HELP - did my cat just ruin my laptop screen?

i was sitting there on the couch and my fat old cat was curled up sleeping next to me. my laptop was in front of me on one of those folding TV trays, along with my wireless mouse and a pint glass of beer with maybe 2 ounces left in it (aka it's almost gone).

a loud noise from the upstairs neighbor spooked her, and she immediately jumped up and tried to run away...except she ran head first into the TV tray. the tray fell over, the open laptop fell to the floor, and the remaining 2 ounces of beer in the pint glass was splashed onto the screen of the laptop.

this is what my screen looks like on the Google homepage after roughly half an hour. did my cat just ruin my laptop, or will this dry out and look normal tomorrow?

also, in case you're tempted to hate on my fat cat - i've attached a picture of Miss Peaches. she was born on 3/3/03 (making her almost 10 years old) and she tips the scales at almost 22lbs. she has apologized profusely since the incident and promises to pay for all damages.

damnit, now it's flickering on the right side (which seemed actually to be getting better) - but now the flickering is moving throughout the rest of the screen





will a hair dryer on the COOL setting do harm to my laptop

So that's from beer touching the screen? Weird.

Quote from calistyle : So that's from beer touching the screen? Weird.

no, that's from a few ounces of beer splashing onto the screen, obviously mostly on the right side...and soaking in before i could wipe it all up....i guess?

it's a farking Dell OK?!?!

I've had laptop screens get wet while working outside. I just wiped them off and there weren't any problems as a result, so maybe it had more to do with the falling aspect.

You're not supposed to use electronics after they get wet.

I have heard of laptops being fully submersed into pools, drying out, and coming out okay. But, the key is to let it dry... not keep using it hoping that it gets better.

Quote from Hawk2007 : You're not supposed to use electronics after they get wet. I have heard of laptops being fully submersed into pools, drying out, and coming out okay. But, the key is to let it dry... not keep using it hoping that it gets better.

duly noted, i'll shut it down and see if it comes back tomorrow

Good luck!

i'm on my old laptop now, and if my new laptop doesn't come back to life.....this fat cat is gonna go hungry for at least 12 hours

Do not turn it back on today. I'd wait until at least tomorrow. Hell, if it were me, I'd wait until next week to try it.

Open it up and lay it face down on a towel.

How much beer did you give the cat?

Fear not. It's likely beer leaked into the VGA cable connection on the back side of the screen. The lid can be disassembled and the cable unplugged, then dried out with the hair drier. The worst thing could be, it got into the LCD screen itself (yeah, it can happen) and it's about $75 to $95 to replace the screen.

Get a dog... problem solved