Is my screen dead??

[iMirror]

Dear MacRumors geniuses,

is my screen dead?

These pixel pattern shave been showing up randomly, sometimes partly disappearing after i click a link, but mostly getting worst by the minute and making this very text I'm typing almost unreadable.

I don't think my Powerbook G4 was hit or damaged in any way, and was never dropped, though I have experienced weird "light patches" on my screen for some time (known issue on those early PB's.

Do I need to change my screen, or is any other kind of hardware dying on me? Help plz!!

 

[arjen92]

I assume that was a screenshot, taken from your powerbook. Cause then it's your video card. Because when for example all the colours are red on your screen, but on a screenshot the colours would be normal on another screen. Then your screen is broke. But when on the screenshot the colours are also red then the videocard is broke.

In your case the screenshot also shows defects. And because more and more faults appear it's most likely your graphics card/chipset.

 

[iMirror]

Thanks for your insight! Do you have any idea how much it would cost me to replace the chipset? (which seems to be behaving fine right now as I just turned on my laptop, by the way - could it be heat-related?)

At this point I'm wondering whether it's worth fixing this 2003 machine or whether I should buy a new one. And now is supposed to be a bad time to buy a laptop, with major upgrades coming up in a couple of months!

[sigh]

Here's another screenshot. Again, not the worst I've seen of this problem.