Okay, further data point. I left my computer on and plugged in overnight, but closed the cover. By morning, the screen was black, but moving the mouse / typing a key woke it right up to screen saver mode, and it moved gracefully back from there to full on and function.
How do I figure out what setting this was and whether and how I can have it behave this nicely when it is not plugged in?
How do I figure out what setting this was and whether and how I can have it behave this nicely when it is not plugged in?