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[Dgtech]

This is my little - Technology Complaint - thread.

1. Years ago the great debate on what was going to last longer, LCD or Plasma. It's great now to see that LED's (LCD with LED backlight), and the 3dtv's have stepped on the scene. My complaint is this, a few years ago I just got rid of a tv that lasted 25 years. I doubt any of these new ones will last that long without my electronics troubleshooting interaction.

[Dgtech]

2. And another thing.... After all the bad LCD TV's that Vizio created - they are going to be making computers now??? Move over emachine - here comes vizio!!!

[lti]

Why are DVD recorders so expensive?

Originally Posted by Dgtech

2. And another thing.... After all the bad LCD TV's that Vizio created - they are going to be making computers now??? Move over emachine - here comes vizio!!!

I would guess that they will be the worst junk you can buy and will be sold at a premium price, just like everything else Vizio makes.

[ratdude747]

A vizio computer...

sounds like the fujjhyu era antecs...

[jeffescortlx]

CRT's = run forever!

Could a Rear Projection CRT last 25 years? Maybe, if you don't mind replacing convergence chips.

Could a Plasma last 25 years? Maybe, if you don't mind replacing buffer boards and repairing damaged Y-mains.

Could a DLP last 25 years? Maybe, if you have a stock pile of lamps and a few spare color wheels and fans.

Could a LCD/CCFL backlit TV last 25 years? Maybe? The CCFL's don't last forever, and might have to replace a few capXon caps in the power supply.

Could a LCD/LED backlit last 25 years? I think we might have some hope here, as long as they didn't cheap out on the caps.

I'm crossing my fingers on my Samsung LED lit DLP (no color wheel to explode). So far it's running like a champ. But like other DLP's and RP, there is a lens that should be cleaned from time to time. With old CRT's you never had to worry about that.

But with as fast as technology is changing, you wont want any thing that's 25 years old.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Originally Posted by jeffescortlx

But with as fast as technology is changing, you wont want any thing that's 25 years old.

Except test gear like oscilloscopes or multimeters - those tend to preserve nicely.

[momaka]

Originally Posted by jeffescortlx

Could a LCD/LED backlit last 25 years? I think we might have some hope here, as long as they didn't cheap out on the caps.

Even LEDs can die if they are of the cheap Chinese variety. We have several LED strips (from different manufacturers) at work that we use for bench lights. They are kept ON approximately 10/7 and one of the LED strips has started to develop a lot of dead or dying LEDs. And we've only had these LED strips for less than 3 months.

People find my CRT monitors amusing when they see my desk. But I don't really care. In 25 years, they will likely still work just fine. Heck, my oldest monitor is a 17" HP-branded Sony Trinitron made in 1994. Just 2 more years until it's 20 years old.... or 7 more till it's 25. It does have some minor display issues such as weak convergence near the edges, but it still works fine at 1024x768 resolution so I can't complain. Granted I'm its 2nd or 3rd (or maybe 4th) owner and that there's coffee spills on it and the case is all cracked (probably from being dropped or stored improperly), I'm sure it will survive a nuclear explosion.

Second oldest monitor I have is another 17" Dell-branded Trinitron - this one has perfect picture and colors. Can easily do 1024x768 @ 75 HZ. Just takes a bit of time to warm up (about 7 seconds before any picture is visible on the screen). Even so, it still has plenty of life left in it. Brightness is very good at ~70%. I set it around 50-60% at night.

[mockingbird]

Could a Plasma last 25 years? Maybe, if you don't mind replacing buffer boards and repairing damaged Y-mains.

What do you think of the new Panasonic Neoplasma GT50 series? Supposed to be a lot better than any previous generation of Plasma.

[Wester547]

The compactness of LCDs is only exacerbated by lead-free solder and all that RoHS compliance crap (and it's supposed to be pronounced "rose"? ). If bad caps won't kill LCDs, heat cycles inevitably will, for which there is no permanent solution, to my knowledge, though I guess excessive cooling could help. CRTs were (for a huge part) not only leaded solder but had far more room to ventilate heat. I don't care for how LCDs only look great at their native resolution. I don't care if that's "their nature", it goes to my chagrin. CRTs didn't have that issue either. I wouldn't say CRTs last forever, though - I've had quite a few die on me, maybe by way of bad capacitors, however (it's too late for me to find out now as all those CRTs have been long scrapped). I can also vouch that Dell Trinitrons last a very long time (10+ years), but I've had some of them either start buzzing on me or I've felt excessive "noise" and "radiation" from them, telling me they're on their way out (I did power cycle them lots - maybe that's the reason). Still far better than having to supercede and/or repair a flat screen every couple or few years. A 30" HDTV from Samsung that's a tube is also something that's about to die on me (green line across the screen upon boot, faulty capacitors maybe?). Granted, it could have been worse, it lasted me since 2006. But I've never had something besides RAM chips last from Samsung, so no surprise (and they don't make great optical disc drives, in my experience, so why should their hard drives be any better? ).

And I won't mince words that my Dell Trinitrons do not have the same vibrant contrast/gamma/coloration as they used to, but at least they still work well (one of them "refreshes" the screen on its own sometimes, which doesn't bode well either, as well as one of the VGA cables starting to loose its connection). The oldest Trinitron I have is from 2001, however, so perhaps I cannot speak for the height of their quality.

Originally Posted by jeffescortlx

But with as fast as technology is changing, you wont want any thing that's 25 years old.

That's the ultimate dilemma, in my eyes. You'll have to "migrate" to newer technology sometime no matter hoe well your old technology works. I wouldn't be adverse to that if more effort was put into giving longevity to all such hardware, but it's all a business, as they say.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Originally Posted by Wester547

A 30" HDTV from Samsung that's a tube is also something that's about to die on me (green line across the screen upon boot, faulty capacitors maybe?).

