19" Touch Screen Monitor $285 with free shipping.

[brotsten]

I emailed PG and asked them if they would honor the 249.99 price on the four I ordered, but have not received yet.

The said they would issue me a $200 store credit. Better than a poke in the eye I guess.

Brian

 

[ver0776]

I want some of these, but have already spent about $900 this week on HA toys, and really need to know that someone got them working and that they are nice, etc.

I don't need any more $250 toys on my garage shelf =(

If someone gets one hooked up, please write at least a little mini review so I can decide to break down and at least get one. Else I would rather spend the extra hundred or two and get the Planar one.

Thanks!
Vaughn

 

[mcascio]

These will not fit in landscape mode between two 16" studs. The screen itself is about 16" wide.

 

[hult]

I want some of these, but have already spent about $900 this week on HA toys, and really need to know that someone got them working and that they are nice, etc.

I don't need any more $250 toys on my garage shelf =(

If someone gets one hooked up, please write at least a little mini review so I can decide to break down and at least get one. Else I would rather spend the extra hundred or two and get the Planar one.

Thanks!
Vaughn

I received one, played with it for a while, and ordered two more. I hooked it up to a mini-itx that goes under the bottom-most shelf of an under-counter kitchen cabinet for use as the kitchen PC. The LCD will be embedded in an exterior wall above the counter.

-- Screen is bright , good contrast, rectangular (no pincushion/barrelling) extends to margins, no noticeable smear, no noticeable flickering, no bad pixels. Angle of vision is tolerably wide. We don't do games, so I can't report on high-speed video.

Screen surface is better than I expected. No too much glare (there is some). The surface appears to be glass, and is not a loose plastic film. Apparently will be much more durable/cleanable than (eg) Fujitsu tablets. Still seems fragile compared to a glass touch-screen CRT though.

-- I've used 3M touch drivers before. Lots of options to suit most applications and personal preferences.

--- Mounting is straight-forward _if_ you create a lip for the top edge to hang on. I stll haven't decided how to create the decorative frame. I'm visiting a frame shop to see if there is standard framestock that will work for hanging the next two on the wall like a picture. I will probably have to fabricate the frame for the embedded kitchen LCD myself out of aluminum stock and spray/anodize it black.

-- Can't speak to heat issues yet. But I did take off the back to find that the built-in 110VAC power supply should be straight-forward to bypass and(or) remove. The system does not use the 3.3 vdc rail of the built-in supply so I should be able to replace it with an external DC-DC supply. We have distributed, battery-backed 28vdc in the house. So the entitre system (PC and LCD) will be battery-backed from the central supply and the LCD can serve as emergency lighting.

Changing the power supply has the added benefit of reducing heat production by ~10-30% because the power loss of the converter ( it is <100% efficient) will be moved external to the LCD cavity. A thermally bonded aluminum frame would also help to dissipate heat.

The kitchen PC system will be used to (among other things) to monitor and control ovens and vents. Plenty of thermocouple inputs are available so I'll instrument the cavity while I'm at it.

HTH ... Marc

 

[jasv]

I bought one also, tested and liked it enough buy a second. Thanks Hult for the great review and suggestions about the power supply. If yo do get around to making the mods, we would love the to know the details.

 

[smerf]

I bought one also, tested and liked it enough buy a second. Thanks Hult for the great review and suggestions about the power supply. If yo do get around to making the mods, we would love the to know the details.

How did you get the touch drivers to work? I have tried a few of the 3M drivers but cannot get any of them to work. I can tell it what device and what com port, but it always times out trying to detect it. The odd thing is that if i touch the screen, the mouse jumps randomly around the screen, so it is getting input, but not the proper input or calibration. I have tried calibrating, but that did nothing. the mouse still jumps around.
OS: XP pro
usb->serial device: generic usb 1.1 to serial DB9. com, fifo, baud, all set to same as touch driver software, even tried different baud rates.

 

[politics123]

I want some of these, but have already spent about $900 this week on HA toys, and really need to know that someone got them working and that they are nice, etc.

I don't need any more $250 toys on my garage shelf =(

If someone gets one hooked up, please write at least a little mini review so I can decide to break down and at least get one. Else I would rather spend the extra hundred or two and get the Planar one.

Thanks!
Vaughn

I received one, played with it for a while, and ordered two more. I hooked it up to a mini-itx that goes under the bottom-most shelf of an under-counter kitchen cabinet for use as the kitchen PC. The LCD will be embedded in an exterior wall above the counter.

-- Screen is bright , good contrast, rectangular (no pincushion/barrelling) extends to margins, no noticeable smear, no noticeable flickering, no bad pixels. Angle of vision is tolerably wide. We don't do games, so I can't report on high-speed video.

Screen surface is better than I expected. No too much glare (there is some). The surface appears to be glass, and is not a loose plastic film. Apparently will be much more durable/cleanable than (eg) Fujitsu tablets. Still seems fragile compared to a glass touch-screen CRT though.

-- I've used 3M touch drivers before. Lots of options to suit most applications and personal preferences.

--- Mounting is straight-forward _if_ you create a lip for the top edge to hang on. I stll haven't decided how to create the decorative frame. I'm visiting a frame shop to see if there is standard framestock that will work for hanging the next two on the wall like a picture. I will probably have to fabricate the frame for the embedded kitchen LCD myself out of aluminum stock and spray/anodize it black.

-- Can't speak to heat issues yet. But I did take off the back to find that the built-in 110VAC power supply should be straight-forward to bypass and(or) remove. The system does not use the 3.3 vdc rail of the built-in supply so I should be able to replace it with an external DC-DC supply. We have distributed, battery-backed 28vdc in the house. So the entitre system (PC and LCD) will be battery-backed from the central supply and the LCD can serve as emergency lighting.

