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buying a microvision.


rsb0204

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Hello all, im looking into buying a microvision and I think I have found the one I want, I just have a few questions regarding screen rot. first off, I know extreme temps are hard on these early lcds and that has me worried about having it shipped. as a trucker myself I know a dry van can become quite warm when sitting at the yard, so do you guys think it will get hot enough to damage the screen in transit? also, I know screen rot cant be avoided and will eventually take its toll, but there has to be some way to atleast prolong the life of the screen. I know high temps are bad for the screen so keep it cool, but what about low temps? like say storing it in the fridge when not in use? I just want the screen to last as long as possible, as I have found no replacements. any help and advice will be appreciated, thanks in advance.

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I have two Microvisions and all the games. Since I live in Oregon and just about everyone who has what I want lives back east, they had to travel a long distance to get to my house. And they work perfectly when I opened the packages up and test-played. The Microvision is a cool little system and hopefully some day I might have the brain power, courage, and tech know-how to make a homebrew game, but until then, you can look at my Microvision page:

http://www.atari2600land.com/microvision/

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nice to see im getting some replies!

 

@dendawg

 

never heard of that problem before, is it a common for them to come out of alignment?

 

@atari2600land

 

how long have you had your microvisions and where do you store them? also any tips on how to properly care for them? I will be visiting your site soon sounds interesting.

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I guess I had them for about a year and a half now. They sit on a shelf in my room with all the games for it, along with a battery in case I get the urge to play one. This post makes me want to play them. As for the best games, I vote for Star Trek: Phaser Strike. Although I'd really like to play the game I hope to one day make called "Frogs and Logs," which would be a Frogger clone.

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From what I have read do not play a Microvision in the sunlight. Ive never played mine in the sunlight so I cannot say if this is true or not. I guess it can supposedly burn out the screen. As to storing them I have no idea but I would not go with a fridge. But that is just my opinion. Who knows though it might be a great place to store a Microvision. But id be pissed if my milk spilled all over my Microvision and wrecked it. You can hear all kinds of advice on touchy systems/handhelds but in the end sometimes they just burn out no matter how well you take care of them. Hence that is the reason I never play(which sucks) my fully working white bally. Another system that just seems to fail after a while. Good luck on the Microvision. These old systems are cool but just kinda sucks they can die at anytime. No matter what temp/or how good you take care of them. Almost forgot. As I have read I guess a static electricity shock can wreck them too so be careful about that. Again cannot back this but it is just what I have read in the past.

Edited by Uppy
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Static electricity is a problem. I've had a few carts stop working for (at the time) inexplicable reasons. Today as an engineer I know what we did wrong. We'd slide them across the sky-blue shag carpeting. Sometimes they went under the Harvest Gold refrigerator when we didn't successfully intercept the speeding cartridge.

 

I'm surprised that there isn't a modern-day replacement display yet. Look at the LCD clocks in cars. They're exposed to direct sunlight and 180` all the time and last for years. Not only that, but cost.. With LCD's being used in one-time-use devices and $2.00 novelty items, cost shouldn't be an issue either. I'm sure that any microvision owner would happily spend $15-$20 for a new drop-in replacement display. If not, get a matrix display and microcontroller to simulate bigger pixels via binning. Lotsa possibilities.

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Hey thanks guys you've been a big help , I guess I don't have that mutch to worry about after all. in retrospect however I wont be storing it in the fridge. I have heard about the problems concerning the carts and static electricity, the way I see it, don't touch the pins. and ill be shure not to slide them across the shag lol.

 

@atari2600land

 

visited your website, and I must say im impressed, lots of info there. and good luck with that homebrew, one of the few systems I haven't seen one attempted on.

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I'm surprised that there isn't a modern-day replacement display yet.

 

Now there's an idea. I wonder how cheap it might be to simply re-create these devices using modern technology, but play the same old games using the same old code and ROMs stored on the originals. Surely doesn't seem that it would be all that expensive, and you could sell the units with a handful of games as a sort of starter kit. Even the Star Trek game could be done with a name change (or, if they were willing to go after the license, perhaps intact).

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