computer monitor issue

[KevinG]

Has anyone had this laptop monitor issue? - when i move my laptop the screen goes wacky and I have to physically shake the computer, smack the side of the screen, etc. to get it to "pop back" - the whole entire screen freezes and changes colors and gets funky lines...but when it "pops" back it goes right back to normal. It will stay normal until I close the screen or pick up the laptop and then it goes wacky again.

Anyone?

[Jill]

It sounds like you may have some bad or broken connection between the monitor and the laptop. You'd probably have to open it up (or have a tech person open it) and take a look at it.

[Henry]

I had something like that before. It was a loose cable. Do what Jill says and open it using a tiny screw driver and then re-set the cable connecting the display to the main body.

[Daniel Terhorst]

Originally Posted by Henry

Do what Jill says and open it using a tiny screw driver and then re-set the cable connecting the display to the main body.

I don't know if it's necessary, but the only time I saw someone do this, they made sure to remove the battery first.

-- Daniel Terhorst

[KevinG]

i took it apart and looked at the connection - it seemed fine and tight....i called hp and they are sending me a box to ship it to them and fix it.

[Caveman Joe]

I've got a bunch of Compaq 486 laptops in my loft with the same problem. When I was selling laptops at Comet (UK equivalent of Best Buy or similar), this was the number one problem with all laptops, regardless of the make.
Wrapped around the inside of one of the hinges between your laptop and its screen is a ribbon cable, coiled up like a spring. Tension is applied to this cable when the lid is closed, and released when the lid is open. Sooner or later they (or one of the contacts therein) will break, and the monitor will only display when the lid's open at a certain angle. It'll get worse and worse, and then it'll fail completely.
The good news is that these ribbon cables cost buttons if you've a relatively new laptop. You're talking two or three quid, max. Putting them in is a bit of a nightmare (they're so delicate!), and so is getting hold of them, but the cost of actually obtaining the part is usually negligible.

[helgi]

The screen on my 15" PB developed a similar problem, and although I'm certain it was a problem with the cable that goes through the hinge and up to the screen, they ended up replacing the entire screen for some reason. (free of charge btw.)

[Caveman Joe]

That was nice of them.
Although I can see their reasoning - you usually have to take the screen off to get to that ribbon cable, in fact you usually have to take the whole laptop apart and scatter its guts to the four winds. And when you've got a warehouse full of spare screens and note that the one you've got in your hands looks a bit murky, and it's already seperated from the body of the laptop - hey, may as well stick a new one in and make someone's day, right?

[helgi]

Yeah, it was. I suspect they felt sorry for me, because before I brought it in I had attempted to open the thing myself with less than professional (i.e., catastrophic) results