Back light out

T

TheBishop

New Member
Just got a HP dv9700 given to me for parts. The previous owner bought a new laptop.
It works great with a outside monitor connected. THe laptop screen is black and even with a flashlight the screen is blank, no icons no color, nothing.

Is it the screen power inverter?

THanks
 
Sounds like the lamps on the side went out or the power, yes. I guess the thing to do would be to replace the screen, but that may be just me ;)
 
screen?

Did you mean I should replace the entire screen or the screen power inverter?

The screen doesn't flicker or blink at all, just black, no icons or color even with a flashlight.

Help
 
TheBishop said:
Did you mean I should replace the entire screen or the screen power inverter?

The screen doesn't flicker or blink at all, just black, no icons or color even with a flashlight.

Help
Click to expand...

That means the entire screen is bad, because if the backlight was bad you'd still see picture with a flashlight.
 
voyagerfan99 said:
It's an HP. The entire machine is prone to failure. Need I say more?
Click to expand...

-1 Yes, please say more. I would like it if you were to give me, and the OP an elaborate example of how the HP machine is prone to failure. Do you mean how HP's in general are prone to failure? Or, how this particular HP is prone to failure?

I think I know what you mean, for example: HP is so terrible, and so cheap in the production of computers, and of their company, that HP had a revenue of $118.4 billion in 2009, succeeded with a Fortune 500 ranking of 9, and has an A+ BBB score. Must have been all the terri..wait..no..

I find that when I go around to computer shops, and ask, just for conversation, of course, "What computer brand do you most see with issues in this facility?" Sometimes they reply with HP. And I don't think it has to do with quality, more quantity, because so many peeps have HP computers (in the US, anyways). Same concept with mechanics. When a mechanic is asked what vehicle they see the most, usually Toyota, Honda, or even Nissan. And I ask them, "why do you think that is? Are they pieces of junk?" Mechanic="Absolutely not, there's just so many of them on the freaking roads!" This is all speculation of course, but I believe that records speak for themselves. You don't truly think HP grew so big and fast in the computer area because of crappy computers, do you? Not to mention, HP often uses reputable parts (such as Asus, Hitachi, LiteOn, etc.) that "many" of the highly regarded posters in this forum praise, as if they were gods.
 
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Demilich said:
-1 Yes, please say more. I would like it if you were to give me, and the OP an elaborate example of how the HP machine is prone to failure. Do you mean how HP's in general are prone to failure? Or, how this particular HP is prone to failure?

I think I know what you mean, for example: HP is so terrible, and so cheap in the production of computers, and of their company, that HP had a revenue of $118.4 billion in 2009, succeeded with a Fortune 500 ranking of 9, and has an A+ BBB score. Must have been all the terri..wait..no..

I find that when I go around to computer shops, and ask, just for conversation, of course, "What computer brand do you most see with issues in this facility?" Sometimes they reply with HP. And I don't think it has to do with quality, more quantity, because so many peeps have HP computers (in the US, anyways). Same concept with mechanics. When a mechanic is asked what vehicle they see the most, usually Toyota, Honda, or even Nissan. And I ask them, "why do you think that is? Are they pieces of junk?" Mechanic="Absolutely not, there's just so many of them on the freaking roads!" This is all speculation of course, but I believe that records speak for themselves. You don't truly think HP grew so big and fast in the computer area because of crappy computers, do you? Not to mention, HP often uses reputable parts (such as Asus, Hitachi, LiteOn, etc.) that "many" of the highly regarded posters in this forum praise, as if they were gods.
Click to expand...

While I must admit that holding the entire HP brand as a whole at a lower standard is affected by a small superiority complex (as you no doubt know that many members here are enthusiasts). I do not agree with your logic here.

By your logic, a company makes good products because their revenues are high and receive good praise from the BBB. Now, while this may suit some situations, it does not satisfy all. While HP in all its glory is no doubt a very capable player in the personal- economy class- computer industry, I would say it's products are far from perfect.

