HP 35s display misaligned



#2

I now have 2 35s and both have a crooked display. One is tilted slightly up from the left and the other sightly down. I thought I could ignore it, but my eyes are immediately drawn to it. Is there an easy way to correct this?


#3

return it?

Or hold onto it as a collector's item?

#4

How frequent ist this problem? If it's not another lie, my 35s has been shipped on the 24th and will arrive probably in four weeks (after having paid at the 15th). I'd hate to return it and wait another month for a replacement :-(.


#5

Thomas,

if I am right you live in Germany. You just have to wait and see. If you have a display misalignment you could send the calc to the authorized dealer in Germany "Bandermann GmbH" for a replacement instead of back in the states.

I did this with my HP49G+, which was bought from "dynatech.de", about six times. The woman from Bandermann I talked to, was very convenient.

Good luck

Christian B.


P.S.: This is the first dealer who has the 35s in Germany.

http://www.nomatica.de/p.aspx?i=151668

Seems a bit overprized with 88,- EUR, doesnt it?


#6

Thank you for your hint, Christian! Fortunately, Chris Haltiner pointed out how to overcome this problem.

Indeed, 88 EUR seem to be much, too much for me actually. I have fond memories at the pre-Euro times where one could get HP calculators quite cheap elsewhere in europe (Bought my 20S in France, the 32SII in the Netherlands). This ist history now.

#7

When you do a self test (hold down the ON button and XEQ) and press any button twice, you should see all of the superscript annunciators at the top of the display. Are they parallel with the top bezel or do they in fact tilt up or down?

Mike

Press ON and GTO to exit self test.


#8

The display on my 35s is not crooked, but it does appear to be positioned slightly too close to the top of the window. The annunciators, etc. are all visible at the top, but are just a tiny bit underneath the edge of the window if viewed from a 90 degree angle.

#9

The tilt is quite noticable in the self test, almost a pixel lower (or higher) on one end. After the second one arrived misaligned, I figured they were all that way, and a replacement wouldn't be any better. Unless I can fix it myself, I'll just live with it.

Edited: 26 July 2007, 1:22 p.m.


#10

My display is correct S# 72103849. I would hope it is an isolated event.

Call HP and let them know. When I called HP about my 1st 33s, (small decimal point, bugs, etc.) they told me they would send me a new one, and I could keep the old one. They did. I gave the old one to a friend with a worn out 32S and better eyes.`

Mike

Edited: 26 July 2007, 1:38 p.m.

#11

I have a 35s (bought directly from HP) with Serial Number CNA 72104204. I can detect a very slight tilt which goes up as you look at the display from left to right.

However, I'm not sure I would have ever noticed this if I had not run the self-test noted in this thread (so that all enunciators across the top are on at the same time). Also, everything is visible. I'm a bit of a perfectionist - and things like this tend to bother me - but this tilt is so small I don't think it would be worth the trouble to return. I don't think it will really bother me. Perhaps different units are affected a different amount - or more likely different people are more troubled by these kinds of things that others.

Just to show the kind of nut that I am - I noted that the serial number taped to the back slopes up going from left to right when I first got the 35s - and kind of wanted to pull it off and properly position it in the middle of the area it was intended to go in. It's a sickness... ;-)


#12

Quote:
It's a sickness.

It's a sensitivity. An awareness.

:-)

#13

The display on my HP 35s exhibits the slight upward slant from left to right. The misalignment was apparent without using the self test. I opened the unit and shifted the position of the LCD glass which is glued to a metal backing. The glue is flexible, but also has some memory. After reassembling the unit, the display is basically level now.

One minor note about disassembling: the soldering holding the power wires to the system board appears to be of suspect quality, so any stress placed on the case front and backing while separating could break the connection. (Yes, I had to resolder one wire.)

Also, sorry, no pictures as I did this at the office.


#14

Thanks for the tip. I fixed mine just like you fixed yours (minus the soldering). As you saw, the problem is that the LCD is not placed squarely onto the metal backing. Holding the metal backing and twisting the glass into place does the trick, although you have to move it quite a bit to overcome the glue memory. It is a bit dangerous, since a little slip using such force could damage the glass or the ribbon cable. Perhaps HP will see this post and start doing QC checks on this part ;-). Thanks to all for your replies.

#15

I have four Classic series calculators and in each one the middle LED package is slightly out of alignment with the first.

This means that in the LED display there is a discernable "step" between a couple of the digits. Subtle, but I have noticed it. Drove me nuts until Randy Sloyer reminded me that these gizmos were assembled at a bench by real human hands and such variances merely add to their charm. Besides, those LED packages are soldered in there pretty immovably, so there is no way to easily fix any perceived misalignement.

Maybe the variances in the 35s displahy will be know as charming one day?

Les

#16

I am on my second 35S. The first arrived Tuesday and with great anticipation I opened the package (no small feat), installed the batteries, turned it on and... the LCD display misalignment was immediately noticeable and annoying. The last annunciator just about disappeared underneath the bezel, it was so badly aligned. How something so obviously defective could slip through QC is beyond me. I immediately called HP and to their great credit they overnighted a new one to me at no charge and told me to keep the defective one (which is not really defective, just misaligned).

Many have experienced the crooked LCD display issue and the annunciator row being too close to the top of the bezel. Hopefully these are all first generation issues that will be worked out as the manufacturer tweaks the production process. I'll most likely pick up another one in a year when the manufacturing process has matured and hopefully the display issues have been cleaned up.


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