Do laptop video cards die?

[David Kramer]

SO I went over to my laptop a few hours ago, and the screen was blank 
and unresponsive.  That usually means my last interaction was on the 
second screen (on my TV with DB15 input), so I blindly type in the 
password, and nothing.
Turn on the TV, and no signal.
C-A-Backspace, and nothing.
C-A-Del, and nothing.
Hard power down (hold down power button for 4 seconds)
Power up again, and nothing on screen.  Not even during BIOS or GRUB.
Panic excessively, and nothing.

However, being Linux, I try to ssh in from another box, and a small tear 
of joy trickles down my cheek.  I start backing up the entire laptop to 
an external USB hard drive (still going).

I noticed the following in Xorg.o.log:

--------------------------------------------------------------
(**) NVIDIA(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
(==) NVIDIA(0): RGB weight 888
(==) NVIDIA(0): Default visual is TrueColor
(==) NVIDIA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
(**) NVIDIA(0): Option "TwinView" "0"
(**) NVIDIA(0): Option "MetaModes" "DFP: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
(**) NVIDIA(0): Enabling RENDER acceleration
(II) NVIDIA(0): Support for GLX with the Damage and Composite X 
extensions is
(II) NVIDIA(0):     enabled.
(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device PCI:1:0:0.
(EE) NVIDIA(0):     Please see the COMMON PROBLEMS section in the README for
(EE) NVIDIA(0):     additional information.
(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device!
(**) NVIDIA(1): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
(==) NVIDIA(1): RGB weight 888
(==) NVIDIA(1): Default visual is TrueColor
(==) NVIDIA(1): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
(**) NVIDIA(1): Option "TwinView" "0"
(**) NVIDIA(1): Option "MetaModes" "CRT: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
(**) NVIDIA(1): Enabling RENDER acceleration
(EE) NVIDIA(1): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device PCI:1:0:0.
(EE) NVIDIA(1):     Please see the COMMON PROBLEMS section in the README for
(EE) NVIDIA(1):     additional information.
(EE) NVIDIA(1): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device!
(II) UnloadModule: "nvidia"
(II) UnloadModule: "wfb"
(II) UnloadModule: "fb"
(II) UnloadModule: "nvidia"
(II) UnloadModule: "wfb"
(II) UnloadModule: "fb"
(EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.
Fatal server error:
no screens found
--------------------------------------------------------------

You can see the full log at
http://www.thekramers.net/tmp/Xorg.0.log

So I'm pretty sure I'm totally screwed, but I want to bounce my 
assumptions off you to see if they're panic-derived or reality-derived

The problem is most likely the video card and not the LCD panel or 
backlight, because:
- I don't see anything on BIOS or GRUB
- I don't see anything on the TV when connected to the external monitor 
jack (and I tried another regular LCD monitor, too).

There's a place close to me (Waltham) in Newton called CTS computers.  I 
used to buy a lot of stuff there back when I built my own frankenboxes a 
few times a year, but I don't know if they do laptops.  Any other 
suggestions near Waltham?

Thanks.