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At my wits end! Hope someone can help!


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#1
Mickey2013

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Long story so please bare with me.


Around April of this year, my PC started to display a strange glitch. The left side of the screen was bent inward. Like someone took a shovel to my windows xp display, and as a result, the left side of the screen is noticeably bent inward. I originally thought this was a video card problem. My model was a Gateway e4100. So I bought a new PC off ebay. Same model. After hooking it up, I still see the same problem! To move this story along quicker, I have bought 3 Gateway e4100's (seller refurbished) from Ebay and I am still having the same problem with this left-side-bent-inward display.

I thought the computers were faulty with bad cards, video chipsets, or something. So I sent them all back. I have tested different hard drives, three different monitors (2 CRT's 1 Flatscreen), have taken the PC out of the living room and into one of the bedrooms for testing, have fiddled with the monitor settings for trapezoid, pin-cushion, etc., have checked out the VGA cables which aren't damaged, and then today. A Gateway e4610 with Windows 7 installed which I ordered from New Egg arrived. Manufacturer Refurbished. I got it hooked up, turned it on, and THE SAME ISSUE!

The left side of the screen is bent inwards still! I tested my flatscreen with this new unit and the issue persists! I am at my wits end now. Can anyone take a stab at nailing down the problem? I don't know what else to do. I thought my monitor could be the issue but three monitors don't all go bad at the same time. And prior to the first week of April, everything was gravy. Then within that first week, this (whatever it is) happened.
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#2
bramwell40

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Take the pc to a different location and see if it does the same thing. By different location, I mean a few miles away. See if you have a strange magnetic field going through your home.
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#3
Mickey2013

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I live in a New York apartment in midtown lol. I can't just take my PC a few miles away anywhere really. :P

Magnetic field is something I thought of as well but would that just happen out of the blue? I've been living in this apartment for about 6 years now. Never had any problems like this. Also wouldn't magnetic fields be causing other issues? This slant is the ONLY issue I'm having. I'd think magnetic fields would be causing my PC to shut off or my monitor to be glitchy with colors, and pixels and such.
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#4
iammykyl

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If you could look at a monitor in an adjoining apartment and is OK, happen they would lend it to you for a brief test in your apartment.
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#5
123Runner

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Interference from other things running will show up on a monitor. In other words other equipment in close proximity to you could be an issue.
Look for something that is always running such as refrigerators. Ballasts from lights are also suspect. It could also be in another apartment. Who knows what they do in apartments these days and what is running.
That is why it was requested to take it to another location. You can't have 3 or 4 computers and monitors doing the same thing.
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#6
Mickey2013

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I've lived in this location for almost 8 years. It was my second apartment after my first apartment. And I've had ZERO computer issues up until the first week of April. My neighbors upstairs and downstairs have been the same since then. The building itself hasn't undergone any renovations or anything, and yesterday I tested the desktop in the last bedroom of the house and the lobby of my building and still the same issue. I think it might be the brand Gateway. Maybe it's finally gone south?
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#7
Brazened

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Are you by the wall that separate the other apartment? Try moving to a neutral area ie; outside wall or wall separating your other room just to see if it go away.

I'm thinking your neighbor placed something next to your wall like a stereo speaker, microwave or something.

EDIT: I see that you did already. Nevermind. :)

Edited by Brazened, 24 June 2013 - 12:00 PM.

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#8
Mickey2013

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Are you by the wall that separate the other apartment? Try moving to a neutral area ie; outside wall or wall separating your other room just to see if it go away.

I'm thinking your neighbor placed something next to your wall like a stereo speaker, microwave or something.

EDIT: I see that you did already. Nevermind. :)





I have a theory. Because people have told me it takes something major to get through brick, and then walls, and then windows to affect a monitor this badly in terms of a CRT and LCD. So the computers I have been using have all been Gateway e4100 small form Hornet towers, refurbished from E-bay. And the one I got most recently was a part of that series. The Gateway e4610, Factory refurbished from NewEgg. Perhaps this LINE IN GENERAL has this defect of a faulty intel graphics chip? That perhaps doesn't last as long as it should. Maybe many people haven't spoken about it because this line wasn't heavily purchased, or it wasn't a defect that caused crashes, BSOD's, a burning smell, etc.

The e4100's were seller Refurbished. Meaning the seller fixed whatever was wrong with them. Factory refurbished means the manufacturer or a vendor approved by the manufacturer, fixed whatever was wrong with the system. Perhaps this line as a whole is just flawed. It's happened before with other brands of towers. And Gateway has merged with Acer as of a few years ago. So mergers always end up changing things somewhat.
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#9
Brazened

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So this is an onboard video/video card in all those PCs? Know anyone you can borrow a card from? This ought to prove it.
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#10
Mickey2013

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So this is an onboard video/video card in all those PCs? Know anyone you can borrow a card from? This ought to prove it.



Yes intel on board. I received one e4100 though that had a Nvidia graphics card. A half-height card. But the issue persisted using that card, and even when I removed that card and switched to the board board graphics chip, the issue was still there.
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#11
Brazened

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Man, have you got a weird problem. It must be a ghost. :blink:
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#12
Mickey2013

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Man, have you got a weird problem. It must be a ghost. :blink:



I know. What's even weirder is it just appeared one day out of the blue. So annoying.
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#13
rshaffer61

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So if I am reading this right you have tried different monitors and have the same results?
Moving to a different location didn't help?
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#14
Mickey2013

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So if I am reading this right you have tried different monitors and have the same results?
Moving to a different location didn't help?




Correct. Now I am looking into getting an external video card for VGA. Saw some on e-bay, where you plug your VGA cable into one end, and plug the USB cord for the external video card into the USB slot in back of your computer.
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#15
rshaffer61

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Were all these monitors the same make and model?
Also is this built on graphics or a add on card?
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