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Patient: my Dell XPS M1210.

Symptoms: Reddish screen, backlight would turn off by itself.

Possible Problems: LCD backlight failure.

Solution: Replace backlight or Replace LCD.

Cost: $75 for a used AUO B121EW02.

My laptop is more than 3 years old, and the LCD decided to die on me right after my warranty is over.

To get it recertified for warranty would cost me $300. To get it repaired without the warranty would cost me $400 from Dell.

The LCD had a red tint to it, it is most likely the inverter or LCD backlight that is failing, but a reddish screen would most likely indicate a failing backlight. I can replace the backlight tube for $10, which is something I would like to avoid because it would require tearing the LCD apart and solder the new tubes. Too risky and much work for $10.

Other 3 screens used by Dell for this M1210 laptop is a AUO B121EW03 (AUO3214), Samsung LTN121W1 (SEC3157) and the Toshiba LTD121EXPD (LCD58E), listed in the most desired to the least desired. The LCD came with my laptop was a Toshiba LTD121EXPD. It is one of the worst LCD with light leakage from the bottom.

Toshiba LTD121EXPD (LCD58E) (Dell XPS M1210) vs AUO B121EW02 (AUO2114) (Dell 710m)

source: http://www.notebookforums.com/thread165050.html

From the picture above, you can see how faded the color is compared to a Dell 710m screen.

Why I chose a B121EW02 instead of B121EW03? Because it has a better viewing angle.

Here’s the reddish screen.

After replacing the LCD.

Conclusion: LCD are not hard to replace, but is it worth it to replace? You can get LCDs for ~$80 from eBay claiming that they are new (They will provide a compatible one).  Different LCDs have different quality, it depends if you are picky as me or not. Since my laptop has a 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM and GeForce 7400 (not great but better than onboard graphic cards). It is still worth it to replace the LCD considering that a similar spec new laptop would cost at least $500.

If you laptop is slower than a Core 2 Duo, consider upgrading.