iBook hinge and screen backlight loss

[MikeE60369 at aol.com]

I've got a gut feeling that this is something that others may have seen 
before:

I have a white dual-USB 800 mhz iBook.  It's been running perfectly until 
today, when I noticed that if I open the iBook a little past 90 degrees, the 
screen dims.   Nope, actually it just turns off.  (I can still see screen images 
if the ambient lighting is bright enough, and can still operate the iBook, eg 
hit the power button and then "s" to make it go to sleep. And after I get the 
pulsing sleep light, I can awaken the iBook and the backlight comes right back 
on to full brightness.)


This is repeatable in OS X booted from 2 different partitions on the iBook. 
No change after a PRAM zap, or reset of the power manager. The problem will 
occur during a boot up of OS X even when it's just the startup screen (starting 
network, mounting volumes, etc.)

I suspect a mechanical problem such as a pinched power ribbon or whatever, 
but who knows.

Has anyone else seen this before?  I'll be calling Apple support tomorrow (I 
just bought the thing in April, and I do have AppleCare as well).

Michael