rchrdkranium

Testing the backlight is easy. There should still be an image on-screen that can be viewed in certain lighting conditions.

Think of it like a cellphone screen, it also has the lcd and a backlight. When the cellphone goes into sleep mode, it will usually shut off the backlight first. If you shift your phone around in sunlight, you'll still see your screen image until the phone fully enters its sleep mode.

So if it is just the backlight, you should be able to shift the screen around in sunlight/strong light and still see an image while the computer is awake.

As for the cost of replacement, I can't answer that. I still prefer the CRT on my desktop at home (better cost/performace for photo work), the LCD's at work are their problem and this is the first time I've owned a laptop.