Powerbook display not working

[carryonplease]

Today i turned on my powerbook (g4 17") and i see a white screen. usually it just means its booting up but upon further inspection, i realize that the computer is on the log in screen, and somehow the display is not working. the light is not on either

im hoping an external monitor can be a quick fix for this, but can anyone shed some light on what is happening?

 

[TEG]

Either the Videocard is having problems or your power inverter is screwed.

TEG

 

[carryonplease]

are those expensive fixes and would an external display fix that?

 

[carryonplease]

ive done some more reading, and since i had broken a hinge recently it might be a fried wire or something. but what is the cheapest option for an external display? all i know if the monitor output in the back has 8 pins.

 

[TEG]

Any VGA or DVI display can connect to the DVI port on the side (VGA will need the converter that came with your computer).

TEG

 

[PowerBookRelic]

I have a 1.5 GHz PBG4, and I may have had a problem similar to yours...I went to turn my laptop on, and the screen wasn't visible. It was only upon careful inspection that I saw the screen was working, it just wasn't illuminated. Took it to Apple, the said I needed a new backlight. Cost $300 (I think), but they covered it...this was a bit less than 2 yrs ago.