Dell Latitude E6500 screen not working.

Did a little bit of testing. Swapped out the RAM modules with some other ones and the computer would not turn on at all (caps light flashed on the board.) Put the original RAM back in. Turned the computer on and connected an external monitor. As it would turn out, I cannot get a picture on the external monitor using the VGA port, no matter how many times I push the "external display" function button. (There is a DP port as well but I don't have the equipment to test that.)

Edit: I did notice it was rather warm where the graphics chip is located, after being on for a few minutes.
 
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So what have you tried so far? It's important that you try as many things as you can, because without error messages or melted components it's very hard to troubleshoot a computer, especially with thousands of miles of land in between.
 
So what have you tried so far? It's important that you try as many things as you can, because without error messages or melted components it's very hard to troubleshoot a computer, especially with thousands of miles of land in between.

So far I have tried the following:

  • Using a different power adapter.
  • Tried original RAM, 2GB PC2- 6400, 3GB PC2-5300 (two different batches of the latter, one of which received an unfamiliar POST error: caps lock light flashing then solid)
  • It is worth noting that one of the original RAM modules on its own did not let the computer POST
  • Reseating the display connector
  • Removing the battery
  • Turning up the display brightness, toggling auto-brightness (nothing happens)
  • Pressing the "external display" function key combination with an external VGA monitor connected (monitor confirmed working, but there is no display output from the computer)
  • Removing the hard disk and optical drive
  • Let the computer boot and idle for 10 minutes

I still have not gotten the display to work on this machine.
 
Shame. It seems you have tried everything you could possibly try. If you recently purchased you should try getting a refund or some kind of compensation, because it sounds it's just bad hardware.
 
Shame. It seems you have tried everything you could possibly try. If you recently purchased you should try getting a refund or some kind of compensation, because it sounds it's just bad hardware.

Yes, I was trying to see if I could fix it for a friend. It sucks that it just quit working. Looks like it was already tagged before from a secondhand computer shop for $200.

To be fairly honest I hate servicing laptops (who doesn't?). But I appreciate that you tell me this so I'm not setting myself up to just throw away 50 bucks for a new screen. There is a chance I may be able to test the DisplayPort as a last resort.
 
If it's only the display that doesn't work, which from your previous post it sounds like it is, and external monitors don't work either then it's probably the graphics processor, and not the display itself, which makes it worse, because the display is relatively easy to replace.

Getting a refund is your best shot.

Just to double check, the computer is booting fine? You could maybe find a video of someone powering it on (the same model or similar), observe how it should behave and compare it to what's happening with your computer. If you notice something odd you may find that the problem is somewhere else.

Either way I'd try to get a replacement or the money back.
 
If it's only the display that doesn't work, which from your previous post it sounds like it is, and external monitors don't work either then it's probably the graphics processor, and not the display itself, which makes it worse, because the display is relatively easy to replace.

Getting a refund is your best shot.

Just to double check, the computer is booting fine? You could maybe find a video of someone powering it on (the same model or similar), observe how it should behave and compare it to what's happening with your computer. If you notice something odd you may find that the problem is somewhere else.

Either way I'd try to get a replacement or the money back.

There is hard drive activity and BIOS beeps, so it seems as though the computer is functioning as normal. But as I stated previously the computer is not my own, I was trying to see if I could fix it for a friend of mine. From the hard drive contents, it appears to have been used for gaming.
 
It's the same beeps as when you change the amount of RAM or reset the clock battery or something, that I get sometimes about minute after turning the computer on, and continues to boot whenever I press F1, but who knows.
 
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