I have a client who still uses Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100's for a vintage security entry system to their old buildings. These units we installed in 1984. They are still plugging along. These folks are farming oriented folks and the area is the northern end of the Sacramento Valley. These units screens haven't died died yet. You might need a dark room and a large flashlight to get the reflective LCD design to produce adequate pixel light up - but that was true from day one. Model100s were never what anyone would call "high-end LCDs" - Tandy product manager probably couldn't spell high-end, let alone purchase anything from a manufacturer who built stuff like that :-)
I have one law enforcement client who has a 1991 15-inch LCD display which has been turned on 24 - 7 365 since it was bought new. Runs a kiosk style application in their lobby. We still use PoqetPC MS-DOS handheld units for the wife's book writing library research work while we are on the road. The biggest problem with them was, and still is, the hinge design failure problems; rather than LCD failure. Although on the PoqetPC list, LCD failure questions are showing up more often. I have one PoqetPC Classic unit that has been turned on and used at least once a week since Fall 1989 COMDEX. That LCD display still is as good as it was when it was originally shipped from Japan in Spring 1989. I too have a collection of vintage laptops - mostly '486 stuff, but a couple of '386s - all with LCD displays. They are all over 13 years old and the LCD's work okay. Most are just as poor at displaying characters with low-res washout and all are lousy in bright sunlight as they were when they were first built. But then there is my new Kyocera 7145 PDA/cell phone color LCD which is great indoors but washes out in bright sunlight. My original Compaq 80286 lugable with CRT monitor still works just like it did on the first day I bought it. Has the optional ATI righ-res CGA video card so you can run color applications on the "green screen" CRT. Soooo, my personal experience with most LCDs is they have a life expectancy equal too, if not better than CRT monitors. Probably mostly because they were a higher price point product when built and purchased than cheapy CRT monitors. John Oram Lance Lyon wrote: >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Charles Angelich" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Saturday, September 27, 2003 9:54 PM >Subject: Re: [SURVPC] Monitors - compatible > > > > > >>Interesting, my experiences with CGA monitors has been the reverse - they >> >> >die > > >>shortly after I reconfigure to use them. ;-) >> >>In the tech echo on FIDO the people there have repeated several times that >>capacitors will dry up if the monitor is stored and not in use. I suspect >> >> >this > > >>has been the case for my CGA monitors. >> >> > >True for most older equipment - I have a couple of dead PETs suffering from >this problem - one day "soon" I'll fix 'em. > >Several old Commodore 108x monitors here - one of 'em has been in daily use >since around '87 as a monitor attached to a VCR in my bedroom - apart from >the odd dry solder every now & again (par for the course with these), never >had a problem. Others are used for a variety of other tasks, including a >1084S (stereo) that's attached to the TV tuner card on this 'puter. > >They also turn up quite frequently as monitors attached to security cameras >in many shops & banks :-) They seem to go forever :-) Most of 'em are >Philips jobs re-branded. > >cheers, > >Lance > >// http://commodore.thebbs.org > telnet://commodore.thebbs.org > > Since 1987 - Australia's oldest Amiga BBS // > > >--- >Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. >Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). >Version: 6.0.520 / Virus Database: 318 - Release Date: 19/09/2003 > >To unsubscribe from SURVPC send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with >unsubscribe SURVPC in the body of the message. >Also, trim this footer from any quoted replies. >More info can be found at; >http://www.softcon.com/archives/SURVPC.html > > > > > To unsubscribe from SURVPC send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe SURVPC in the body of the message. Also, trim this footer from any quoted replies. More info can be found at; http://www.softcon.com/archives/SURVPC.html