Changing the power supply has the added benefit of reducing heat production by ~10-30% because the power loss of the converter ( it is <100% efficient) will be moved external to the LCD cavity. A thermally bonded aluminum frame would also help to dissipate heat.

The kitchen PC system will be used to (among other things) to monitor and control ovens and vents. Plenty of thermocouple inputs are available so I'll instrument the cavity while I'm at it.

HTH ... Marc

So, I'm very curious about this distributed 28vdc you have in your house. Care to spill the beans? What guage wire did you distribute it over? Whats the source? What do you use to step down the voltage (say, for example, to 12v)?

 

[hult]

I bought one also, tested and liked it enough buy a second. Thanks Hult for the great review and suggestions about the power supply. If yo do get around to making the mods, we would love the to know the details.

How did you get the touch drivers to work? I have tried a few of the 3M drivers but cannot get any of them to work. I can tell it what device and what com port, but it always times out trying to detect it. The odd thing is that if i touch the screen, the mouse jumps randomly around the screen, so it is getting input, but not the proper input or calibration. I have tried calibrating, but that did nothing. the mouse still jumps around.
OS: XP pro
usb->serial device: generic usb 1.1 to serial DB9. com, fifo, baud, all set to same as touch driver software, even tried different baud rates.

Have you tried a different known-good, non-usb RS-232 connection ?

"Jumping around" sounds characteristic of RS-232 with interrupt problems.

... Marc

 

[hult]

Marc --

Thank you for the detail, that's a fantastic post, and I think deserves a new thread! I'm no electrician, but I know my way around a wall-switch. Here's what I think you just said:

You have:
1) high efficiency AC--> DC conversion. Essentially, no wall-warts that suck power when not in use, and I bet the gold cart chargers do a reasonably efficient job of conversion. (generally, there are increasing efficiencies to scale)
2) Eliminated the need for localPC power supplies (eg: fans). This means that your PCs are probably silent, produce less heat, and are less likely to get fried by (bad power supply being a major cause of PC and/disk failure)
3) Have central battery backups for your house (instead of many distributed UPS), that control a bunch of stuff
4) Are all set for any future PV Solar install --> you might be able to get by without purchasing an inverter!
5) Seems like you're energy efficient, especially on lighting.

I'm curious on costs. The wiring, golf-cart chargers, and batteries don't seem very expensive. What about your controller? (I found a 10 channel for $155CAN @ http://www.escience.ca/hobby/RENDER/0001/2...035/12075.html) Does your controller integrate with an automation system?

Yup.

And you used fewer words, which is a Good Thing ;-)

If someone else can recouch this as a new thread/topic that would be fine by me. Sounds like the general area of interest is something like "House-wide, distributed low-voltage power".

Note:

1) The safety caveats in my post including the mantra that "LOW VOLTAGE" IS NOT SYNONYMOUS WITH "SAFE". Current limiting is always needed.

2) The National Electrical Code has evolved over the last decade to better accommodate 'low voltage' and communication wiring, but the limitations and provisions and letter of Class 1 and Class 2 in the NEC still pertain and the Authority Having Jusridiction (AHJ, aka "The Inspector") has the last word on what is acceptible in your US ( and Canadian?) community.

3) And, specifically, what might be UL-listed for a mobile-home/RV may not be listed for a house (ironically).

That said,

Yes, increased efficiency, emergency back-up, alternative energy, scaling back overall consumption and even improved aesthetics are all goals. The current obstacles IME are not technical, but regulatory. Those can be overcome with a sufficiently large budget, but most of us don't have that or we c/would hire someone to install a $100K AMX or Crestron system ...

I have a 1965 VW that I plan to convert to zero-discharge electric and a small solar panel on the roof for the weather system that eventually I'd like to expand. Unfortunately, we are in a part of the world where wind and solar resources are sub-optimum and "cheap", highly disruptive energy rules the market and body politic.

I'm curious on costs. The wiring, golf-cart chargers, and batteries don't seem very expensive. What about your controller? (I found a 10 channel for $155CAN @ http://www.escience.ca/hobby/RENDER/0001/2...035/12075.html) Does your controller integrate with an automation system?

To clarify , the PD9100 series supply/chargers I use are for RV/mobile/marine homes, not carts.
http://www.progressivedyn.com/power_converters.html. The batteries are indeed sold for golf carts in the place where I bought them but they are general-purpose, deep-cycle, lead-acid batteries. I use the PD9105 Charge Wizard which provides more smarts to the charging. But they don't get cycled very often so with decent maintenance they should last for 7-8 years allowing for some fall-off in storage capacity..

I use DMX ( aka DMX512-A, DMX-512) for lighting control and other purposes. It is the world standard, very flexible and can be used for analog input also.

There's lots of neat, efficient emerging stuff, but much/most of the affordable stuff is not UL-listed.

There *really* is a need for appropriate progress on the regulatory front to match the technical advances. Unfortunately, the existing laissez faire / failed leadership leaves the bad guys in charge making $ (think of the mortage scandal) and good guys left wondering what is in regulatory compliance and appropriate. Worst of both worlds in my opinion.

{ mumble, grumble ... end of rant ;-) ... Marc

 

[electron]

I created a new thread about the low voltage stuff, you can find it here:

http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=8597

 

[68sting]

Has anyone noticed the link on Pacific Geeks page to this thread? Kind of funny

 

[mcascio]

Anyone know which drivers to use for this touchscreen? There's a lot to choose from and so far have not had any luck with the ones I've tried.

 

[mcascio]

5.64 SR Resistive seems to have worked M170 model for anyone interested.