Today I purchased a used Nits Technology M15AAA 15″ LCD Monitor. It’s ivory (white), with 2 built in speakers, and a total of 5 buttons on the front. Rather than pain you by trying to describe the other physical details, here are a couple pictures of it from the front:
Clicking on either of the thumbnails will bring up a full sized picture. Yes it’s the same monitor, The first shot is with the monitor turned off, and no flash. The second shot is with the monitor on, and the flash on.
Finding details about this Nits monitor on the web was rather painful. Nits Technology is not exactly the biggest name in North America. After some searching, I found that they have a Taiwan site as well as a Holland site (edit: both sites appear to be down). Unfortunately, there is absolutely no mention about this particular model on their site, although they did have some information and manuals for other models of LCD Monitors. The only information I could find was at “Tricell Communications” who apparently sells the monitor for a whopping $469, and gives the following statistics:
| M15AAA 15″ LCD MONITOR |
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Since there wasn’t a box or manual included with my used purchase, I can’t verify that information – not that it matters a heck of a lot anyway, since a) that information is barely informative as it is, and; b) LCD Manufacturers have been known to lie bend the truth and/or create statistics based upon non-standard test methods anyway.
The monitor has no dead pixels, and has 1 stuck red pixel towards the lower right corner, about where the windows taskbar meets the rest of the screen. I can be picky, but I highly doubt this will ever bother me. The surprising part about the monitor is that there is no noticeable “ghosting” at all. Being a bit older, I expected that the response time might be a little poor, but I was wrong. One thing the seller mentioned to me was that it “plays games great”, which turned out to be true.
The buttons were sticky (nothing a little WD-40 couldn’t fix), and the speaker grilles were a little dirty. To adjust the volume, you have to go into the menu 3 button presses, which is a pain. The menu itself isn’t the best one I’ve ever used, but it works. Aside from those issues, this is looking to be one heck of an excellent little 15-inch monitor. If you come across one for sale used and are in the market, it may be worth a look.
12V DC, 3 amps (should also be on the sticker at the back of the unit). I've successfully used a 1 amp power brick for small periods of time, although it heated up like you wouldn't believe (I wouldn't use it for more than a few minutes at a time).
As far as where to get one... sometimes old adapters for other electronics you're throwing away might work if they meet the ratings. Portable phone adapters, printer adapters, hub/switch/router adapters, etc. Otherwise, you might want to check out your local RadioShack/The_Source/Electronics_store, or take a peek on eBay. The hardest part's probably going to be finding one that has a plug of the correct size.
Best of luck!
If it helps, my netbook is a Windows CE Version 5.00 Build 1400.
Thanks!
Unfortunately, USB-to-VGA adapters (essentially what you're looking for) are very rare, and quite expensive, because USB was never really designed to carry video data (neither was SD). For an example (which won't work on Windows CE by the way), NewEgg does carry this: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200034
That link goes to the Canadian site, but I'm sure they've got it on the US site as well (NewEgg.com). Some big problems though. As I said, that one doesn't support Windows CE, and it would be very difficult to find one that does - you're probably limited to adapters supporting XP, Vista, 7, and possibly the Mac OS. They're also likely to be very finicky and slow.
Check the rear of your monitor (near where a power cable would plug in). It *should* give the ratings, either on a sticker or moulded into the plastic (I tossed the monitor recently, but in my case it would have said something like INPUT 12V DC, 3 amps), and that's what you'd want to look for in a replacement power supply/brick.
To clarify the confusion, a power supply brick/adapter in this case are pretty much the same thing. They convert (apapt) the mains power (120V AC) to DC current, which is typically done within a "brick".
However, if your monitor's sticker called for AC power, that would mean that you wouldn't be using an AC/DC adapter at all. An example of these are the big old CRT monitors - they generally use a standard computer power cable to bring AC power right into the unit. Many LCD monitors are the same (they often actually contain the equivalent of a "brick" inside the unit itself, so call for AC power at the input).
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If you're not quite sure what you need, have somebody else take a look - an electronics shop with knowledgable staff should be able to figure out exactly what you need by taking a quick glance at the sticker (and may even stock an adapter that would work).
You don't want to be plugging in something if you're not positive that it's the right adapter. Just because it fits, doesn't mean it's right (or safe). Fire, electrocution, and parts exploding are all high risks if the adapter you use isn't correct. An inadequate adapter (one that isn't rated for the necessary current for example) might overheat and start a fire late at night while you're asleep.
Check the sticker/moulding on the back of the monitor to make sure it says ~12VDC (same as your adapter). Assuming that checks out, make sure the current it lists is less than or equal to the 3.33 amps on your adapter. If so, it should work. Should being the key word here.
Basically, when matching stuff like this up:
- You want the voltage to be the same. Some devices give you a little leeway, but going beyond +/- 10% starts to get a little risky if you don't know for sure.
- The current (A) on the adapter must be GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO the current listed on the device sticker/moulding. Otherwise the adapter might heat up and burn/smoke/fire.
Ideally you want BOTH the current & voltage ratings to be pretty close between device/adapter, because a lot of adapters aren't actually constant voltage and instead happen to sink to around their listed voltage when providing the listed current draw. For example, if you had a 12V 3A adapter, plugged it into the wall, and measured the "open" voltage at the DC end, it might show somewhere between 18-24V. As soon as the 3A load is added to it, the voltage drops to 12V. If you were to put a much larger load on it (say... 5 amps), the voltage would probably drop to the 6-9V range...assuming the adapter doesn't blow a fuse or start smoking anyway.Short version: if the voltage and current on the back of the panel match what you see on the adapter, it should usually be fine. If the voltage matches but current on the adapter is a little higher than current listed on the panel, it should also be fine. Any other configuration starts risking problems ranging from not working to something blowing to smoke+fire. This is of course assuming the adapter's properly stamped and constructed reliably (that it isn't basically it's own fire hazard).
Hope something there helps! Good luck!
If all of that fails, it's worth trying to plug it in to a different cable and/or computer and/or video card. If the same issue presents the display itself may be faulty.