Red line on the laptop

For the Future

I got a red line that goes down my laptop screen. I've heard people say usually this means the monitor is fucked but this line goes away whenever I move the screen in just the right way and the screen will be fine. The hinges on the laptop are pretty loose so I think if I tightened them somehow the screen should be fine. When the laptop closes the left side of the screen doesn't come down all the way so I'm sure the hinges need to be fixed. Problem is I don't know how to take the laptop apart to get to where I need.

It's an HP Pavillion dv1000 if anyone has experience.

Also, the warranty is fucking over, and I'm not gonna pay 700 dollars just for a shitty little screen.

zhen_rogue

Sounds like a row of stuck/damaged pixels from a cracked video cable.
From what i've googled so far, the prognosis is not good.

A few people report rebooting helps, and others recommend using a "stuck pixel fixing" application that flashes your monitor in rapid successsion over and over.
Others recommend direct pressure on the hinge area of the line - which would follow your idea of tightening the hinge.

You might try a HP support line to see about tightening the hinges or possible fix recommendations.

stigweard

It sounds like the ribbon cable that runs between the screen and the laptop is damaged. It isn't too bad replacing them, but you have to be comfortable with taking apart and keeping track of what could potentially be 100+ screws (usually it is much less but there are some sadistic chassis designers out there). Once you have it apart, it is just a matter of replacing that one cable. The cable itself is pretty cheap and it would save you in the area of ~500$ over paying HP to do it.
edit: This is an example of the cable you would be replacing. I wouldn't recommend buying used though.

Ruckus

That's if the cable is seperate. Sometimes the cable is wired directly to the LCD unit and only uses a removable connector at the motherboard end.

As for screws, most likely in the range of 10-20 screws, in 3-4 different sizes and/or colors (silver/carbon), and various friction joints (interlocking tabs, plastic clips, etc).

For the Future

If it makes any difference, I did drop this laptop hard against the floor once, but that was probably about 2 years ago by now. And nothing happened to it then. Since then it's gone to the warranty people in order to have the faulty harddrive replaced.

But now the warranty is pretty much over and this problem suddenly appeared.

Are internal diagrams of laptops available to the public domain?

I'm pretty sure the problem is not stuck pixels or whatever.

Also, if I push the screen a bit to put more pressure on certain areas a red line will briefly appear on the right side of the screen but it won't stay once pressure is removed.