Sounds like a fashion statement; Hot pink is the new white this season.

Now everybody is going to want a hot pink monitor.

Does this happen with an external monitor or just the built in LCD display?

In either case it will probably be very expensive to repair.

I've always avoided laptops because of the higher cost (initial and maintenance) plus the parts seem to fail quicker because of heat buildup (not enough space in the case for air circulation needed for cooling).

If you don't 'absolutly need' a laptop (for mobility purposes) you may want to consider replacing it with a desktop model.

Laptops aren't worth repairing generally, Mitch -- it sounds to me like your LCD is shot. That's the most expensive thing to replace in a laptop.

Buy a new one -- there are some great discount coupons available for new Dell laptops (find them on Google) -- or, if you can't afford that, use an external monitor.

I bought it when I needed a laptop for consulting work. It's still a very-nice-to-have thing when, say, hosting the show; whereever I am, there's all my show stuff.

It's going to be a royal pain doing without it.

LCD panels generally die completely or lose pixels; color skew is fairly uncommon for LCDs as the color signals are digitally encoded.

Before giving up check the following:

- Messed-up ICD color profile settings. Right-click on the desktop -> Properties -> Settings tab. Press the Advanced button. Click the tab Color Management. Change the color profile to the default (or just try deleting it).

- Out of skew gamma settings. Again press Advanced and look for an option related to getting gamma or color hues (the name will vary depending on the GPU chipset maker + driver). Look for a default setting.

- Bogus Monitor .INF profile. Click the monitor tab and try setting the profile to 'Default Monitor'.

Gideon, thanks. I'll try that.

I'm in a situation where having a laptop is a lot better than not having one; I do a lot of moving around, I work from home and the road a fair amount, and the show alone, including the remote stuff, makes the laptop a very useful convenience. Even at home, being able to set the computer up in the kitchen and handle stuff via wi-fi when I'm cooking or doing kids' homework beats the tar out of having a desktop box sitting at a desk.

I have no idea what fixing/replacing an LCD would cost; more than the original cost of the laptop? If I buy another (highly tempting), I'll be sorely tempted to buy a Thinkpad; I've had a few at various jobs, and they seemed fairly rugged. One of those militarized laptops would be cool, but I dn't want to think about what they cost.

And it's at this point that Apple rears its ugly head again; the IBooks seem fairly cool for the money, and the MiniMacs are certainly tempting, at two for the price of a new laptop.

If only Linux were maintainable by non-geeks...

The stepdaughter's laptop lost it's LCD last month. Replacement quotes for a new LCD were in the $470 range. She found a used one on E-bay for about 170 and we are holding our collective breath to see if it works.

Might try ebay?

Try downloading a Knoppix LiveCD (or any other Linux live CD) - if that has the same problem you know it's hardware related. (Which it probably is, but it always helps to look.) It would also help to hook it up to an external monitor in case the LCD is the problem.

My guess is that your laptop's video system is dying. There's a slim chance that it can be replaced for not too much money, but even that's unlikely. And if the video system is attached to the motherboard, you're completely screwed.

Sadly, the ThinkPad line is probably dead now that IBM's exiting the PC business - too bad, those were some rugged machines.

I've been extremely happy with my iBook - it's extremely portable, and it does 99% of the things I do with a computer and does them all with much fewer hastles. The only thing that a Mac cannot do that a PC laptop can do is run the latest games. Especially for web surfing/blogging, the iBook is just excellent.

I just read where the Thinkpads are not going to be discontinued. Also, Panasonic makes some rugged, beefed-up laptop, the MeatGrinderBook or something. Sure you can find it online.

Hi Mitch, if you could post the model I can check the cost of an LCD for you. Otherwise if your considering an inexpensive yet decent used replacement, i've had good luck at outletcomputer.com Feel free to e-mail me the make and model and I can let you know what you might expect.

John

John,

When I get home tonight, I'll do that.

Thanks!

Most laptops have a VGA port in the back, where you can hook up a standard monitor. If you're laptop has one of these, beg/borrow a monitor, hook it up, and see if you get hot-pink there too. If so, it's not your LCD, but the graphics chip, or the cables/connectors from the chip to the display. There's a decent chance that it's the cables or connectors, e.g. something vibrated loose. That's much cheaper to fix than either a new LCD display or a new graphics chip.

Just to chime in about the Cult of the Apple:

I bought a Powerbook in December 2003, and I still love it immensely. The iBooks are just as cool and a substantial discount.

You can even find some brand-new-in-box discontinued Apple iBooks for sale on the Apple Web Store (look for the red "SALE!" tag on one of the left or righthand columns.)

I'm on my third Powerbook. (One upgrade from G3 to G4. Then a newer G4 when I passed on my G4 to an employee.) I love them too, but I wouldn't buy one without an extended warranty, especially if you travel like I do. Of course I'd feel that way about any laptop.

...and one MORE from the Apple Cult....

iBooks. they're the best.

My problems with the IBook:
1) I pick it up, it feels physically flimsy. As in, "Like the old Compaq Presarios", which were essentially self-shredding after about three months.

2) Outfitting an IBook with the software I need is very expensive. I need MSOffice and Visio for my job, whereever I'm working; conversions from other apps never quite work as advertised, certainly not to a professional level.

I do love Apple, and am thinking hard about one of the Minis when I have the option and need again.

I had the same problem on a Compaq laptop. Bright pink.

It was the cable connection at the cover hinge. $75 fix.

My favorite laptop story: my Dell Latitude LS (ultralight) survived a 3 foot fall onto the garage floor. Onto the cement. Keyboard and screen face down.

Everything continued to work just fine; there wasn't as much as a single sector on the HD that went bad.

That was a few years ago, and now the thing is suffering from insufficient memory as I load more demanding programs on it. So this will be the ugly year of replacing it.

As for ThinkPads, no, they are not going to be discontinued. OTOH, they won't be an IBM product anymore. Some Chinese company bought the line from IBM.