I finally bought a new monitor cable and tried it. No luck!
I even tried the new cable with another system.
I think my "just over 3-year warranty" monitor may need servicing.
Are there any long lasting quality monitors out there?
I may need to shop for one if my current monitor is
not worth fixing.


"BruceR" wrote in message
.. .
Sometimes just unpluging and plugging the cable a few times will clear
things up.

Ryan wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions. I hope I'm going to
Circuit City for a cable only and not a monitor.


"Robert L. Bass" wrote in message
...
Hmmm ... I checked the cable connection on both ends.
It seems very secure. I'll get a new cable and try that.

The amber coloring is very even across the entire screen.
And, it's giving me a headache.

That doesn't sound like degaussing will be of any use at all. If
you have a RatShak nearby, get a can ov volume control cleaner.
Squirt a little on / in the cable pins. Gently brush the pins with
a cotton swab. Try it again.

If this fails, it's probably failing internally. Go to Circuit
City. Do not pass GO. Do not stop at Best Buy (ever). Best of
luck.

BTW, I had to look up the meaning of the acronym.

I guessed based on the "language preferences" of the other poster.
:^)

Regards,
Robert

=============================
Bass Home Electronics, Inc
2291 Pine View Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34231
877-722-8900 Sales & Tech Support
941-925-9747 Fax
941-232-0791 Wireless
Nextel Private ID - 161*21755*1
http://www.bass-home.com
=============================

My current one on this particular machine is a 19" Philips. It works OK
with the Nvideo card in my XP. I think I've had this one about two and a
half years. So far no problems have arisen.

Regards,
Robert

=============================
Bass Home Electronics, Inc
2291 Pine View Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34231
877-722-8900 Sales & Tech Support
941-925-9747 Fax
941-232-0791 Wireless
Nextel Private ID - 161*21755*1
http://www.bass-home.com
=============================

I guess I could try playing with the ViewMatch Color (or RBG) settings a
bit before
shelling out the $$$ for a new monitor. Any suggestions of a quality
monitor (either
CRT or flat panel) without spending a fortune these days? Or, isn't there
such a thing?

For ~$170, the Philips 109B40 (19'', 1920x1440 DPI, .21mm)
doesn't sound bad. Does anyone out there have any info on
(the quality of) the internals of this monitor (or its closest predecessor)?
Any known common problems/repairs?

I don't think I'm going to spend a fortune (~$900) on
top-of-the-line monitors anymore, especially if they're going to
go bad not long after the 3-year warranty period.


"Robert L. Bass" wrote in message
...
My current one on this particular machine is a 19" Philips. It works OK
with the Nvideo card in my XP. I think I've had this one about two and a
half years. So far no problems have arisen.

Regards,
Robert

=============================
Bass Home Electronics, Inc
2291 Pine View Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34231
877-722-8900 Sales & Tech Support
941-925-9747 Fax
941-232-0791 Wireless
Nextel Private ID - 161*21755*1
http://www.bass-home.com
=============================

I guess I could try playing with the ViewMatch Color (or RBG) settings a
bit before
shelling out the $$$ for a new monitor. Any suggestions of a quality
monitor (either
CRT or flat panel) without spending a fortune these days? Or, isn't there
such a thing?

Is there an XP or Win2K compatible driver, Marc?

I have a pair of essentially unused Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 21" (20"
viewable) with built-in touchscreens that are excess to my needs.

I bought them as backups for interactive museum display of realtime
water-quality measurements in an underground (cave) stream that I
installed
but I haven't had a field failure.

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 23:07:26 -0400, "Robert L. Bass"
wrote in message
:

Is there an XP or Win2K compatible driver, Marc?

I have a pair of essentially unused Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 21" (20"
viewable) with built-in touchscreens that are excess to my needs.

I bought them as backups for interactive museum display of realtime
water-quality measurements in an underground (cave) stream that I
installed but I haven't had a field failure.


Windows™ XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows 9x, and Windows Me drivers
and calibration/settings programs he
http://www.3m.com/3MTouchSystems/dow.../drivers.jhtml

I've only used the XP and W2K drivers. The latest versions allow
coordination of touch screens on two (multiple?) monitors.

