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June 02, 2003
Newton Notes
At the moment I am caught between two Newtons. One is a case damaged but fully functional 2000 and the other is a nice cased 2100 with an extreme case of the jaggies (and a faint backlight). What is a poor Newtie to do?
Well according to my sources (NewtonTalk & Newton FAQ) there are solutions available, even for people living in Australia. The first solution is to give the 2000 a memory upgrade. A nice fellow named Chris in WA has some memory for $US25 plus shipping, all I need then is a soldering iron and some patience (or a quick trip to the nearest uni to find a competant student). The second solution comes from a gent in the US who makes new backlights and touch screen pairs. The idea is to take out the old one and replace it (only minimal soldering required). There are in fact two different possible causes for the jaggies - it can be a result of uneven pressure on the touch screen (eg dirt under the edge of the screen) or a damaged touch screen (can be screen or connecting cable). Normally replacing the screen should fix the problem (having tried cleaning the screen first) but there can be problems where the case itself has become warped.
Since ordering a replacement screen, I also noted a suggestion on the mailing list about combining systems which suggests that I might be able to use the screen from the N2K on the 2100 or more precisely the guts of the 2100 in the chassis and screen of the N2K.
The other podular solution appears to be churning. This is where you buy a "new" machine on eBay which is jaggie-free and then sell the old one or keep it for parts. If you are prepared to pay for it, you can still buy brand new machines (in original packing) or a super (accelerated StrongArm) Newton from Canada or Germany.
On a quick re-read I notice that I didn't explain why I opted for a new screen instead of the other choices. Basically the new screen will also fix the close to failing backlight in the 2100 as well as (hopefully) fixing the jaggies. The new backlight will also be a different colour (not green)!
If you want to see some blurry pictures of the jaggies, have a look at this normal image and then this affected system. The lines are all supposed to be straight and drawn at 45 degrees. When you see doglegs and 90 degree lines, there is something interfering with the touch screen.
P.S. Before someone asks, the good image is taken on the same machine as the bad image. I drew the good image on the 2000 and beamed it to the 2100 for comparison.
Posted by Ozguru at June 2, 2003 06:06 PM