Lets take a look at the clientele that purchase HP computers- everyday, check-my-email-watch youtube-read yahoo type (Lets be honest here enthusiasts would not touch an OEM HP). HP has DOMINATED this crowd of people with inexpensive and reliable computers. They have done an excellent job as to sell their computers at various retailers that most of society would flock to, Best Buy, Walmart, etc. By this simple observation, you cannot say that HP makes the money they do because they make good computers, but more or less, they market what they make very well.

Now before this post gets torn up, I did mention "reliable" when describing a simple HP computer. I say this because when used properly and given TLC, they are reliable as any "I-put-it-together-myself" computer. The issue is that most normal, everyday users, do not take care of their computers like they should. Often times you will see economy computers filled with more dust than components (if you can find them). Either that or god knows how many spyware/malware infections they have.

As far as building quality, HP loves to use power supplies that are JUST above what the system calls for. For example, in under 20 seconds, I looked up a HP desktop from their site (HP Pavilion Elite HPE-590t) and noticed that there is an available GeForce 460 available. A 460 requires 450 watts, as posted on Nvidia's website. What does HP want to use? A measly 460 watt PSU. Will it work? Of course. Would ANYONE on this forum that knows anything about anything recommend that type of setup? No. I realize that this example only does not reflect the entire system as a whole, it was merely a counterpoint to the ideology that a company that makes billions in the computer industry does not cut corners.

To the OP: I really am not sure about the screen reliability of HP laptops, but you could always keep using it as you are, a desktop of sorts! :D
 
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Demilich said:
-1 Yes, please say more. I would like it if you were to give me, and the OP an elaborate example of how the HP machine is prone to failure. Do you mean how HP's in general are prone to failure? Or, how this particular HP is prone to failure?
Click to expand...

Their DV Series laptops were prone to overheating, causing permanent motherboard damage. A class action lawsuit came about, but HP did nothing for those that had been affected just out of warranty, or to those who still had the issue inside warranty. In essence, you could have spent $999 on a 17-inch laptop, just to have it die on you a year later. I have a PILE of DV-9000, DV-6000, and DV-4000 laptops sitting at work; all have bad motherboards.

Now the newer stuff is a bit better, but I still don't like HP. It's a cheap machine with cheap parts. I'd much prefer to spend the extra money and get something durable like a Dell Latitude. But then again that's just me and people that refuse to spend more money cannot be swayed.
 
Graphic card built in?

Does anyone know for sure if the graphics card is built into the motherboard on a HP DV9720ns?

I'll invest and change the Gcard but not the main board.
 
Rocko said:
While I must admit that holding the entire HP brand as a whole at a lower standard is affected by a small superiority complex (as you no doubt know that many members here are enthusiasts). I do not agree with your logic here.

By your logic, a company makes good products because their revenues are high and receive good praise from the BBB. Now, while this may suit some situations, it does not satisfy all. While HP in all its glory is no doubt a very capable player in the personal- economy class- computer industry, I would say it's products are far from perfect.

Lets take a look at the clientele that purchase HP computers- everyday, check-my-email-watch youtube-read yahoo type (Lets be honest here enthusiasts would not touch an OEM HP). HP has DOMINATED this crowd of people with inexpensive and reliable computers. They have done an excellent job as to sell their computers at various retailers that most of society would flock to, Best Buy, Walmart, etc. By this simple observation, you cannot say that HP makes the money they do because they make good computers, but more or less, they market what they make very well.

Now before this post gets torn up, I did mention "reliable" when describing a simple HP computer. I say this because when used properly and given TLC, they are reliable as any "I-put-it-together-myself" computer. The issue is that most normal, everyday users, do not take care of their computers like they should. Often times you will see economy computers filled with more dust than components (if you can find them). Either that or god knows how many spyware/malware infections they have.

As far as building quality, HP loves to use power supplies that are JUST above what the system calls for. For example, in under 20 seconds, I looked up a HP desktop from their site (HP Pavilion Elite HPE-590t) and noticed that there is an available GeForce 460 available. A 460 requires 450 watts, as posted on Nvidia's website. What does HP want to use? A measly 460 watt PSU. Will it work? Of course. Would ANYONE on this forum that knows anything about anything recommend that type of setup? No. I realize that this example only does not reflect the entire system as a whole, it was merely a counterpoint to the ideology that a company that makes billions in the computer industry does not cut corners.

