A line of dead pixels on my SwanCrystal

[skyknight]

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n241 ... G_0250.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n241 ... G_0252.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n241 ... G_0255.jpg

OK, I gotta a SwanCrystal lot (clear black ver.+Dragon Ball+Monoeye Gundams) on ebay from a Hong Kong seller.

To my dismay, after testing several games on the system, there was a line of dead pixels, that couldn't display the colors regardless of the depth (light or dark). I did send a question to the seller, and the seller replied back saying there wasn't any problems when he tested it before shipping. He thinks that package had a hard fall, as I noticed there were crush damages on the boxes of the system and games.

As with other handhelds, do you think the seller's explanation is true? Also, is it possible to fix this or not?

[Hobie-wan]

I haven't been inside a SC, but if there's a ribbon cable from the screen to the board, un/replugging it might help. If it has soldered connections, there might be 1 or 2 bad joints that cracked in shipping and just touching them with a hot iron to rejoin could work. I imagine it's some sort of loose connection issue that happened in transit since its a full row, not just a spot of them in a blob from screen impact damage.

[gtmtnbiker]

If you're unhappy with it (rightly so), return it for a refund. That's what I would do. The seller is responsible for shipping it correctly.

[Xonticus]

yes to both. If you can open it without making it apparent that it was opened, then do so nd try to fix it if you are ambitious enough... if not, send it back.

[skyknight]

Well, the seller doesn't accept returns, so I am asking for a partial refund; plus I'm planning to sell off the Dragon Ball game, as my intent was to get a clear black SwanCrystal, not the games (may keep Monoeye Gundams).

I do have another SwanCrystal that I got earlier, which was pretty worn, and the LCD screen inside had shifted. I pop that one open and realign the screen, but this is different, since I am dealing with display problems. I have never worked with circuit boards, even though I took a course in introduction to electric engineering.

[skyknight]

On Christmas Eve, I popped open the SC:

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n241 ... G_0270.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n241 ... G_0271.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n241 ... G_0274.jpg

Looks like a very tight space to work. Do you think an internal problem (software debugging) may also be the cause as well?

I'm still in the process with working a solution with the seller.

[thetooth]

On Christmas Eve, I popped open the SC:

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n241 ... G_0270.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n241 ... G_0271.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n241 ... G_0274.jpg

Looks like a very tight space to work. Do you think an internal problem (software debugging) may also be the cause as well?

I'm still in the process with working a solution with the seller.

As sad as this may sound i'd say its the interface on the LCD is self...

The pixels on these older displays are setup like this

Code: Select all

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  -  -  -  -  -

Attached to these inputs is a GPU that converts the signal from the video cable into the display matrix(voltages and pos to apply power to). If a part of the top most ribbon is off then all the pixels along the top will be dead. this is normally caused by bacteria getting in and expanding until the pins separate or rust away(if its a decent display they should be gold) so this is clearly a manufacturing fault and you should try to get a new one as the only way to fix it is to add extra pressure above the damaged area in the hope that it will work without cracking the panel.

From my experience LCD's simply stop working or display corrupted graphics if theres an issue with the video cable.

[skyknight]

Well, I did settle for a partial refund, and I am willing to sell this for a loss.

So, regardless of the cost, is it possible to fix it?

[thetooth]

Well, I did settle for a partial refund, and I am willing to sell this for a loss.

So, regardless of the cost, is it possible to fix it?

Sure its possible but you may do more damage trying even if you've done this sort of thing before. Whats so bad about few lines on the side? at least there not in the center like on some gameboy's

[skyknight]

True, maybe I do have a buyer's remorse here, since I did toss in USD $100+ into this, which included two games: Dragonball and SD Gundam: Monoeye Gundams. What's bad is that the display has problems, and I don't like the Dragonball game - a card-based RPG game, which the mechanics isn't well explained (check out the instruction "sheet" for it!).

I knew that SD Gundam: Monoeye Gundams is a RPG game based on the Gundam universe, so that's a keeper for me. Truth be told, I was hoping to snatch a clear-color SwanCrystal (either black or blue), and I wanted to avoid using a middle-men service to get one. I was hoping to recover some money by selling off the Dragonball game, but given the worst case scenario, I will sell the SC at a loss if I can get a fully functional one at another place.

Well, be careful of what you wish for, ain't that what everyone tells ya?