Laptop screen flickers,then goes black

[topdog98]

Hi, i have an acer aspire 5735z laptop and ive had it roughly 5 years. Recently when i turn my laptop on (from it being on standby,hibernate,or shut down) it flickers for a few seconds then goes black,if i look closely with a light shining on it i can see the background. I usually have to shut my laptop lid and try again until it doesnt go off. Also recently i have been smelling a sortof burning smell which seems to be coming from the laptop.

Anyone know how i can fix this problem?

 

[Peter.Cort]

Sounds like a malfunctioning backlight. It could be that after 5 years the connection has gotten loose, or something on the backlight has corroded enough that it's breaking and so it's only coming on every once and a while. The burning smell could be unrelated, and be caused by dust build up in your fans and heatsink and the high temperatures from the CPU and GPU are singeing dust. Alternatively it could be corrosion on the backlight in which case it's toast.

You'll probably have to replace the backlight, which if you're not tech savvy / handy with taking things apart, could be a costly repair. Anything related to laptop screens takes about 2-3 hours which at most repair shops is a couple hundred bucks, plus the cost of the part itself.

If you aren't planning on doing it yourself I'd go take it to a repair shop and tell them that you think it's the backlight (or ask if they'll give a free diagnosis) and ask how much a repair would be, and then decide if it's worth it to even keep the laptop.

 

[Nitestick]

I think Peter hit the nail on the head. It's some sort of a failure in the backlighting system, usually the inverters are the first part to go in my experience. If you're unable to replace it yourself then unfortunately it's likely going to be more cost effective to replace the whole laptop.

One possibility given what you describe is that it could be a loose connection that is breaking when you move the lid.

 

[Terrance]

I have a problem in my laptop!
when i turn it off it does not turn off till half an hour..
I am very sad to see this. please help me in this regards.