Also links to third-party Linux drivers.

My experience with touchscreens is that how well the setup and calibration
controls work can be make-or-break. 3M's control programs for these
monitors (formerly MicroTouch) are quite good. On a big screen, five-point
calibration (rather than the more common 2- or 3-point), being able to
accurately define the spatial relation between the touch point and the
actual active "mouse" area, converting single-touch -- double click, click
on release, and so on are all very useful.

.... Marc

www.ECOntrol.org

Would you be interested in a swap? I have a few thousand items from which
you might choose. :^)

Regards,
Robert

=============================
Bass Home Electronics, Inc
2291 Pine View Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34231
877-722-8900 Sales & Tech Support
941-925-9747 Fax
941-232-0791 Wireless
Nextel Private ID - 161*21755*1
http://www.bass-home.com
=============================

Is there an XP or Win2K compatible driver, Marc?

I have a pair of essentially unused Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 21" (20"
viewable) with built-in touchscreens that are excess to my needs.

I bought them as backups for interactive museum display of realtime
water-quality measurements in an underground (cave) stream that I
installed but I haven't had a field failure.


WindowsT XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows 9x, and Windows Me drivers
and calibration/settings programs he
http://www.3m.com/3MTouchSystems/dow.../drivers.jhtml

I've only used the XP and W2K drivers. The latest versions allow
coordination of touch screens on two (multiple?) monitors.

Also links to third-party Linux drivers.

My experience with touchscreens is that how well the setup and calibration
controls work can be make-or-break. 3M's control programs for these
monitors (formerly MicroTouch) are quite good. On a big screen, five-point
calibration (rather than the more common 2- or 3-point), being able to
accurately define the spatial relation between the touch point and the
actual active "mouse" area, converting single-touch -- double click,
click
on release, and so on are all very useful.

... Marc

www.ECOntrol.org

My expectations might have been higher with this monitor since
I spent so much on it. Also, I've never had a monitor go bad on
me before. But then, my employers probably never gave any
monitor enough time to go bad.

For ~$150, the KDS Visual Sensations VS-190IS (19'', 1600x1200, .25mm)
seems like another good candidate to look into.

Any other suggestions/comments out there?


"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 22:46:31 GMT, "Ryan" pixelated:

I guess I could try playing with the ViewMatch Color (or RBG) settings a bit before
shelling out the $$$ for a new monitor. Any suggestions of a quality monitor (either
CRT or flat panel) without spending a fortune these days? Or, isn't there such a thing?

Robert's right in that most monitors seem to last only
3-4 years. I just upgraded to a 19" KDS for $269, about
half the price I paid for the cheapo ADI 17" or the 17"
CTX, the old monitor of my fondest memory. Since I'm no
longer building my own, I had fallen out of touch with
the brands. The man who built my current system said that
the KDS had a good, solid chassis and fewer problems than
any other monitor he had sold in the previous several years.
Combined with a 3 year warranty, that was good enough for me.


---------------------------------------------------
I drive way too fast to worry about my cholesterol.
---------------------------------------------------
http://www.diversify.com Refreshing Graphic Design

Since I've never had a monitor go bad on me before,
I went ahead and invested the big bucks on a really nice 21" monitor.
Now that I've learned my lesson, I don't think I'll be doing that again.
I'm going to buy mainstream hardware (not state-of-the-art).
BTW, I also built my own system and am usually very gentle with
my equipment. The only banging that this monitor might have
gone through is during shipping since I bought it online,
which people advise against. So, I may be paying a little more for
the monitor if I don't buy online. But, I'll be able to easily return/exchange it.

For now, I'm staying with a CRT since I don't believe that
LCD technology is mature enough yet. There's still too many
problems with faulty/defective pixels. And, the price is
a factor as well.


"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 06:52:52 GMT, "Ryan" pixelated:

My expectations might have been higher with this monitor since
I spent so much on it. Also, I've never had a monitor go bad on
me before. But then, my employers probably never gave any
monitor enough time to go bad.

