THE> ..hope this is not too off topic..  Have a friend with a Lenovo
THE> ideapad.  The screen stays black and does not light up
THE> whatsoever.  Would anyone have suggestions for best way to go
THE> with it?

Try plugging the thing into a monitor while it's powered off, then
power it on and see if you get anything that way.  It could be that
the display is fried.

Does the disk spin up?  Does it have windows on it?  Can you put a USB
thumb drive on the system and try to boot from that (knoppix is really
good for this, or one of the system rescue linux images).

THE> The sticker on it gives further info: Windows 8, intel core i5,
THE> and Ultrabook.

Would need more, like the model number.

THE> The power button lights up and stays on when you try to turn the
THE> unit on, as long as you keep the power cord plugged in.
THE> Apparently the battery holds no charge.  The keyboard keys
THE> quickly flash once also when the start button is hit.

which keys flash? 

THE> The case does show some dents, and they say it was dropped a few times.

LOL!

THE> They've tried disconnecting the battery thing with no luck.

External display is my first bet.  Remove the hardware as well if
possible. 
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