Laptop Backlight

I’ve had my HP (dv1331se) laptop for 2-3 years now. So far it’s been a really great desktop replacement, but the LCD backlight decided to kick the bucket.

I messed with the rubber thing that turns off the backlight just hoping that it got caught on something (I even ran the computer without the switch cover on) with no luck. It looks like the backlight bulb (my guess) or the inverter board will have to be replaced. That means paying between $100 and $200 (really rough estimate) for parts, and $150 to take the computer into a shop if I decide not to do the repairs myself… or I could go all out and just replace the entire LCD for $800!

I just hope tracking down parts won’t be very hard since even HP doesn’t seem to sell them.