I usually upgraded computers within that time and have gone
from 14 to 15 to 17 to 19" in that time. One 14-incher got
flaky and the ADI focus coil got loose, but I've been fairly
lucky with monitors, too. I probably smack them less than
other folks since I used to build systems and understand 'em
more.

For ~$150, the KDS Visual Sensations VS-190IS (19'', 1600x1200, .25mm)
seems like another good candidate to look into.

I see that prices have dropped again since January. Wow!

Any other suggestions/comments out there?

I suppose that digital LCDs would be OK for h/a
display but I don't like them for design work or
watching movies. My satellite system showed me
the limitations of removing too many colors. I'm
guessing that the dark backgrounds in scenes are
posterized from a combination of video compression
and color reduction. LCDs are still more costly,
too.


---------------------------------------------------
I drive way too fast to worry about my cholesterol.
---------------------------------------------------
http://www.diversify.com Refreshing Graphic Design

You should try better power conditioning, in that case. I find monitor
failures to be very rare and still have several 10+ year old monitors that
I use for service, with pictures almost as good as when they were knew.

One of our three Sony GDM17SE1 monitors finally failed, but I used
some of the parts to convert a Silicon Graphics monitor of the same
basic chassis and vintage to separate-sync a few months ago.

I use a Square D whole-house power line filter/surge protector, and APC
SmartUPS's on most equipment.

We buy Sony, NEC, and the occasional ViewSonic. They all have excellent
longevity. The Mags we bought a few years ago are pretty much all ready for
the trash just because the image was never very good, even when new.

"Robert L. Bass" wrote:

Three years is about all I expect from a monitor. By that time they all
seem to fail. Note, however, that I live in an area where severe
thunderstorms are an almost daily experience for several months of the year.

On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 15:30:57 -0500, Mike Berger wrote in
message :

Overall, you'll have better longevity and service from higher end
equipment. All monitors, disk drives, etc. are not alike.

It's funny that people are so concerned about how much turbulence
the monitor will go through when shipped a couple hundred miles, but
they're not concerned about the 8000 miles it travelled from the
manufacturer. They design the boxes to absorb a lot of impact.

Some monitors can take a lot even without a box. For my field work I bought
an original c. 1988 NEC 800x560 TTL/EGA/PGA Multisync when they first came
out that was bounced over hill and dale in a stiff-springed 4x4 field
research lab vehicle (not your Grandma's SUV), powered by generators and
dreadful DC--square-wave converters and floating grounds for five years
without a hiccup.

In about 1992 I bought a used one just like it (but even more beat up) for
personal use that was in daily service until a couple of years ago when
having to manually adjust so that it wouldn't roll at 800x600 (it was only
spec'd to 800x560) became too tedious and I gave it away. 'Far as I know,
it's still connected to a server somewhere -- ~15 years after it was made
and IIRC, back before VGA was even released.

.... Marc

Thanks for the suggestion, Mike. I used to use a constant-on 3KW UPS in my
office in CT. As I recall monitors lasted a lot longer up there. Then
again, CT gets about 1% as much lightning as FL does. However, I almost
never lost any hardware due to power slams because we were almost never
running untreated power from the grid.

Regards,
Robert

=============================
Bass Home Electronics, Inc
2291 Pine View Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34231
877-722-8900 Sales & Tech Support
941-925-9747 Fax
941-232-0791 Wireless
Nextel Private ID - 161*21755*1
http://www.bass-home.com
=============================

You should try better power conditioning, in that case. I find monitor
failures to be very rare and still have several 10+ year old monitors that
I use for service, with pictures almost as good as when they were knew.

One of our three Sony GDM17SE1 monitors finally failed, but I used
some of the parts to convert a Silicon Graphics monitor of the same
basic chassis and vintage to separate-sync a few months ago.

I use a Square D whole-house power line filter/surge protector, and APC
SmartUPS's on most equipment.

We buy Sony, NEC, and the occasional ViewSonic. They all have excellent
longevity. The Mags we bought a few years ago are pretty much all ready
for
the trash just because the image was never very good, even when new.

"Robert L. Bass" wrote:

Three years is about all I expect from a monitor. By that time they all
seem to fail. Note, however, that I live in an area where severe
thunderstorms are an almost daily experience for several months of the
year.