Screen Turned green.

Quintin.B · February 23, 2013

Hello,

My mom's Dell Vostro 1720 screen has truned green.. it's all over the screen like green dots.. I hooked up another monitor with VGA cable and that one works fine.... so is the screen broken or the graphiccard? Sorry for bad English...

Quintin B

Dave :) · February 23, 2013

If a different monitor works fine, then it would suggest it's the monitor.

GoodBytes · February 23, 2013

I agree. If the GPU was broken, than you would see the same effect on the VGA monitor. It COULD be that the plug from the motherboard and display IN the laptop got detach, or dust went in, but usually the monitor of the laptop is busted.

Call Dell Parts department and see how a new screen for your laptop costs, and if it's too pricey, have a look at eBay. They should not cost a lot.

Here is the service manual for your Dell laptop (that's something I like with Dell products, they give you access to a full service manual):

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1720/en/SM/index.htm

Direct link to Display: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1720/en/SM/display.htm#wp1181086

It doesn't look too hard to replace the display, if you don't loose the screws. I suggest to put the screws in a pot. Or you can use a double sided tape, and heat their heads on it, so that as you unscrew screws clock wise, you put each screw from left to right, and when you come to assemble it back, you just reverse the process. But, usually Dell doesn't use more than 2 types of screws. Most of the time it's the same, or it's obviously shorter or longer.

It looks like a 2009 system.. for 3 year run, it's not bad for a budget laptop.

Quintin.B · February 27, 2013

Got the Laptop apart, got the screen connectors in and out again still green.... My mom won't buy new parts for her laptop. Any suggestions for a good 17.3 inch laptop? She does the accounting on it uses it for browsing so it doesn't have to be an epic gaming machine...