HELP! imac G4 screen almost black..
Hi all,
I'm at work now but my son called me and told me, "Mom was on the computer and all of a sudden she said that the screen like died"..........
He checked it, and he said you can barely see anything.....like the computer is working but the screen is not lit. He said it is so dark you sometimes lose where the mouse cursor is, and you can barely see the dock, etc.
My G4 17" imac is almost 4 years old........I really cannot afford a new one easily. The good news is that he says you can barely see everything still, so the computer itself is working.......it is a screen problem.
Here are my dumb questions........(I love my macs, but am a novice)....
1) is there a way to temporarily hook up another monitor to it, like you can with my son's powerbook? (he is away at college, so the G4 is all I have right now)
2) could this just be a software problem, or could it come back after it cools, etc?
3) Could I just buy a new LCD screen, like off ebay, either another 17" or maybe "upgrade" to a 20" ?
4) would fixing it be worth it? I would think it is just a couple of wires into that half a volleyball bottom....I hope?
Luckily, I just bought a used powerbook for this son off ebay, and it should be delivered tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have SOMETHING. Is 4 years the norm for a mac? I really like my good old g4..........
Thank you in advance for any help.....
Frank D.
I'm at work now but my son called me and told me, "Mom was on the computer and all of a sudden she said that the screen like died"..........
He checked it, and he said you can barely see anything.....like the computer is working but the screen is not lit. He said it is so dark you sometimes lose where the mouse cursor is, and you can barely see the dock, etc.
My G4 17" imac is almost 4 years old........I really cannot afford a new one easily. The good news is that he says you can barely see everything still, so the computer itself is working.......it is a screen problem.
Here are my dumb questions........(I love my macs, but am a novice)....
1) is there a way to temporarily hook up another monitor to it, like you can with my son's powerbook? (he is away at college, so the G4 is all I have right now)
2) could this just be a software problem, or could it come back after it cools, etc?
3) Could I just buy a new LCD screen, like off ebay, either another 17" or maybe "upgrade" to a 20" ?
4) would fixing it be worth it? I would think it is just a couple of wires into that half a volleyball bottom....I hope?
Luckily, I just bought a used powerbook for this son off ebay, and it should be delivered tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have SOMETHING. Is 4 years the norm for a mac? I really like my good old g4..........
Thank you in advance for any help.....
Frank D.
Comments
Frank D.
I think it is a apple + p = m or something,
then I read where when the computer is off you keep hitting the power botton while doing something....clearly I do not know enough yet to try anything.....
Thank you all.......
Frank D.
I really hope it's just a software thing.................I don't want to give up on the old g4 yet...I'm attached to it.
Frank D.
This btw folks is why all-in-ones are bad and why I think Apple should stop making them. It's good for Apple of course because the displays will die eventually which means you will need a costly upgrade or repair.
All we need is:
Mac Mini > Mac Cube > Mac Pro
My buddy thinks he can do it.
They said it is probably not the backlight, since there are two of them.
I was able to hook up an old monitor, so at least I'm using it here again.
thanks, Frank D.