The likely repair cost (a mainboard, $500 or so) argues for replacement.

:smileyindifferent:I was afraid that replacement would be the recommended path. A local retailer carries a wide variety of off-lease computers. For $500 or so I can get something of similar or greater power manufactured by Lenovo/IBM or HP.

What a waste.

Thanks for the feedback

:smileyindifferent:

Don't throw it away just yet. I had the same problem with my Inspiron 1000 with the screen going blank when moving it. I reseated all of the video connections and then reassembled the laptop. When I attempted to turn the computer on, however, the LCD didn't turn on at all. Now I was in worse shape than before. I took the laptop apart again and reseated all of the connections but to no avail. I decided to take the next step and replace the flex video cable but then found out that Dell doesn't carry the part (though they do suddenly have it if you want to send in your laptop for them to fix) and I couldn't find it on eBay or anywhere else either. So, I took the laptop apart yet again, reseated all of the connections, and uncrinked the flex video cable; however, this time I booted the computer back up before reassembling it and the screen came to life. I then reassembled the computer piece by piece and checked at each stage whether the screen would still come on. It worked until I reattached the metal plate found under the keyboard that covers the motherboard, fan, etc. I noticed that this metal plate severely pinches the video flex cable as it comes up to go to the LCD and so I assumed that this poor design was responsible for the black outs when moving the screen. To fix it, I took a pair of metal snips and cut out a tab for the cable to freely move through without being pinched and then covered the sharp metal edges with electrician's tape. The laptop now works perfectly even when moving the screen.

Fortunately for me, the short in the flex video cable was mild enough that simply straightening it out was enough to fix it. However, for others, you might have to replace this cable (if you can find one). I would recommend cutting out a tab in the metal cover even if you replace the cable so as to avoid future shorts. One final note: the plastic outer housing still requires the cable to be squished a bit as it goes to the LCD but it isn't nearly as severe and damaging as the metal plate.

In the end, I took the Inspiron 1000 laptop to a shop with good experienced technicians. For $75 they opened it, apparently used a drop of solder somewhere, seated things, and now it works properly. In future, it sounds as though we should try to avoid moving this entry-level laptop very frequently.

Although I can tear a desktop apart, I was a bit reluctant to attack a laptop for the first time, so I parted with the cash. It's substantially less than replacing the machine.

Thanks for the feedback.