wide white vertical bar on display

[bohica]

Switched on my laptop this evening to find a wide white vertical bar about 2 inches wide running top to bottom near the left side of the screen. The white bar is visible in windows xp but also as the machine boots via the bios. This is a vgn-ar21m. Although the laptop is usable in all other ways it is a real PITA to have to resize all windows to the right half of the screen to view them. Anyone else had this? Any ideas? I'd be most grateful for any ideas as this has destroyed my laptop.

Thanks.

Martin

[Blencogo]

Hi Martin,

It does not sound too good. If it happens during boot in VGA mode as well as in Windows when the nVidia driver installed, it does sound like a hardware fault. You can try another nVidia driver but I am not optomistic.

See if you can borrow an external monitor and see if that works OK.

If it does, everything points to a hardware fault with your display and a repair will probably be needed. I assume you are outside warranty?

At worst it will require a new LCD panel but it could just be a poor connector.

[bohica]

Thanks for the reply. I'd try an external monitor but I can't find anywhere to plug one in. I have the fn + f7 key sequence to switch to an external monitor and it appears to switch but where the hell you plug in the monitor in I don't know. I am outside my warranty although I paid for shop warranty (PC World) which I hope would cover it).

Thanks.

Martin

[bohica]

Forget that - I've obviously had too much to drink! I've plugged in an external monitor and I saw no white vertical bar. However, the monitor was a 4:3 one and obviously the laptop one isn't. Do you still think this points at a hardware issue on my laptop?

Martin

[Blencogo]

VGA Connector is on the right side of the Vaio.

[bohica]

Forget that - I've obviously had too much to drink! I've plugged in an external monitor and I saw no white vertical bar. However, the monitor was a 4:3 one and obviously the laptop one isn't. Do you still think this points at a hardware issue on my laptop?

Martin

This is what it looks like on the vaio:

ftp://ftp.easysoft.com/pub/P1020119.JPG

Martin

[bohica]

This is what it looks like on the vaio:

ftp://ftp.easysoft.com/pub/P1020119.JPG

Martin

Anyone else seen anything like this since I posted the picture?

[grannymo]

Hi I have the same problem on my Vaio bought last year around February 07. In my case, its a white-ish patch both at the top and the bottom of my screen. Sometimes the upper one disappears.

Husband who works on similar systems says its a screen problem and at sometime we'll get around to replacing the screen which of course just like yours is out of warranty.

Sometimes the patch is so bright I could do with sunglasses.

Several things to be bought around now so the screen will just have to wait for wee while.

Best wishes on yours.

PS Husband looking to buy a laptop looked at the Vaio, has decided against buying his own Viao on screen probs alone. Today went out and bought a Toshiba. My son-in-law's Vaio screen failed totally - he now has an Apple.
I'd look at a Vaio again as lets face it all laptops have problems. Maybe I'd take a strong look at support the manufacturer provides first though.