I am a not so proud owner of an Alienware area 51 17" screen that
needs replacement... or so I am told. This is about a five year old
computer that at the time of sale cost just under 5K. Turns out after
about 3 years the motherboard needed replacement. So I had the mobo
replaced and before sending it back to me I was informed I also needed
a new screen because "the screen was only going to last about another
30 days ". Sounded to me like I was fixin' to get hammered by this
repair shop (Z-Tronics) and I had never heard of anyone being able to
know when a screen would go out so I declined their willingness to
sell me a new screen and sure enough the screen went out 30 days
later. Started out with a couple of vertical lines then more and
finally out. Does this sound like it could be something other than
the screen itself and does anyone have any input as to the best place
to get a new display. I doubt I will ever trust a repair shop again
and will take my chances with doing it myself. Any input will be
greatly appreciated. Kirt (530)749-1110

 

Re: "the screen was only going to last about another 30 days"

That is BS. No one can predict how long an LCD panel will last and, in
general, if they are working and physically abused, they will last for
years. Now if the backlight was flickering, one might predict a
BACKLIGHT failure.

However, vertical or horizontal single pixel lines are normally due to
failure of the bonding of the flat ribbon cables from the driver board
to the actual LCD glass. I know of no way to either predict or cause
future failure of these bonded connections.

You should be able to find a display without too much difficulty,
probably about $100. You need the DISPLAY model number (the actual LCD
panel itself), not the model number of the computer that it goes into.


kirtedward@gmail.com wrote:
> I am a not so proud owner of an Alienware area 51 17" screen that
> needs replacement... or so I am told. This is about a five year old
> computer that at the time of sale cost just under 5K. Turns out after
> about 3 years the motherboard needed replacement. So I had the mobo
> replaced and before sending it back to me I was informed I also needed
> a new screen because "the screen was only going to last about another
> 30 days ". Sounded to me like I was fixin' to get hammered by this
> repair shop (Z-Tronics) and I had never heard of anyone being able to
> know when a screen would go out so I declined their willingness to
> sell me a new screen and sure enough the screen went out 30 days
> later. Started out with a couple of vertical lines then more and
> finally out. Does this sound like it could be something other than
> the screen itself and does anyone have any input as to the best place
> to get a new display. I doubt I will ever trust a repair shop again
> and will take my chances with doing it myself. Any input will be
> greatly appreciated. Kirt (530)749-1110