What can cause my laptop to do this

[Go To Girl]

I always hibernate my computer when I get off of it and when I go to restart it, the screen has a weird looking blob in the middle of the window start screen - nothing that blocks anything, but it almost looks like it could be a water splotch (it's not). Then when I sign on, there's a bunch of flickering. Eventually it stabilizes.

And who can fix it for me

[sunbunny]

Mine is acting crazy, too. I think mine is overheating.

I need to know where I can pick up a new power cord for mine. It's an Acer aspire. I'm not naming any names (coughcaseycough), but someone pulled it or something and broke the wires at the end.

[Go To Girl]

http://store.acer.com/showpages.asp?pid=1002

I just so happen to be on the acer site troubleshooting and saw this is the site to order a new adapter. You can also get a universal adapter on ebay or something as well.

[Scrumtrilescent]

Be careful with those universal ones, they never hook up as well as the ones made for your laptop.

[Go To Girl]

Yeah - I bought one to use as a spare when I'm downstairs, and it works, but doesn't fit as well as I'd like.

I e-mailed technical support about my issue. It's still under warranty, but I still want to know if anyone knows what the deal might be.

[Optimus Deadpool]

flickering and splotches sounds like it may possibly be a graphical problem, either with the driver or the hardware. What are the specs of your computer? brand? (assuming Acer) I can probably troubleshoot it since I had to go through something similiar with my Dell laptop late last year. (ended up having to change the graphics card, but some laptops use on-board graphics thus why I asked for the pc specs.) a link to your laptops specs would be helpful.

...my first post after re-registering is about a PC, this is like being at work :/

-DP

[Go To Girl]

I've had the computer for abut 11 months - it's just a cheapie that I don't use for anything but e-mail, web surfing, and some word processing stuff. It did it yesterday, although this morning when I signed on, it did not.

Acer Extensa 4420-5237

Technical specifications

Screen Size 14.1-inch

Processor AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor TK-57

Processor Speed 1.9GHz

System Memory (RAM) 2GB, User upgradeable up to 4GB (one 2GB memory card in each slot)

Type of Memory (RAM) DDR2 667 SDRAM

Hard Drive Size 160GB

CD/DVD Drive integrated Super-Multi drive (DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RAM)

Graphics Integrated ATI Radeon X1250 graphics

Wireless Networking Acer InviLink 802.11b/g wireless LAN, Acer SignalUp technology for enhanced antenna efficiency, WI-FI CERTIFIED

Audio Two integrated Acer 3DSonic stereo speakers

Ports DC-In : 1, RJ-11 modem, RJ-45 LAN, VGA, Headphones/speakers/line-out , Microphone/line-in, FireWire (IEEE 1394), FIR (fast infrared) , Four USB 2.0

PCMCIA Slots 5-in-1 card reader for optional MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO or xD-Picture Card,Type II PC Card slot

Notebook Weight 5.3 lb. (2.4kg)

Here's a link to some reviews that also talks about specs http://www.digitgeek.com/acer-extensa-4420-review/

and http://www.laptopreviewsonline.com/AcerLaptop/Extensa4420/

[cookinwithgas]

It sounds like a hardware problem with the display. As it warms up it gets better. Get their tech support on the line.

[phidelt649]

I always hibernate my computer when I get off of it and when I go to restart it, the screen has a weird looking blob in the middle of the window start screen - nothing that blocks anything, but it almost looks like it could be a water splotch (it's not). Then when I sign on, there's a bunch of flickering. Eventually it stabilizes.

And who can fix it for me

Either your video card is going bad or your power supply is going on you. Do you have any S-Video/HDMi/etc outs on your laptop? If so, plug it into your tv and see if you get any weirdness.

This screen glitch is a common issue with Acer laptops and if you're out of warranty, you're out of luck basically. It looks like you're running onboard graphics. What that means is that your graphics card is hardwired to your motherboard as opposed to a separate card that is attached to your motherboard. In essence, you'd have to replace the motherboard if your graphics processor is shot. If that is the case, it'd be easier to just buy a new computer.

If you're interested in doing that, let me know and I can help you find a really good deal. For instance, my laptop is a 17" HP with 4GB of ram that only cost me $600 brand new.

So let me know!

EDIT: By the way, if you are out of warranty and you contact Acer tech support, they may try to charge you just to discuss the problem with you. Don't do that. Also, do not take it to a place like Geek Squad if you do decide you want to try and get an estimate on repairing it.

[Go To Girl]

I'm still under warranty for about 3 more weeks. My husband things it's the connection between my LCD screen and the keyboard. He had an IBM work computer that did very similar things years ago (sometimes my computer screen goes black when it is moved as well and the flickering resumes). His got fixed.

Because of this problem, I'm toying with purchasing an extended warranty for my computer. I can still do it through the Acer site up until 365 days after the date I bought it. I bought it on Valentine's Day last year. I can get a regular one for $99 or one that include accidental coverage for $199. Normally I don't do that kind of thing, but now it seem like it will be money well spent. I only spent about $500 on this computer, I don't need anything much for what my needs are so I'd just as soon just have it fixed under warranty and then purchase the extended warranty to keep it running a couple more years.

I will try to plug it into a TV and see what happens. That's a good idea. I think I have inputs. That would help me decide if it's the connection.

[Go To Girl]

I got my e-mail response back from them - they told me to try re-installing my video card driver. When I restarted my computer after that, I had no flickering or blotches. I think it's still too soon to tell though, but it would be wonderful if that was it. I've even tried doing some of the things that would trigger it before - like moving the screen, and it's been ok.

[cookinwithgas]

I have a hard time thinking its the driver but my fingers are crossed for you!

[Go To Girl]

Wasn't it - Acer told me to take it to Best Buy for service and Best Buy told me that it was most likely a loose connection to the mother board, mother board going bad, or a graphics problem but that yes indeed it is covered by warranty. They also told me that this is not common for Acers, but when I mentioned to the guy that I could still purchase an extended warranty for my computer for as little as $99 and I thought I might do that as extra assurance, he agreed it might be a good thing. Now for the sad part - my computer has to be sent off for service and it could be gone for 4 weeks. We've got a desktop, but who wants to use that. I might just die. I'm on my husband's laptop now.

[engine9]

flickering and splotches sounds like it may possibly be a graphical problem, either with the driver or the hardware. What are the specs of your computer? brand? (assuming Acer) I can probably troubleshoot it since I had to go through something similiar with my Dell laptop late last year. (ended up having to change the graphics card, but some laptops use on-board graphics thus why I asked for the pc specs.) a link to your laptops specs would be helpful.

...my first post after re-registering is about a PC, this is like being at work :/

-DP

welcome back deadpool