After reading everyone elses success stories, I decided to take the plunge and build my own. First on my list was the LCD. I picked up the Samsung 740N for $130, a bargain I thought.


When the monitor arrived, I hooked it up and tested the pannel out. The monitor works fine except for one problem, there's a vertical yellow line that goes through the center of the entire pannel.


The problem goes away If I apply a tiny amount of pressure (roughly the weight of a large marker) to the top of the pannel. This leads me to believe its most likely a loose connection being made by one of the edge connectors at the top of the pannel. Perhaps once stripped I might be able to fix this issue.


I'm wondering if the pannel is a viable option for use in the construction of the Projector. Seeing as how the pannel gets inserted upside down, I'm thinking that would provide the needed pressure on the pannel to secure the connection.

However, as I'm not 100% on the construction of the pannel, I can't be sure of this. If anyone can provide an informed oppinion on my situation, it would be a great help.



edit: Found a pic of stripped 740N, thanks to Steve's strip guide: http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10366




I'm fairly certain that this is the problem area (circled in red):


Unfortunately, I can't tell if the connections are soldered in, clipped in, or slotted in.

If it's new and unstripped then without question I would take it back. Seems as though this must not be an option?

Thank you for the quick reply!

It's a "newish", open-box buy from newegg. I have 15 day's to return it, but would only receive a refund. Assuming I've done my math correctly, It would be more expensive to return it and pick up a replacement 740N than it would be to keep this one.

The problem although obtrusive, is very easily fixed, the tiniest amount of downward pressure fixes the issue completely. We're talking about 0.08LB of downard pressure
(figures courtesy of: LINK)

As to how I would go about doing this once the monitor is stripped and upside down, is what's perplexing me at the moment.

I see GadgetSmith here. This is another Hobson's Choice - eh?

If it truly only requires some very mild pressure I'm quite certain it can be made to work. But it's a risk YOU have to decide to take.

By more expensive you mean you'll just eat the shipping or how much more $$$ are we talking?

Personally, I'd not risk a potential TOTAL loss over a guaranteed small loss.

Edit: Yep, that's my opinion and I'm stickin' to it.

Whatever you decide I wish you success!!!

Danger Will Robinson! Danger! ....

yes, although it may be more expensive to return it and get something different, you are running a great risk here... first, you don't know actually what is wrong, you are only speculating... and second, if this thing is touchy now, once you get it apart, it may be more prone to damage, FFC's coming loose... whatever... Too many people with no problems whatsoever with the LCD's, once stripped, have torn perfectly good FFC's and all sorts of things....anything can go wrong...

my advise... return it, get a new one or another model to stay withing your budget... JMHO.

best of luck with whatever you decide.

cheers,
gs

edit: ah D-man ! ... I don't see this as a Hobson's Choice... for $130 risk I consider this a no-brainer... hey, but i'm not a risk taker with $130... $30; yes, but $130 is too much to take a risk... only MHO though... as you say, it will be up to anchor's risk assessment...

I'd like to thank everyone for their quick responses.

I've decided to go ahead and proceed with the build. The way I see it, it breaks down as follows:


194.84 retail (replacement 740N)
+25.00 shipping (Cost of Shipping back Old Monitor)
---------
219.84 total


219.84 total
-110.05 open box refund (after restocking fee)
---------
109.79 total (out of pocket)


Seeing as how its (more or less) what I payed for the monitor to begin with. I figure I'd just as well proceed with the build. Should anything go wrong, I could always just replace this monitor with a new 740N with minimal effort. As well as giving me a sample monitor to test out the AG removal process.

Once again, I'd like to thank everyone for their input.