dim laptop LCD screen

I just got an old laptop from a friend because the LCD screen one day just went super dim and he never got it fixed in the last few years (laptop screens are expensive!). I'm trying to see if I can solve the problem or just turn it into an old makeshift desktop for my mom. I've already got the screen on full brightness and can just vaguelly see bright things on the screen (like open explorer windows, etc). My real question is if like the cable that connects to the screen is most likely loose or something, so I could just easily fix it, or is it not worth it to open the case on the laptop and end up ruining the thing. It's a Dell PIII 500 running windows 98 so it still has a few more years left for simple word processing and e-mail checking.

BTW - everything else on the laptop works fine. I've wrote this post typing on the laptop. It's just the LCD screen that doesn't correctly work.

 

In bios "on my Dell Laptop Lattitude H500GT pentinum lll 500mhz" are settings that can dim or brighten the display.

Ya might take apart check connections & clean.
You can also connect desktop monitor, if you dont have a port, get a docking station, I may know where you can get one for about $6 plus shipping, what model laptop is it?

 

right now I got it hooked up to an old CRT monitor I had laying around and it works fine. Oddly enough it's just the LCD screen that is dim. I hope I can I fix it without spending hundreds of dollars on a screen (might as well get a new laptop at a surplus store or something with that money). The last time I took apart a laptop it was a Compaq presario that I ended up taking every component out to solder the AC plug together. (I wasn't going to spend $100 for someone to just solder the darn thing.) Unforutanetely it had 10 different types of screws and I never managed to get it back up and running. You think this will be easier cause the monitor cable inside the laptop case isn't on the bottom. My biggest worry is not being able to put it back together, but it would still be nice to take it around on family vacations (any computer is better than no computer for a desperate geek away from his 'precious' ).

I'll also look into the BIOS settings. I need to tweak the bios settings anyway to get those few extra performance points.

 

Do you know if the backlight has gone?

Sounds like classic backlight failure symptoms

 

I don't know. could you elaborate on the backlight failure please?

 

buckley is a small town in the rural/suburbs of seattle. It's basically south of seattle and east of Tacoma. thanks. I think you guys are right about the backlight being the problem. I now understand the problem enough to do my own research and hopefully find a way to fix it at a reasonable cost. I now know my next project. thanks a bunch guys.