I've got a habit of picking up old computers from various places (schools, etc.) that are required by law to restock themselves with new computers every x years. Most of these are just hunks of junk, but they're still fun to play around with.

I don't always get monitors along with the towers (or bases, in the case of the /really/ old ones) though, and I've fried the hard drives and/or motherboards on several because I don't bother to wear a static bracelet when I'm messing around with the old relics. So, of course, I spend half an hour lugging monitors around and trying to figure out if the video error or black screen I get is a result of a fried interal computer-organ or if it's actually a faulty monitor.

Having a tiny, extremely low-resolution 'monitor', perhaps 4 x 3 inches with a resolution of (anybody got any idea what a plausible setting would be? 100 x 75?) attached to a video cable that could plug into the monitor slot would be nice. The picture wouldn't be good enough to read by or use as an actual monitor (thus reducing the cost and difficulty to make), but it would allow you to judge if the computer was booting properly. While this might not be practical for the everyday PC owner, I imagine LAN administrators and computer salesman might put it to good use.
-- Pseudonym #3, Jul 11 2003

You could use a VR headset.
-- angel, Jul 11 2003


<Demonstrating my complete ignorance>Could you adapt a palmtop screen?<demonstrating etc>
-- egbert, Jul 11 2003


^ (_I_) ^
-- po, Jul 11 2003


No, I said palmTOP, po, not palmBOTTOM!
-- egbert, Jul 11 2003


whoops, sorry.
-- po, Jul 11 2003



random, halfbakery