Computer Hope
Hardware => Hardware => Topic started by: dignifiedant on May 30, 2008, 10:28:20 AM
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Alright, so about a year ago I smashed the screen on my HP Pavillion ze4805 notebook. However, it worked fine when I hooked it up to a regular monitor, so I never thought about spending a lot of money to fix it. however, our monitor then fizzled and died and we borrowed a different one and for some reason i thought they weren't compatable.
so, a few months later some one gives me a working monitor and i thought it would work, however, the same problem happened. the problem is:
constant flickering of the image and sometimes the monitor cannot detect my system. I've been trying to read thru all the troubleshooting and it says the change my refresh rate, however, that is impossible as I can't see anything...
Does this mean that my video card is bad? Or is there something stuck in my monitor connection port thing and that's what broke the other monitor?? I know the monitors work on the home PC so it's got to be my notebook.
Someone please help. I was going to buy a new LCD screen for my computer, but should I spend the money instead on a video card? is there a way to test the card first? Because I thought that if it was bad there would be no image on the screen...
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Restart in Safe Mode, and see, if same thing happens.
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Or is there something stuck in my monitor connection port thing and that's what broke the other monitor?? I know the monitors work on the home PC so it's got to be my notebook.
Is there something stuck in your monitor connection port thing?
What is the make and model number of your current monitor?
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so, trying to start it up in Safe mode didnt make it easier to view.
the monitors are hp pavilion v50 and ViewSonic17GS and i was hooking those up to the emachine t3256 and they worked fine...
how can you tell if there is something stuck in the connection?
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In that case, in my opinion, video card is shot.
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In that case, in my opinion, video card is shot.
"Alright, so about a year ago I smashed the screen on my HP Pavillion ze4805 notebook."
::)
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...but he's using an external monitor...
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Is a video card something I can buy used or would that be frowned upon? I dont really use my computer for gaming or video production so I don't need a top of the line one...
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Is a video card something I can buy used or would that be frowned upon? I dont really use my computer for gaming or video production so I don't need a top of the line one...
In most laptops, it can't be replaced.
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why not?
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most laptops have integrated video onto the motherboard. Unless like quaxo said it's a high end laptop
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Because it's not a real card. It's an electronic chip built into the motherboard.
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Yeah, there are a handful of high end laptops that can have the card changed in it, but in your case, it can't. The "video card" in a model like that can't be replaced without changing the entire motherboard... in which case you'd be better off getting a whole new laptop.
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so then....what do i do with my laptop?
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I believe that HP recycles old computers if you contact them. It's not good to throw out an old computer, it's bad for the environment. Some places take in old computers and they give you a credit towards the purchase of a new computer from them. I know Staples did that with printers earlier this year and I've heard other places doing it with computers but I don't know for a fact.
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Door stop. ;D
Some people buy broken laptops on eBay for spare parts too.
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you know what tho...i just can't convince myself that it's the video card. Just because of the fact that when I turn the computer on, the screen of the computer has an image on it...it's just not practical to use becuase most of it is cracked...so how is it possible for there to be an image on my laptop screen if the card doesnt work?
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When you plug a external monitor into your laptop there is a chip that controlls the signal to the monitor. This chip or even the plug can go bad. When you see the image on the laptop the chip that controlls the signal to the external monitor is off.
Lets look at things this way...you have a laptop that has a broken screen and possible burnt chip or some sort of damage for the external monitor. At this point most people would pull there data off on to something like another drive or a CD and get a new machine....
Someplaces like Dell take in tradeins and give you a break on the price.
Right now your machine is slowly failing...save the date before it doesn't boot any more.