Dell Inspiron/Vostro 3500 black screen plague

[Larry Sabo]

What's with all these Dell 3500 series laptops with black (no video, unlit) screens lately? Lots of Google hits with this problem. I just had a call from a customer with this issue and had another with the same issue last week. I declined to take on the new case because of the wasted time and effort on the prior case. In that case, I replaced the screen but no change. Decided not to replace the video cable as it appeared to be undamaged, the new cable would have taken too long to arrive, and I didn't have a compatible screen with which to test anyway.

There was video on an HDMI screen and the back-light fuse was not blown. Removing the original screen was a colossal PITA because the rubber adhesive strips broke during their removal.

I told the prospective new customer that I'll pass, as I've wasted too much time and supplier goodwill on the identical problem. In this latest case, the laptop was purchased new online from Dell and after much cajoling, they provided another new identical laptop that doesn't have the problem. He gets to keep the defective laptop so thought he would see if it's repairable at a reasonable cost.

Anyone else seeing a rash of these? Do you keep a video cable and screen on hand to complete a proper test?

 

[nlinecomputers]

No, but sounds like Dell is trying to avoid a recall so I know to punt them to Dell should they arrive on my bench. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[NviGate Systems]

Likely board issue, that's the way it is these days. It's probably an easy fix, like a bad Tantalum cap etc., but we'll probably never know.