Vaio Laptop Display issue

[kingoftowns]

okay here is my problem.

i have a Sony VGN-S260 laptop and whenever i try to turn it on, nothing comes up on the screen, i have to remove the battery and try again to power it on, i must do this sometimes 6-7 times before the screen comes on, also once the screen comes on after a while or if i am moving around alot the laptop freezes for about a minute then the screens resolution goes way low and it gives me an error saying the video drivers have a problem.

here is what i have done:

i know it is NOT a windows or driver error because it happens as soon as i press the power button way before the OS even tries to load

i have reseated all the cables from my laptop to the screen and made sure there were no loose connections

i believe it is either the graphics or main board itself in which case i would have to replace the entire motherboard but i am not 100% sure and would like to be before i spend the money on a new mobo

any idea what else it could be?

thanks
Mike

[jayb1234]

Could be the battery getting ready to die. Try a different battery if you have one.

[kingoftowns]

no its not the battery i already tried that

[Thebranded]

how old is it? get sony to look at it if its under warrenty?

If you have a external monitor pluged in does it work?

[kingoftowns]

it is no longer under warranty, i will try an external monitor, but what will that tell me, if it works it could be just the controller for the lcd if it does not it could be the graphics board or the main board, either way i am still in the same position

[jayb1234]

Take a look at the battery contacts, look for corrosion. Also the contacts might have gotten compressed over time, try bending them up slightly if that is an option. (not sure myself, never had a laptop) The fact that it is taking several reinsertions of the battery and that it does it when you are moving around makes me suspect that it might be one of the above.

[kingoftowns]

it has nothing to do with the battery, when i hit the power button all the lights come on and the hard drive and disk drive kick to life and stay on just nothing on the screen

[glc]

Regardless of whether it's the mainboard or the graphics adapter, it will probably require a mainboard replacement either way as most laptops don't have a removable graphics chip.

The only other thing I can think of to look at is the ram. Try reseating it, run diagnostics on it.

[jayb1234]

Try a different cable if you have one.

[kingoftowns]

yeah i already tested the ram and that is not the problem, ok i guess i will go ahead with purchasing a new mainboard