Sorry to everyone who showed interest in the backlit
MP 120's for taking so long to reply. Here is the
complete story on the MP 120 Backlit screens. These
units were created by Digital Ocean for a guided tour
application where the tour software was loaded on a
Flash card and placed in a modified MP 120. (Most of
this info came from Dr. Newton, former Digital Ocean
employee)
The 120's were modified to be backlit and to have an
external connector for a pair of headphones. About a
year ago, I bough a box of parts for MP 120's that
came from the auction of Digital Ocean's assets after
its closure. Most of the 120's had broken
touchscreens but the Baclit LCD's were intact. To add
the backlit screens to the 120, Digital Ocean created
a backlight control board that fit in the Pen silo at
the top of the 120. Instead of seeing the end of the
stylus in the silo, you have a button which activates
the backlight. The backlight will then stay on for a
duration anywhere from several seconds to several
minutes before automatically shutting off. The
duration and intensity of the backlight can be varied
by adjusting two potentiometers that are accessed
through small holes beneath the hinge for the
flip-cover. The backlight draws its power directly
from the batteries and will not work off of the AC
adapter unless the rechargeable battery pack is being
used. The backlight has no software control(so
idoesn't matter if you have NOS 1.3 or 2.0) and will
continue to run even after the Newton has been
shutdown. It should be possible to replace the
momentary switch on the controller board with a
regular on/off switch and keep the backlight on all
the time. I have never tested battery life while
using the backlight but can say that it has a definite
effect. When using NiMh batteries, I could use the
backlight for long periods of time with very good
results. To install a backlit screen in a standard MP
120 you would have to:
1. Open up your Newton and completely dissasemble it,
removing the screen and seperating the touchscreen and
LCD.
2. Solder two wires from the Backlight control board
to the battery terminals.
3. Slightly ream out the inside of the Pen Silo to
accomodate the backlight control board.
4. Drill two holes in the Front half case to access
the Potentiometers for adjusting duration and
intensity.
5. Reassemble the Newton.
The alternative is to buy an already modified case
with the LCD and only do the soldering or buy a
completely assembled 120(NOS 1.3 or 2.0) with
backlight. If anyone is interested in any of the
above, let me know what you want and I will send you a
price. I also have 120 spare parts, 120 motherboards,
and 1.3 ROMS for anyone that likes to experiment ;)
Regards,
Brian Z
--- COCCORP@aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 3/17/2000 1:31:43 PM,
> bzawistowski@yahoo.com writes:
>
> >I have backlight units from some 120's modified by
> >Digital Ocean. I'll sell you the backlit screen
> and
> >control board for $25.
>
> Say Brian...are those backlights for 2.0 120's only?
> Or can a 1.3 120 use
> them too?
>
> Craig W.
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