Hey guys, got a question for whoever feels like answering. I recently installed a plexiglass cover over my monitor (Acer H213H) to prevent little fingers from leaving smudge marks on it, and also to help keep my desk a bit cleaner. However, one issue I've realized since is that I now don't have access to the power switch on it, nor any of the touch-sensitive display settings. The touch area doesn't bother me, as I don't use this rig for much heavy work, but the power consumption bothers me. And before you ask, an external power strip really isn't an option, as I want to keep it as clean as possible, including areas under my desk. The idea that I had instead involved gutting an old, busted home theater receiver. I bought this used for maybe $70, versus $250 for a new one, and knew it was gonna sh*t the bed as soon as I bought it. I already have an idea of what I'm going to use the case for, now it's just basically holding its parts together. What I'm envisioning is to crack it back open (the receiver) and pull out the IRDA sensor in it, as one of the receiver chips is shot. I then want to open the bezel on my monitor and mount the IRDA inline with the power button so that, if I ever decide to remove the plexi I can just forget about the sensor. Kind of a parallel circuit rather than a series, if that makes sense. I want to drill a small hole somewhere in the Acer logo for the IRDA to "see" through, and this could potentially lead to a remote upgrade, wherein the entire setup is controlled via IRDA. I'm running Ubuntu on my rig, and have found this remote that I've heard through Ubuntu forums will work as a plug-n-play with Linux, even though it's supposedly "Windows only." If I could figure out a way to combine the functions of both remotes, or reconfigure the Power button on the remote to work for the monitor instead of shutting off the computer (I don't shut off the computer because I use it as an alarm clock as well)... do you think this idea would work? Or am I creating nothing but a huge headache for myself? Thoughts, opinions, links, feedback are appreciated.
You're worried about the power consumption on your monitor, but you leave the entire PC on purely as an alarm clock. <headscratch>Me</headscratch>
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9823848.htm How about remote controlling the monitor power? Just stick one of them in.
Actually, I admit, I wasn't clear on that part; sorry bout that. I'm not worried about power consumption so much as I am about extraneous light. I leave my PC on constantly as it's a file-sharing rig and I have like 3 other people that connect not only to that, but also to my printer which connects to the PC. The PC runs Samba, so there's that. I'm going to be upgrading this rig when I get the money so as to make it quieter, installing sound-deadening foam and more fans, etc. It makes sense in my head haha! Nice idea there Snubbs, in fact I might have looked further into getting one of those, but unfortunately that's only valid for UK people. I'm in the States which, even if shipping overseas weren't such a nightmare would still render it worthless as we use 120VAC at about 60 amps, and our plugs are entirely different. Nice find though!
- That's what I'm using right now, is setting the monitor to "sleep" after 10 minutes. Unfortunately though, I still need to build/find/design a killswitch for it, because my monitor power indicator is white when active and yellowish-orange when asleep. I don't like seeing that lamp if I happen to wake up in the middle of the night (I've already disconn'ed the power lamp for the PC) so that's why I want to set it up like this. - Do you have any recommentations where I could get one for rather cheap? I don't feel like spending $20 on a glorified power strip haha.
