My TFT monitor is back
I’m sure each of you can relate to the similar story that I’m about to tell.
In November last year, I got myself another computer at home. Since LG 1730 monitor I had did have both VGA and DVI jacks, I wanted to connect both comps to it, and use the built switcher to work with both. I connected my main comp to DVI and my new one to VGA. But DVI just refused to work. It detects when the cable is on or off - when it is off, it would display check signal cable. But when I start the comp, it will immediately go to Power saving mode and nothing I did could get it out of it. I changed cables, graphic cards, all in vain.
Thus the monitor went to service, at the first days of December. Few days after it, my dad was injured and then passed away, thus I forgot about it for days. I finally checked the status over the Internet and on the 16th I saw “completed, ready for pick up” status. I could not do that until 24th, when they surprised me with the information that it is not serviced, but that I have received a replacement invoice instead (they certainly need to debug that part of status application).
Trouble is - there was not a single monitor to be found in those days. Starting from January 1st, Serbia has the pleasure of the introduction of Value Added Tax (18%). Considering the fact that before that, almost all computer equipment was tax-free, computer sales in December sky-rocketed. Everyone were buying stuff, like it was free. I took the replacement note to my salesman, but he said sorry, but there is nothing I can do now. I sold more in the last month than in the previous 11 months combined..
Nothing surprising really, so I settled for the long wait.
Then came the New Year, then orthodox Christmas (Jan 7th) - the companies started working on Jan 10th, but because of VAT introduction and all the new paperwork, most started working on Jan 17th. As it happens to be the case, monitors were not in the first shipments that arrived, so I got my replacement on Jan 31st.
Whole two months! I used my old Belinea CRT until Jan 20th (when it went to my sister) and afterwards I used company laptops.
A series of unfortunate circumstances, something I hope never to experience again. I hold no grudge towards the companies (both the store where I bought and the importer). The man called me as soon as the monitor got in - I got it directly from the importer’s warehouse - and it is a nice thing to look at (brighter silver colour of the front panel). It seems that I got the newer series of TFT panels too, as they seem to be better made. Or so the guy from the warehouse told me, who checked the monitor closely - probably looking to buy one for him (he checked it using Doom 3 and looking for ghosts and blurs).
DVI is working now. The problem with the first one was the defective digital board. Everything worked in the old one, apart from the DVI logic. Strange problem, but it happens sometime.