LCD Monitors with Dead Pixels/Columns for Sale? 59
The Other White Meat asks: "I want to put a computer in my kitchen. For space reasons, I want to make it an LCD; a 15" screen would be perfect. This monitor is going to be exposed to harsh conditions (flying food, jumping cats, general mishandling). I don't want to spend so much money on it that if I came home and found it broken that I would be upset by it. I figured there must be plenty of places that will sell LCDs with dead pixels or columns, where I might be able to pick one up in the $50-100 range, but so far I have found nothing. Surely there must be a market for 'Grade B' LCD monitors, for precisely this sort of low life expectancy sort of usage? So fellow readers, can you succeed where Google® has failed, and lead me to the cheapo LCDs?"
Ebay?? (Score:4, Insightful)
Dude, get a... (Score:3, Funny)
They won't charge you $100... (Score:3, Interesting)
Seriously tho, I'm not sure you'll find it. Problems like that show up early on. If somebody buys an LCD and it's got dead pixels, it gets returned. It'll show up again re-conditioned.
Perhaps you'd be better of spending a little more, then getting a laptop that can be closed?
Re:They won't charge you $100... (Score:2, Insightful)
And spill orange juice over the keyboard while reading a recipe?
Re:They won't charge you $100... (Score:2)
Man! What's with the moderations today? The topic is that somebody wants a cheap defective, yet semi-useful LCD to use in the kitchen. He doesn't want to spend lotsa $$$ for something that will likely be damaged. There's nothing off-topic about the parent post!
Ricky, you bring up a good point. I'm sorry you were modded down for it. *Hopes people are meta-moderating*
Manufacturer? (Score:5, Informative)
You also might want to look for places that repair them, and other monitors of that nature. Computer shops, in other words.
Another place might be your local neighborhood TV repair shop. But this might be stretching it a bit, because I've found that most of the shops these days are filled with idiots that wouldn't know the right end of a monitor to look at, let alone fix the innards of it.
And if that all fails, then goto the junkyard and look in the newer SUV's and Van's for the LCD screens that come in some of them... and hope that the grizzled old guy behind the counter doesn't realize that is worth 500 bucks... And doesn't want you to pay with ass-dollars...
Re:Manufacturer? (Score:2)
> some of their 'grade-b' stuff? I'm sure they'll be
> happy to either tell you to buzz off, or send you
> oodles of broken monitors
This sounds like a great idea for other types of hardware (anyone for power supplies that produce 5 and 12 volts AC? heh), but I'd assume that they'd identify flaws in the panels before hooking up the driver electronics, cabling and the outer case etc. And (speculating futher - I don't know that much about the pr
Re:Manufacturer? (Score:2, Interesting)
Of course, when I explained that in return for buying one of their returned monitors, I wanted it cheap ( as in under $100 ), that's when they got hopelessly confused and the conversation went nowhere...
Re:Manufacturer? (Score:1)
Probably hard to find because they are not sold. (Score:5, Informative)
Since the LCD is the only bad part then it's cheaper to find that it doesn't meet specs right off the line before ever attaching any circuitry. The only thing lost at that point is the time to manufacture, and some small amount of materials.
Lastly, most of the big display manufacturers probably have the high-volume LCD lines to the point where units thrown away due to minor defect (but still usable, as in your need) are very low, much less than 10%, probably under 5% or even 1%.
The reason we have specs which include "no dead pixels inside center area, up to eight outside" are not because someone sat down and decided that was the case, or because it was determined that after 8 pixels around the border people started having siezures. It was most likely determined by a bean counter looking at the numbers, and determining that the 95% success rate would include screens which may have up to that many defects in those areas.
Now that they have a starting point, they've refined the process not to reduce dead pixels, but to reduce dead pixels that fall outside those requirements.
I imagine that you can special order LCDs from a major manufacturer in quantity and lower your cost by lowering the requirements, but I doubt it could be profitable for more than a year or two until LCDs finally cost around $100 for the 15" versions.
-Adam
Re:Probably hard to find because they are not sold (Score:2, Interesting)
The circuitry and casing of a monitor is cheap. It's the glass that's expensive. If your theory was right, a 23" LCD wouldn't cost three grand (even though the high-end model is always disproportionately marked-up, if Apple, Sony and SGI can charge $3k, then Acer would gladly come in at $2k if it could be made that cheaply, then generic company B would come in at $1.8k, and so on).
