Help please on 2 points......

[Amber-Rose]

(1) I was in the middle of looking up my bank on the internet when my laptop suddenly went darker - like somebody had turned the lights down.. it's still like that now. I have shut down and started it again, but its still quite dim.
(2) I used Gmail and sometimes when I am typing an email, I am busy typing away and there is no text - a few seconds delay and then the text appears.

I am positive the two are not related as its only now just gone dark and the delay in the text in Gmail happens quite a lot.

Hope you understand and any advice would be appreicated. thank you.

[Buenchico]

The text delay is almost certainly caused by something hogging all of the processing power on your laptop. When it occurs, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and click the Processes tab. Look down the CPU column. You'd normally expect every percentage there to show either '00' or a very low figure. Only System Idle Process should be above 80% (and probably above 90%). Anything else is worrying.

Sorry, I've not got a clue about the other problem!

[bednobs]

mine goes dim if it's not plugged in

[hc4361]

Have you tried adjusting the brightness on your laptop? Usually the FN key + the sunshine key

[sara3]

I agree with Bednobs. your charger may have packed in.

[esorlasor]

buy a new one would be better..