To the OP: I really am not sure about the screen reliability of HP laptops, but you could always keep using it as you are, a desktop of sorts! :D
Click to expand...

I'm not going to tear up your post lolz however, my previous post was a bit more factual oriented than your quoted post. For example:
1)"Lets be honest here enthusiasts would not touch an OEM HP": not a fact by any stretch, and doesn't do much to support your claim that HP computers are far from perfect.

2)"They have done an excellent job as to sell their computers at various retailers that most of society would flock to, Best Buy, Walmart, etc. By this simple observation, you cannot say that HP makes the money they do because they make good computers, but more or less, they market what they make very well."
So they're guilty of marketing correctly. This is obviously disputable, but, in my opinion, there is no way that businesses such as Walmart, Best Buy, etc. would allow a company, such as HP, to market their computers in their stores if they were seriously that terrible of a computer manufacturer. That would obviously damage Walmart's, Best Buy's, etc. reputation possibly quite severely.

3)"As far as building quality, HP loves to use power supplies that are JUST above what the system calls for. For example, in under 20 seconds, I looked up a HP desktop from their site (HP Pavilion Elite HPE-590t) and noticed that there is an available GeForce 460 available. A 460 requires 450 watts, as posted on Nvidia's website. What does HP want to use? A measly 460 watt PSU. Will it work? Of course. Would ANYONE on this forum that knows anything about anything recommend that type of setup?"
How is this "cutting corners"? For what reason would HP need to put a PSU that has more wattage than is required in the machine? Would anyone on this forum suggest the type of configuration that was posted? Why does it matter? Obviously the computers function properly. Expanding is not an argument of choice in this matter, as I don't understand why peeps buy HP computers and expect to expand them. Anyways.

"Their DV Series laptops were prone to overheating, causing permanent motherboard damage. A class action lawsuit came about, but HP did nothing for those that had been affected just out of warranty, or to those who still had the issue inside warranty. In essence, you could have spent $999 on a 17-inch laptop, just to have it die on you a year later. I have a PILE of DV-9000, DV-6000, and DV-4000 laptops sitting at work; all have bad motherboards."

Has any HP computer had recalls? Absolutely. And? To expect that any company doesn't make mistakes, or won't ever produce a faulty computer part or computer in whole is absurd. Ok, and a class action lawsuit followed? And HP did nothing to for those that had been affected just out of or in warranty? I don't believe that at all, and also to say that HP "did nothing" is not a fact, either. If you're referring to the defective NVIDIA graphics processing unit, that HP basically had dumped on them, even releasing a BIOS update to attempt to fix, and they had to deal with, that was definitely more of an NVIDIA problem, and also was an issue with Dell, and Apple. Also I recall HP expanding the warranty for the affected laptops. Yep, they did. Could HP have dealt with the issue more effectively? I don't know.

I'm still seeing 0 facts given on how HP is less reliable then any other computer manufacturer.
 
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You asked; I answered. HP's suck. I'd never own one unless it was an Elitebook; but it would still be a last resort.
 
Is there a test for the screen?

Is there any test that can be performed on the motherboard to verify the voltage needed to run the screen lights?

I'm going to open the DV9720 after enough discussons about trial and error output.

Since it was a gift I have nothing invested in it but I would like to try to ID the problem, either screen or graphics output from the MB.

It works great on a external monitor.

Anyone know the voltage output of the graphics?
 
This may sound dumb, but

It never hit me that the video card, even one that's built in on the MB, serves both the external and the internal displays.

I wish someone would have stated that in the begining in a way that even I could understand.

Sometime I overlook the forest for the trees, I'm 62 and still learning to see.

Thanks
 
Any more brighter ideas

I just installed a new power inverter and new screen on my HP 9700, and still no display, nothing but the external monitor still works fine.
I invested in parts due to the consensus here that one or both parts being bad, but its still the same, blank screen, no icons.

The only trouble indicator I have before and after the parts were install was a momentary flash from the bottom right side of the screen. This flash would not happen at startup, the flash only happened if the system was put sleep, and when the on button was pushed for bring the laptop back to life from sleep mode, a small white flash would happen on the lower right bottom of the display.

Any more brighter ideas?

Thanks
 
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