Do laptop video cards die?

[david-8uUts6sDVDvs2Lz0fTdYFQ at public.gmane.org (David Kramer)]

David Kramer wrote:
> 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.

I neglected to mention (in my panic) that this is a Dell D820 running 
Ubuntu 9.04.

After the cp -a finishes, I'm going to try to edit my Grub to default to 
Windows.  Since I don't see the BIOS screen I can't imagine Windows will 
work, but at least if I bring it in to repair somewhere, it will be 
easier for them.