Please Help LCD Problem

Hello
I have been lurking on the forums for a while trying to decide if I should get the 8600, I finally decided to get one because most people here that have one seem to be very happy with it. My new 8600 arrived on the 3rd and one of the first things I did was try out a DVD, it looked great very sharp and I had 2 hours of battery life left after it was done. I did have one problem , the screen had a bright white light on the top and bottom of the screen. It is really noticeable when playing a DVD or whenever there is a dark background on the screen. Because of the white light I knew it was a Sharp screen from reading the post on this forum, I also did a check in knoppix to make sure. I then tried to play a game of Battlefield 1942 and was playing for around 10 minutes when I started to get the Horizontal Rain problem so I had to quit and go back to the desktop. I was disappointed that I had both a bad screen and a defective Radeon card, I had a good idea that I might have a problem with the screen but wasn’t even thinking the card would be a problem. My next step was to call Dell Tech Support to report the problem so I could have them come and replace them. This is where I ran into a problem. When I asked the tech on the phone if they could send a Samsung screen out to replace the Sharp screen he said ”We can only replace a Sharp LCD with another Sharp LCD” or “ We can only replace apples with apples”. I called three times to see if I could talk to somebody that could help me and send out a Samsung screen but I think I wasted my 2 hours and didn’t get anywhere. I have read that several people on these forums have gotten Dell to send the Samsung screen out to them and I was wondering if you could tell me how you did it. Should I ask for a manager or is there a different number to call other than tech support to get them to send the better screen out?

Thank You for all your help
Sean
bastage@adelphia.net

P.S. Sorry for the long post

8600
1.7 Pentium M
15.4 WUXGA (Sharp)
512 RAM
60 Gig HD 7200
1400 Truemobile
ATI 9600 Pro 128ram

I sent out an email after I got of the phone today so I hope to get a reply soon. I just got the laptop 3 days ago so I am still under the 30 days to return it, if I don't get them to send out a samsung soon I will return it. I don't want to send it back I really like it the battery life and the wireless works great.

Thanks for your help
If anybody else has ideas I would be glad to hear them

I believe the part number for the Sharp screen is 6P890. I hope I get all this straightened out.

Okay I will just have Dell send me out a new screen and hope it's a Samsung. Are there any other differences between the Samsung and Sharp besides the Sharp screen being brighter? I think the screen I have now looks great except for the very top and bottom.

Thanks again for everybody's help
Sean

Okay just a little update. I called Dell this morning to set up a date to come out to the house to replace the screen and video card, he told me that the Radeon 9600 is on back order so it would take a few days longer for them to ship it to the local tech. I also asked if he could tell me what screen they were shipping to me and he said that it was a Samsung and not a Sharp like they were saying before. I am okay with waiting a few days to get the new video card and screen now that I know it will be the better LCD.

I am note sure on the part number, I used knoppix to make sure I had a Sharp LCD.
http://www.knoppix.org/

Knoppix is a version of Linux that can boot off of a cd you would just download the image(It is a large download around 600megs) from the website and burn it to a cd, then reboot your computer with the Knoppix disk in the drive and it will begin to boot up. On the screen as it is booting it will say name of the LCD. I might be alot easier to check on Dells website like cyke said but Knoppix would give you another option.

Good luck