything, except that it used to be blue and now it's green.
posted by ikkyu2 at 3:28 AM on October 26, 2007