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Thread ID: 49625	2004-09-25 10:45:00	Whats the smell? Video display gone funny.....	Exwesty (5639)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
275596	2004-09-25 10:45:00	Something was up with my PC this morning after eldest son tried out a new game. The display is now only covering the middle half of the screen and is also trapezoid in shape ( sides pulled ) I noticed a cooking smell in the room but couldn't pinpoint it at all, checked the video display board, and motherboard with a torch and nothing obvious. All power, case, CPU and display card fans were running. I noticed on reboot that the microsoft logo in the bottom right hand corner was backwards as it booted. ( haven't reproduced this since ) The monitor appears ok when the splash screen from the motherboard appears as the pc boots but then rapidly pulls in. I guess that I would be correct in that the video card needs binning and replacing? It's a 440MX from memory	Exwesty (5639)
275597	2004-09-25 10:54:00	have you checked the screen adjustments ( there maybe buttons on the screen somewhere). Before you write off the video card change the screen for another it maybe a bad (dry) connection in the circuitry of the screen or the screen itself my need the last rights	beama (111)
275598	2004-09-25 11:08:00	your son wasn't waving an industrial strength magnet around when he was playing it was he?	Jams (1051)
275599	2004-09-25 11:23:00	Its likely the screen. The boot-up splash screen is low resolution (low scan frequency) while the WIndows display is much higher. The monitor deflection circuitry may have been over-stressed by being run higher than its design (by the game settings), and has popped some components which screw the display at the higher Windows resolution.	godfather (25)
275600	2004-09-26 09:16:00	Cheers for the suggestions team, It is the monitor, as i plugged it into the old PII and the same display occurs, haven't noticed the burning smell, but haven't exactly left it on long enough either..... Ok it's a 17" flat screen Mag and 27 months old, unknown what the warrenty on this brand is at all. Is it worth repairing if not? Do I go the Consumer Guarantees route? If I buy a new one, whats best these days, CRT or LCD? I know the LCD's use less power, what other benefits are there?	Exwesty (5639)
275601	2004-09-26 09:56:00	LCD would be better way to go. Not as big and heavy. Flat screen. No reflections. Way better & clearer picture. Less power consumption. Losts less likely to fault. These things always seem to happen to people when 'someone else has been using my computer', reason why I, and only I, use my computers (two) and anyone else gets pointed to the computer shop, "If you want to use one, go buy one like I had to!"	cadifan (286)
275602	2004-09-26 11:05:00	> Is it worth repairing if not? Probably not, but you could get a quote (you'd probably have to pay a quote fee). > Do I go the Consumer Guarantees route? Unlikely to be successful as it sounds like the damage was caused by trying to operate the monitor outside its design parameters. I am a staunch advocate of using the CGA, but I wouldn't recommend it for this problem unless you were intending to conceal the cause of the fault, i.e. tell porkies. Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
275603	2004-09-27 11:27:00	Hmm the Game he was playing was Midtown Madness two and it was a demo version, so I hardly think it was taxing, he's only 10. Not exactly pushing the boundaries on the pc as yet.	Exwesty (5639)
275604	2004-09-27 11:41:00	Not the point. Nothing to do with how the game is played. Or the age of the player. The settings for the game may have been stressful for the monitor (scan rate that the game uses). It may have been higher than your normal use and caused the problem. The monitor may have had a built-in weakness, and the game settings were the last straw?	godfather (25)
275605	2004-09-27 11:56:00	> The monitor may have had a built-in weakness, and the > game settings were the last straw? I know this is just speculation at this stage but, If that is the case the surley there is a case to at least explore. Get you monitor manual, specifications and any brochures or other advertising material fom the time of purchase. My opinion is, that a MX440 video card would probably not have the output to tax a relatively new monitor, I would expect the cards limits to be reached long before the monitor went fuzzt and/or the game would have been unplayable at those sort of resolutions and (screen) refresh rates. Then again perhaps it was unplayable. Worth a look. Cheers Murray P	Murray P (44)
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