If a 15" LCD sells for around $300, then a manufacturer getting $100 for an LCD with, say, 20 bad pixels would find that prefer
You just don't know where to buy broken laptops. (Score:2)
I got them from Affordable Computers Inc [affordablecomputers.com]. (just a customer)
Obviously that was a few years ago. I've bought other cheap laptops there, and all the parts that they said would work, have worked. I've never paid the big bucks for a lap
IPAQ? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:IPAQ? (Score:1)
Re:IPAQ? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:IPAQ? (Score:1)
anyone who can't is probably not reading
Anyway, keep your 5 points.
From Froogle.google.com (Score:4, Informative)
cheap princeton lcd [neutronexpress.com]
where I found it [google.com]
A little above the price range, but a good deal.
Re:From Froogle.google.com (Score:3, Informative)
Re:From Froogle.google.com (Score:2)
An alternative (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm sure you'll be able to buy the sort of monitor housings they use at museums and the like, with a thick layer of perspex or glass between the monitor and the outside world. That way, you'd get a decent display, and it would be less likely to break due to people spilling things on it, leaning on it, drawing on it, etc.
I wish I could point you in the direction of a useful site... anyone know of anywhere you can buy enclosures like this?
Re:An alternative (Score:2)
Shouldn't take more than an hour or two to build and finish with basic hand tools. Depending on the materials used it should cost anywhere from $25-$75
Re:An alternative (Score:1)
4 hooks = $2
12" x 9" plexi-glass = $10 cut at home depot
sliding shelf = $15 (not sure about that price for a new one... used office furniture stores have them for very little money.)
Re:An alternative (Score:2, Insightful)
Google it (Score:2)
Re:Google it (Score:2)
Now, he could possibly call these people and see if they have any crappy displays sitting around, but someone has already suggested calling the manufacturers directly or going to repair shops so this would
Who buys those LCDs? (Score:2)
Re:Google it (Score:1)
What would be the difficulty involved in splitting a laptop into a base and a monitor connected by a VGA cable?
Ebay or other Auction site (Score:1)
It shouldn't be too hard to hack something together if you don't need a high quality monitor.
Re:Ebay or other Auction site (Score:3, Informative)
Top 5 Reasons to Want Bad Monitors (Score:5, Funny)
4. With those allergies, you're going to sneeze all over the monitor and not see everything already.
3. With luck, the dropout area will be in the same place most banner ads are.
2. You have a nice colorful iMac: you don't care what the machine looks like when turned on, why not save a buck or two?
1. You want to simulate that wonderful snowy look of Viacom cable service.
Antitcoolnews.com is dead (Score:2)
Anyone remember the I-Opener? (Score:5, Interesting)
badflash.com has them for sale for like $50, and I think this includes hard drive.
Re:Anyone remember the I-Opener? (Score:3, Informative)
eliminate the harsh conditions instead (Score:5, Funny)
Kill the cats before you cook them - I suffered a few broken LCDs myself before I figured that one out.
http://www.eio.com/ (Score:3, Informative)
They sell alot of close-out and discontinued LCD products. It looks like most of the ones they sell are meant for TV signals and not RPG computer signals, but if you can get TV Out it might be worth your while.
For example, on their front page they have a Gateway 2000 Solo LCD 12.1" TFT display. It looks like it was meant to go into a laptop, but if you can get a controller for it, it should take an RGB signal as well.
Ia1 (Score:1)
How about this? (Score:2)
Also, ive basically had *no luck* getting this company to honor warranties or anything, so you're prolly on your own.
I think there is a slight misunderstanding here... (Score:2)
Yes, that's the market you would normally buy your LCD. Two or three dead pixels is usually considered good enough to sell to us consumers for full price. Trouble is, there is not 'Grade A' market, or at least, it's very expensive...
Now, unless you really wanna go with a monitor that has at least 3 dead pixels, then...
