[Stef Smith]

Hi! I'm having an issue with my screen on my Inspiron 1501, which I purchased 2nd hand. The screen was very dim when I bought it, so I replaced the screen inverter with a brand spankin' new one. That didn't help. So I thought perhaps the backlight was burned out. Bought a new one and replaced it. Now the bottom strip of the screen directly in front of the backlight is bright, but the rest of it is still very dark. I'm at the point of getting ready to purchase a new monitor, but first I thought I would see if there are any other ideas from those of you who know laptops better than I do... which isn't hard since I'm pretty clueless on this one. Thanks!!

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LCDs have several layers of light dispersing material, and these layers can actually move/change position when you remove/install the bulb tray. You may have noticed this, or maybe not. Basically if the layers are not lined up just right, then light dispersion will be deminished. You need to disassemble the LCD again and make sure... 1) the layers are all even when you view them at their edges. Some LCDs have indexes for the layers... make sure they are all indexed if this is the case for your LCD. 2) When you reinstall the bulb tray, make sure that all layers are either even with the edges of the tray, or are encompassed (fall in-between) the tray opening... basically, this just means make sure none of the layers fall outside the edge of the tray or the light will not flow up that particular layer correctly. Gee, I'm having a very hard time explaining this... I hope you understand what I mean!

In any case, if the bulb you installed appears bright, then it has to be that some layer is not aligned correctly. Check for layer indexes.

Lastly, try not to get any dust in between any of the layers. And by all means, do NOT use compressed air to blow out any dust you see... you'll only make matters worse as the air will simply blow the dust right up into all the layers and you'll have specs all over your display. If there is any dust, use a small lint free cloth (like eyeglass microfibe cloth) to gently remove whatever is there.

[makai]

LCDs have several layers of light dispersing material, and these layers can actually move/change position when you remove/install the bulb tray. You may have noticed this, or maybe not. Basically if the layers are not lined up just right, then light dispersion will be deminished. You need to disassemble the LCD again and make sure... 1) the layers are all even when you view them at their edges. Some LCDs have indexes for the layers... make sure they are all indexed if this is the case for your LCD. 2) When you reinstall the bulb tray, make sure that all layers are either even with the edges of the tray, or are encompassed (fall in-between) the tray opening... basically, this just means make sure none of the layers fall outside the edge of the tray or the light will not flow up that particular layer correctly. Gee, I'm having a very hard time explaining this... I hope you understand what I mean!

In any case, if the bulb you installed appears bright, then it has to be that some layer is not aligned correctly. Check for layer indexes.

Lastly, try not to get any dust in between any of the layers. And by all means, do NOT use compressed air to blow out any dust you see... you'll only make matters worse as the air will simply blow the dust right up into all the layers and you'll have specs all over your display. If there is any dust, use a small lint free cloth (like eyeglass microfibe cloth) to gently remove whatever is there.