New lynx I arrived from bestelectronics, has two stuck pixels

[Alexs]

Two days ago I received my new boxed lynx I from bestelectronics, it was shrinkwrapped but when I opened up the package there was a diagnostics cart in the game cart slot. Upon powering the system on, there are two stuck pixels on the display. Is this normal? Or does bradley usually make sure the displays are fine before shipping? 

 

The back of the console also has a weird glue like residue on it which wont wipe away with a damp cloth, so I'm not sure if my expectations are just too high, or I was sent the wrong console by mistake?

 

Has anybody here purchased a brand new lynx from Brad as well? If so what are your experiences 

[sirlynxalot]

It wouldn't be normal for a brand new lynx shrinkwrapped by atari back in the day to have a diagnostic cart in it (actually, I'm not even sure if the lynx systems were shrinkwrapped back in the day).   I recall the best electronics website says something about how all their lynxes are "burned in" and tested before they ship them out ... maybe that goes for the stuff advertised as new as well, and the shrinkwrap is just put on by Brad.  

Don't know anything about the glue or residue, my reconditioned lynx 1 I got from best a couple years ago has no glue or glue-like residue on it. 

Every lynx I've used in the last 10 years has had some minor issues with the screen such as a stuck pixel or two, or uneven lighting on the screen (2/3s of the screen will be bright and 1/3 will be dim). I would say these are typical issues with lynxes which would effect new unused systems as well just due to the age of the components. Unfortunately, NIB does not necessarily mean the internal capacitors have not partially dried out, or adhesives attaching the ribbon cable to the screen are as good as they were 30 years ago.

Another thing to consider is that best electronics is apparently primarily a one man show, and that guy is in his 70s now. He might be a little scattered attending to all the orders he gets, so my take is that the diagnostic cart was left in by him by mistake and the shrinkwrap was added by him. 

Edited August 25, 2019 by sirlynxalot

[Alexs]

I also read before purchasing that all units are tested (burn in) by brad before they are shipped out, so I'm not sure if he knew about the stuck pixels or not. I regularly purchase from brad, so I don't want to anger him by complaining unnecessarily, thats why I'd thought of asking about others experiences here on the forum beforehand

 

My other lynx (II) has a pristine display (second hand unit). But for that one I'm installing the bennvenn lcd upgrade soon, as it's not destructive, whereas it would be on the lynx 1 because it's display is not zif socketed. So I was really hoping to het a pristine unit 

Edited August 25, 2019 by Alexs

[Igor]

Replace the screen with a modern LCD ?

[Alexs]

17 hours ago, necrocia said:

Replace the screen with a modern LCD ?

Yes, I ordered a bennvenn LCD with your bracket for my lynx-II, still waiting on that to arrive

[Igor]

Oh nice! Thanks for the order! I'm waiting for the Lynx I kit to arrive from Ben so I can start working on a bracket for that.

[Turbo-Torch]

22 hours ago, Alexs said:

I don't want to anger him by complaining unnecessarily, thats why I'd thought of asking about others experiences here on the forum beforehand

That's the problem, simply asking could land you on the "No Atari For You" list. ? ?

I'd bet money he did test it before sending it out (which is a good thing)...he did on a brand new XE motherboard I ordered.  That's not to say minor glitches can't get past him.  I had an odd inverse character issue which only showed up in certain situations and he did replace the board.

 

Personally, I'd accept the two dead pixels.  That was very common on anything back then, and if you go back just 10 years ago, there were dead pixel policies for TVs and monitors. The warranties stated some dead pixels were normal and it needed to exceed a certain amount before the screen was considered defective. 

 

[Alexs]

39 minutes ago, Turbo-Torch said:

That's the problem, simply asking could land you on the "No Atari For You" list. ? ?

I'd bet money he did test it before sending it out (which is a good thing)...he did on a brand new XE motherboard I ordered.  That's not to say minor glitches can't get past him.  I had an odd inverse character issue which only showed up in certain situations and he did replace the board.

 

Personally, I'd accept the two dead pixels.  That was very common on anything back then, and if you go back just 10 years ago, there were dead pixel policies for TVs and monitors. The warranties stated some dead pixels were normal and it needed to exceed a certain amount before the screen was considered defective. 

 

Haha yes, I had read that people had such experiences with bradley, although to me he had always responded extremely fast to all my enquiries, very patient and polite too. But I don't want to trigger any resentment. 

 

Regarding the dead pixel policies, those are still very much in effect today yeah. Although with all the high dpi screens, a couple of them is much less noticeable. And like you said, brad told me as well that he does burn in tests before sending them out, and that he stopped selling the later revisions lynx-i's that were not manufactured in Japan because all of them turned out to have display glitches  So he does seem to have some kind of QA in place. I think that they were probably not there, or he didn't see the stuck pixels before sending it out. 

 

Luckily I did manage to remove the glue-like residue from the back of the lynx with some rubbing alchohol, so I can live with the stuck pixels, I just hope I won't get any more.

[+Psionic]

For what it's worth, my Sega Nomad had one or two dead pixels straight out of the box when I purchased it new over 20 years ago.  I think it just comes with the technology.  I don't think my screen has gotten any worse over the years but of course I really don't play it much these days either.