Left side of laptop screen dead..need advice

[astrosfan315]

Setup: My wife's HP DM4 14" laptop has an issue that just came up. The left two inches of the screen from top to bottom is either blacked out, or has grey lines on black. I connected it via HDMI to my 55" LCD TV and everything looked good at 1080p on the 55" LCD, nothing amiss. But on the laptop screen I can't see the start button, etc. So what I've done is just resized the windows for the internet, MS Word, etc to fit in the new available screen area. So my 14" laptop is now an 11" ha. Anyway, I can open and run win explorer to get to programs, etc. Everything is fine just this two inches on the left, only on laptop screen. Hooked to monitor the monitor displays everything at correct resolution.

Link to laptop: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834157425

Advice needed:
1.Would you think just replacing the LCD with some $50 ebay screen correct this issue? I'm thinking since it works on the LCD via HDMI the graphics processor works fine.

2. Or, is this a cabling problem to the left side of the screen and replacing the LCD isn't going to do anything, I will need to run a new ribbon from the board to the screen?

If you think it is anything other than #1 I think I will just list it here in the F/S forum and let someone else get a great laptop at a bargain and they can tinker with it. I've already replaced it with a MacBook Air 13" that she loves, so I was thinking of fixing it up for my daughter. Other than this one issue the thing has been wonderful but I told myself 4 years ago when I bought her the DM4 and me a G73, whenever they die I'm going Mac..my G73 is still going strong.

Thanks in advance.

(I may have put this in the wrong forum..I probably should've put this in the computer help area. Sorry mods)

 

[corkyg]

You may only need to replace the CCFL tube. They do burn out over time like any light bulb. I would check that before going for the entire screen.

 

[HOSED]

^^^ WoW I learn something new here every visit^^^. Personally I just replaced the cable and panel in a 3 year old asus to solve a similar issue. Total cost ~ $130
The cable was only ~$12 & panel was $114 with shipping.
thanks CorkyG!
OP I used this site and was very happy with the professionalism http://www.laptopscreen.com/English/model/HP-Compaq/PAVILION%20DM4-3112TX/

 

[gbeirn]

DM4 has a LED screen so no CCFL bulb to replace. OP the screen is bad, it is a pretty simple fix, they are about $50 on eBay or other LCD screen sites. The screen has 4 screws holding it in with mounting tabs on the top and bottom. The LED connector is on the right side of the screen when looking at the back if memory serves me correctly. There are two screws on the bottom of the bezel holding that on.

I do these all day long, takes me about 10min to replace a screen, if you've never done it before, an hour tops.

Make sure to disconnect the AC and remove the battery before replacing the screen.

 

[astrosfan315]

Thanks guys for the help. I've replaced a keyboard on an IBM think pad about 10 years ago, which was a pain dealing with those little screws, but I think this LCD is manageable after watching a vid on it. I'm going to order a new screen and give it a shot. If it works great, if not then I will try recoup my $50 selling the laptop.

I'll post my results when I get the screen and time to do the repair. Again appreciate the advice.