Well, it looks like my laptop has finally given up the ghost after nearly 4 years. The part that holds the screen upright on the left-hand side has completely broken after being taped in place for the last 6 months or so.

For the past two years the screen has had weird red lines in it that only appear after it gets hot or for whatever other reason. Then I dropped it on the floor once and caused small cracks in the case and weakness on the part where it joins the screen.

For the past few days the black tape I applied has been coming loose and progressively weakening the join, until today when it snapped completely.

The laptop still works and the screen is as it was before, but now the screen doesn't stay upright anymore, causing additional strain on the wires feeding the TFT...

I'll look into getting it fixed, but I suspect it'll cost a small fortune, even if they just need to replace the frame around the screen and the join.

Anyone know what an LCD screen for a Compaq Armada E500 costs? Are they even replaceable?