monitor problems with my dell xps m1710

[manutdstott]

Hi I own Dell Xps M1710, and all of a sudden when it starts up the screen/monitor flickers a lot with lots of little blue lines going through it, or most times the laptop starts up and the monitor, but then the monitor goes off/blank,
any suggestions please people?
many thanks to all who reply/.

[ChuckFickens]

does it work OK if you connect an external monitor?

there are a few options to what it could be..

bad connection at either the screen end or the board end of the video cable (not that likely, but the cheapest to check, often just applying pressure to the right part of the screen will change the lines or cure it for a short time if it's the screen end of the cable, external monitor will work fine)

Faulty LCD screen (if it is an external monitor will work fine)

Faulty graphics card/graphics memory (external monitor will have the same problem, time for a new laptop if it is)