Why LCD? (Score:2)
First off, must it be rugged? Are we talking kitchen, or 1940s era machine shop?? My wife and I have been using fairly expensive laptops in the kitchen without any problem. If your wife is not a total slob, then why worry about extreme messes on the computer?
Furthermore, why invest in an LCD for this?? Do you live in some cheap $400/month apartment that lacks even a small kitchen? I'm sure that there must be room for a cheapo, standard 15" CRT, or if space is a bit of a premium, a 10" POS style CRT. Maybe
Re:Why LCD? (Score:1)
And as for the clutter in the kitchen, its all mine...
overclocker / hardware websites (Score:2)
First off... (Score:4, Informative)
If you are planning on using it for recipies and similar "text only" needs, find an old 486 laptop, extend the LCD cable, and mount the LCD underneath the countertop. Cut a hole out for the LCD in the counter, and mount the LCD. Use a router to make a countersink edge for a piece of glass or lexan, set flush with the countertop, and sealed in place with clear aquarium silicone sealant (to keep liquids out). Extend the keyboard to a pullout location (a custom "cutting board" style "drawer" would be perfect). On the laptop, run some simple serial terminal software or lynx, and serve up text only via serial comms or a network card (if you have a pc card/pcmcia slot on the old laptop).
If you are looking for old LCDs, try to find the closest used computer recycling shop around your area. Look in the largest city near you. You want a place that is typically located in the "dregs" of the city - the industrial quarters, crack alley - if the city is a coastal city, like LA or San Diego, look into the dock/shipyard areas, too. There are plenty of places like this, many of them selling equipment and junk for fractions of a penny on the dollar. Some of them want to get rid of stuff so bad they will GIVE it to you! I know of three really great places like this here in the Phoenix, AZ area. Larger cities will probably have more to choose from.
These places will generally be scummy - you will get dirty standing still and touching nothing. But this is a *good* thing, because it means you have found a gold mine. Now, you just need to sort through the junk (it is rarely organized well, and even if it is organized, it still needs to be sifted through). Sometimes, you will find a rare gem.
Pertinant to your question, at one of the places I know of, they had got in a huge cache of SONY LCD monitors. The only problem was that most of them had the logic boards removed. However, I managed to find two that should mate together, once I get around to messing with them. Might be a total bust, though. Anyhow, for $25.00 I got two monitors, one with a busted screen, but the full logic intact, the other with a non-cracked screen, but no logic - mix and match until it works.
The other thing to consider is dumpster diving - you would be surprised at the amount of shit companies throw away. My job not too long ago threw out a Compaq P150 laptop with CD-ROM and sound. Took it home, powered it up, no screen. Turned out it was a busted backlight - one trip to Fry's Electronics and some soldering got the beast working perfectly. Picked up a cheap SODIMM to get the RAM up to max, dropped in a cheap Ebay laptop drive to bust that up - everything else is a-ok. Currently in the process of setting up Debian on it.
From trash to treasure - if my company did it, ALL COMPANIES DO IT. You just have to find where and when they do it, and be willing to ask them about their castoffs and junk, or dive in the dumpster. You may or may not find a usable LCD display this way, but I guarantee you will find usable "junk"...
Re:First off... (Score:2)
Re:First off... (Score:2)
Re:First off... (Score:2)
The ones I know of: Electronics Surplus Exchange, on 7th Ave. and Magnolia (if memory serves)
ASU surplus on 8th and Price in Tempe
Apache Reclamation on 2d Ave., but they suck mostly
Gold Circuit, but haven't been there yet
Re:First off... (Score:2)
You mention one of the others I was thinking of (though I know it as "Equipment Exchange" - not ESE - got an interesting large LED "bargraph" device from them recently. I think the address is 7th Ave and Grant - but I may be wr
I-appliance (Score:1)
Get an Audrey (Score:2)
never ending supply (Score:1)
LCD Monitor care (Score:2)
Leave the protective wrap on.
I've got about 3 mac powerbooks and the 2 previous ones have their screens scratched to oblivion. My roommate's Dell, has his girlfriend's fingerprints all over it.
Solution? A thin piece of plastic to go over your screen. As it happens, all Laptops come with a piece of plastic covering the screen with some plastic overlapping the edges. With a straight edge positioned under
Mod parent up, Insightful... (Score:2)