Sounds more like an LCD with a T-con issue.
I have vertical lines on a laptop LCD and I know it's T-con related.

The worst I seen so far for CRTs, is a 2005 RCA 27F522T.

Those RCAs look like they were cheaped out to fool people that think they know their stuff.

The current gen RCA is NOT the RCA we knew about!

[RJARRRPCGP]

2005 was a BAD year! (Even though it can be worse!)

1: I got majorly sick in January.

2: Hurricane Katrina.

3: Real rainy fall in New England.

4: My SmartPower 2.0 500W was manufactured! -> It now has a bulging Fuhjyyu cap!

5: The RCA 27F522T was manufactured!

[Scenic]

Originally Posted by RJARRRPCGP

Sounds more like an LCD with a T-con issue.
I have vertical lines on a laptop LCD and I know it's T-con related.

Ehm.. He said it's a tube/CRT TV. I bet he means retrace lines (diagonal and over the whole screen area usually)

[Dgtech]

Comcast has hidden services available for internet only users.

For years, I have enjoyed Comcast's internet only, Direct TV for TV, and Verizon for my two cell phones for my wife and I. The only way I could afford these cell phones was if I dropped the home phone service, that I dont miss at all now.

I, like most everyone else, is trying to reduce bills. I kept seeing my internet bill go up more and more. From 40 per month last year to 75 per month this year. I finally called Comcast to deal with it (40 minutes of my life I will never get back!!!). After a while, they finally got to telling me the services listed below. I was never told of these services and could not find them on their site. Here are the details:

Regular internet = $59 plus $15 fee for not having any other services = $74
16Mbps

Performance Plus = $49 plus $15 fee for not having any other services = $64
6Mbps

Economy Plus = $39 plus $15 fee for not having any other services = $54
3Mbps

I found on the internet that there is a cheaper rate (14.99) but they said that it's not available in my state. WHAT A LOAD OF BS!!!

I don't do any more gaming over the internet so the cheapest is what I chose.

Oh, the reason why they said that they must charge that $15 fee is because they are really not an "INTERNET COMPANY". It costs them a lot to provide that service as they are a cable company.

Feel free to chime in...

[ratdude747]

Originally Posted by Dgtech

Comcast has hidden services available for internet only users.

For years, I have enjoyed Comcast's internet only, Direct TV for TV, and Verizon for my two cell phones for my wife and I. The only way I could afford these cell phones was if I dropped the home phone service, that I dont miss at all now.

I, like most everyone else, is trying to reduce bills. I kept seeing my internet bill go up more and more. From 40 per month last year to 75 per month this year. I finally called Comcast to deal with it (40 minutes of my life I will never get back!!!). After a while, they finally got to telling me the services listed below. I was never told of these services and could not find them on their site. Here are the details:

Regular internet = $59 plus $15 fee for not having any other services = $74
16Mbps

Performance Plus = $49 plus $15 fee for not having any other services = $64
6Mbps

Economy Plus = $39 plus $15 fee for not having any other services = $54
3Mbps

I found on the internet that there is a cheaper rate (14.99) but they said that it's not available in my state. WHAT A LOAD OF BS!!!

I don't do any more gaming over the internet so the cheapest is what I chose.

Oh, the reason why they said that they must charge that $15 fee is because they are really not an "INTERNET COMPANY". It costs them a lot to provide that service as they are a cable company.

Feel free to chime in...

Welcome to ConCrap!

[shovenose]

Hey, I haven't had a single issue with my Comcast internet and it's FAST! so I don't see why you are hating on Comcast. They are a lot better than AT&T!

[delaware74b]

I despise Scumcast because: (IMO) they have all but shut out any real competition in small towns here in Delaware. They have a clause in their franchise agreements so NOBODY else can bring in tv service except satellite or over the air broadcasts. This means no Fios until the contract is broken by the local towns.

Also, just wait until your contract expires. Your bill will jump by $100 unless you threaten to cancel service. Their internet speeds advertised are not true, real-world, CONSTANT speeds. They advertise 35 Mbps but that is based on a burst, first 50 MB you download. After that amount, it drops. The more you download during each billing cycle the slower it gets. My in-laws' service never downloads faster than 6Mbps yet my 3Mbps DSL seems faster.

The quality of your service may be good now, but it will decline in about 2 years. Been there, done that, got raped by Comcast. I hope to never have them as a service for anything.

[Dgtech]

I have had a couple of friends tell me that they bought their own cable modem to try to cut out the modem rental fee. When they returned the comcast modem to comcast and informed them to drop the fee, their internet speeds got slower. I think they do this intentionally.

$7 per month X 12 months = $84 per year rental fee for a $20.00 cable modem - and mine dont have wireless capability!!! I gotta have a router with mine to make it wireless!

[ratdude747]

Here's a tech complaint: fat fingering touchscreens. Even the new ones seem to be tempermental. Grrr...

[Junk Parts]

I always buy the equipment out right. My DSL modem is a Westel, and I bought it with my first verizon package. It has some years on it but it still works just fine. I wish I could say the same for this stupid HP mouse. Its time to plug in the old intella mouse. It alwas works perfectly.

[lti]

If a Microsoft mouse is connected to a computer running Windows 7, Windows will automatically try to install Microsoft's IntelliPoint software to "unlock the special features of the mouse." I have a basic 3-button wired mouse. What special features could it have?

At least you can cancel the IntelliPoint software installation. It is impossible to cancel an automatic driver installation, even though many hardware installation procedures expect the user to cancel Windows' automatic driver installation.