LCD display

Could be a lot of things: here is general tips for no backlight:

First if there is a suspend switch (usually right below the LCD sticking out of the notebook) make sure its not pushed down.

second: Did the LCD have a red tint before it failed? if not its probably the inverter. If it did then its probably the backlight, but its best to test the inverter using a known good LCD first.

If you dont have one, then any repair shop that deals with laptops should be able to diagnose this pretty quickly (you shouldnt pay more than a 1/2-3/4 hour labor to take apart and diagnose.

if it really needs a backlight, it is a very difficult thing to replace the backlight - i see more people break the screen or electronics on the LCD trying to replace a backlight. always try an inverter first which is only about $20-$50 for the dells.

Its usually comparable in cost to buy an LCD ($100-$200 for the part on most models) than replace the backlight (150-220 is the typical labor charges i have seen. Just find out the part number of the LCD to match up a replacement. Try Bliss which sells screens on ebay - nice company to deal with and has a wide variety of screens,

http://stores.ebay.com/BLISS-COMPUTERS-LCD-SCREEN-STORE

Hope this helps!