Launched the laptop up today and was greeted with a inch wide White bar on the screen

I've taken the surround of the monitor off to have a look to see I could see a loose connector but every thing appears tight.

Is this the sign of a duff screen or maybe a graphics card issue or something else

HP Pavillion 8173ea laptop, if it helps, but is this stuff anybody specialality, or is it a case of spending £109 on new screen to find out

Click image to enlarge

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LCD matrix (or its connector) issue.
If it isn't an obvious easy fix, then any HP dealer will say to you that a new one (LCD matrix) is in order...
That line, sometimes, is progresively and slowing turning white or black, depending on what it's on the screen, right?

Take out the hard disc, and get yourself a new laptop.
Use the old hard disc externally.

That's what I would do. Don't put petrol in a diesel. They don't run well.

It's just White, never changes colour or moves when the laptops on, its there as soon as the screen lights up, though for a split second on start up it does get a few black pinstrip lines in it, then back to solid white Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Ain't got the spare cash for a new laptop just at the moment

I might just have to connect it to the Plasma TV and use that as a monitor for the time been, as I get no White line when I do Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Try plugging laptop into a external monitor to try out the graphics card......that white line thing happens on flat screen TVs.....i realise I've been no help sorry SD4 Sports LE Black ...

As Dead Rat said, try plugging into an external screen to rule out graphics card failure. Normally dead pixels would be black so it isn't that as the white stripe suggests that they are all still working. And that is the end of my technical knowledge....

Using the lead R232? To the tv it works fine Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I think you have your answer.

Is it the actual screen though or could it be the screen inverter of something which comes up when I searched eBay  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Hi,
I'd do as been suggested and plug it into a TV just to ensure its just screen.

As you've mentioned its approx. £107 to get it replaced but what i'd do is speak to them first and send them a pic. They'll be able to advise from there on in and the onus will be on the company to provide the solution. They'll probably give you advice even if you dont use them.

Also, check you home insurance. Computers are generally covered under some circumstance and i guess if you are covered, the laptop may have had the accident that would lead to the screen looking like it does

Best of luck,

It's the Graphics Card. If you want to avoid cost and feel confident enough, you'd open the Laptop and locate the Integrated Card. Once you identify it, search ebay, get one. They are easy enough to replace.

dunroof wrote:

It's the Graphics Card. If you want to avoid cost and feel confident enough, you'd open the Laptop and locate the Integrated Card. Once you identify it, search ebay, get one. They are easy enough to replace.

Yep, on all the models I've done, they are a seperate entity rather than soldered into the board. A laptop is actually a very simple machine to take apart and repair.

A new screen would take about 10 mins to replace. A graphics card, 15 mins. Even one of the main boards aint that time consuming apart from the connectors. Just make sure you have an antistatic wristband or similar and away you go.

As for taking out the hard disc, easy job too. Dont do as one I had in. A lady colleague wanted a backup to her failed hard disc, but she'd left very personal photos on the hard disc! When I gave the machine back to her, she asked me if I'd gone thro' the disc, she just needed to know, no trouble. What would you do? I told her I hadn't and that was that. She did come back with more stuff to do, so I guess she believed me. And no, I just repair computers as a hobby, not a business.

Confusing answers or what

First off your laptop does not have a graphics card, it has an integrated graphics chip soldered on the motherboard and by plugging it into an external monitor it's almost for certain proved the onboard graphics are OK.
It's now either the TFT screen or the inverter.

A certain way to prove it is to do a Print Screen, this takes a snapshot of the graphics output, now resize it to half size in "Paint", save it and bring it up on screen. Move your smaller pic away from the stripe and if the pic is clear then it's not the onboard graphics.