I was with a friend a couple of weeks ago when his Acer laptop went in
the same way. As Vic and Paul advise, we checked with an external
monitor. However we didn't actually need a torch to test because we
could make out an image on the screen which confirmed that the screen
was working. There is a further piece of advice that we found which was
to check the open/close switch on the laptop. Apparently this switch
will automatically switch off the screen and can be mechanical or
magnetic. My friend found it (mechanical) after I had left and gave it a
few pokes to make sure it wasn't stuck. We did disassemble the screen
following a guide but were nervous that the plastic fasteners would
simply snap off but they didn't.
These are the most helpful links that we found
http://www.pbcomp.com.au/laptop-notebook-troubleshoot.html
http://nepcw.com/blog/?p=32
http://www.asklaptopfreak.com/laptop-notebook-help/2006/07/12/test-fl-inverter-input-and-output/
http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/12/09/replace-laptop-backlight-ccfl-lamp/
My friend invested £2.50 in the user manual from
http://www.user-guides.co.uk/ and thought that it was good value for
money. Lots of illustrations. He hasn't actually fixed it yet because he
hasn't had time but is confident that he can.
Good Luck
Roger
