Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

You jarred my memory! I just realized that I have two HDTVs in another room. Part of the problem is that I have painful "Bursitis" in one hip (from moving furniture) and I'm not able get around until that heals. I sent my wife downstairs to see if if those HDTV have an HDMI port and had her take a photo of the ports in the back of the TV. They do have HDMI ports and I have a spare HDMI cable! When I get some help I'll be able to find out if the problem is with my screen driver chip or the monitor it's self.

I wonder if the HDMI port on my computer is driven by the same chip that drives the monitor on my laptop? Probably not!

Maybe I'll be able to set up an extra HDTV in the same room as my MacBook Pro to let me use my computer until the new one I want comes out.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

It won't help to attach a new monitor. The problem is probably your graphics card. I had the same problem with my last Dell computer and tried attaching another monitor but just got the same thing on it. The Dell tech diagnosed it as the graphics card, which is on the mother board, which essentially mean the computer was kaput.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

If I can remember his name, you can probably watch a video of this guy replacing that screen. Louis Rossman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtjsCnEhnCg

HawaiianEye Loc: Haleiwa, Hawaii

Apple's current MBPro has a 16" screen, an i9 CPU, etc. It's ~$2400 to $2800. <https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/16-inch>

A cheaper alternative is to try an external monitor. Assuming you have the 17" MBPro Core2Duo, it has a 'Dual-link DVI' port through which, using an adapter can drive an external monitor. It will take a bit of a search, perhaps even the used market as monitors with DVI ports are rare, having been replaced with HDMI ports (slightly inferior IMO). There are adapters to HDMI, but I'd go for a monitor with a DVI port if you can find one.

Consider repair. Try Louis Rossman in NYC (he's a frequent poster on youtube). The 17" MBPro is 16 years old now, so parts may no longer be available, but if you like your machine, it would be worth a phone call or email.

schaut

Why not just buy a used one? Try going on Ifixit and search for answers. Nothing wrong with a good refurb either! I have 2! A lot of possibilities!

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

Thanks for the ideas. Sometime my screen works good enough so I can respond. Sometimes it's a total mess!
Sorry if I can't respond.

I think it's the screen because I can press on the screen and change the lines. Everything is going bad at once. I'm laid up with bursitis in one hip that taking a ling time to heal. Now they are calling for a snow storm and I live on top of a hill with a very long driveway. I do have a 4-wheel drive SUV but I'm in no shape to shovel snow. I may need to switch over to my iPhone. Argggh!

I holding off until Apple comes out with 16 inch M2 Macbook Pro. I might have a long wait!

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

I just made an appointment to bring my damaged old MacBook pro to the local Apple store and have them repair/replace the damaged screen. My date is December 26th. If this gives me another year's use out of my computer I'll replace it with a fully loaded 16 inch M2 MacBook Pro when they come out in about a year. I have backed up all the data and will have them to a low level format before they send it off for repair. This way my financial and other data will be secure.

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

I carried my old MacBook Pro into the Apple store. They replaced the screen and put a new battery in it. I'm good now and wait can until Apple comes out with the M chip MacBook Pro with a 16 or 17 inch screen.