I sent my laptop back to dell last Fall. The screen would mess up and a gentle slap would fix it. Dell replaced the entire lid/display. I could tell because the old lid was scratched. 
Now, I’ve developed a red vertical line in the middle of the screen. Sometimes 4 or 5 lines (same area) when I open the lid. They fade quickly. But, I always have the one line. Slapping the display doesn’t help.
My warranty has run out. Any way that I can fix this myself?
You can localize the problem a bit pretty easily. Plug in an external monitor, set to mirror the built-in display. If the external monitor has the line, the problem is in the video card. If it doesn’t, the problem is in the built-in display.
I’ll give that a try. Thanks!
I used to work for the Dell Resolution Expert Center in Nashville,TN. There’s a good chance if you escalate the call through the unresolved issues section of their website ( Support | Dell US ) they may be able to help you again. I saw many cases where my colleagues at that center wouldn’t help out of warranty customers, had it escalated further to the CEO and the call kicked back to the REC and told to give the customer what they want. Not trying to suggest you abuse the system but hey it does sound like a problem that you shouldn’t have to pay for. I’ve got 4 old Dell systems (2 PIII’s and a P4 portables and a Celeron desktop) that still work great and have never had any problems with other then the obvious they’re just slow compared to newer systems. You would ultimately either have to send the system to someone in the REC to replace the display or have them send you the display to replace. I can’t imagine the problem not being related to the display screen itself. It’s possible you may just need to reseat the cable to the MB also.