1/31    Does anyone have any advice/opinions on buying refurbished
        monitors? I've had good luck with refurbished machines, but it
        seems much easier to refurbish a computer than a monitor, so I
        might be hesitant. Are refurbished monitors ok? Thanks.
        \_ Mostly anecdotal info gathered from people I know who do this:
           1. Monitors are definitely a lot more fragile than ICs. The
              picture tube is only rated for around 7 years. After that
              you'll get a bit of dimming.
           2. Depending on the quality, the large caps change over time,
              affecting picture quality and eventually leading to a
              dead monitor. You essentially have to replace the large caps
              on monitors over time.
           3. Monitors are pretty high powered compared to PCs, so if
              you have to mess around with something like the volt-regulator
              you stand a good chance of frying things (including yourself).
                \_ ObMehlhaffQuote:  *ZORCH* *POW!* "Holy shit!
                   That capacitor was charged!"
                   \_ BWAAHAHA!  That's hilarious!
                        \_ Well, it taught people to stay away from the
                           dreaded ERic + screwdriver + old monitor combo
                           in E238.  -John
           4. VGA monitores (at least earlier ones) have many of the same
              characteristics as regular TVs down to the basic
              circuitry. So if you know how to repair a basic TV you
              can probably work around a VGA monitor.
           \_ Question about that 7 years for a picture tube: I've got a nice
              Sony sitting around but it hasn't been used (unplugged) for most
              of it's life.  Does unpowered time count against that 7 years?
              Or are there parts that just deteriorate with simple age? Thanks!
                \_ I have used old 14" monitors from circa 1993 that work great
                        \_ yeah but did you run them continuously?
           \_ I had experiences with 17" IBM monitors bought refurb.  The
              monitor was great, almost brand new at the time I bought it.
              Thus, I bought THREE total.  It turned out that none of them
              lasted nearly as long as other 17" I bought it new.  Two of
              three monitors went out by the middle of 3rd year. The one
              remaining got issues, but work well enough that I am not in
              a hurry to replace them.  The montiors were manufactured by Sony.
                \_ THANK YOU