The display on my PowerBook failed this morning. From what I can tell, it's just the inverter for the backlight -- I can still sort of see the display, as long as there's lots of ambient light (or a flashlight) shining on it.
Fortunately, the PowerBook G3 FireWire (aka "Pismo") has a VGA connector on the back. I plugged in the monitor from my Linux box and, with a judicious amount of squinting, set up display mirroring. Now I can at least see what I'm typing.
I just picked up a new inverter board on eBay for about US$12 after shipping. (Note: I believe in supporting my local certified Apple repair shop, but I figure the minimum labor charge would be at least US$75, which is getting dangerously close to how much I'm willing to spend on this laptop.) One of these days I should try to find a new backlight; for some time this one has been exhibiting the dreaded "pink Pismo display" problem.
