My screen won't turn on unless you aim it really close towards an outside light. Otherwise it stays off. Fixable?

that sounds like the backlight....

Is it fixable or do I need a new phone?

It's automatic feature...it brightens it in birght situations for viewing and dims it according to ambient light. To test if it's working place your thumb over the LED (thats where the sensor is) it should light the screen but dimly and your keyboard and trackball should light up because it thinks it's dark.

Menu>options>Screen/Keyboard

And you will be in the menu that you can control the brightness and timeout.

E-

not unless you feel like replacing the screen if its out of warranty. have you tried playing with the auto dim function??

edit

Yea I have tried and only the keyboard lights up when I press any button.

the screen will not light up if i'm in a dark environment, otherwise it works fine with abundant light around.