I bought this machine at a pretty bargain price because it was shown to power up, but not display anything. It went for about 25-30% of the typical final price (with free shipping!) because nobody, including me, wants an FM Towns with an integrated monitor that doesn’t work. But I decided to take a risk, because I had a sneaking suspicion that there was a low-tech fix.

When I received it, sure enough, it powered on but didn’t display anything. That’s when I jumped into action to test my hand at “repairing” it. My strategy was to put my index finger on those brightness and contrast knobs and push them *up*. The assumption that this was actually the problem was unfounded, I had no evidence based on the auction, but was willing to take the risk at that price.

Just because a suspicion is unfounded doesn’t mean it isn’t correct. Fortune smiled upon me, this monitor is still beautiful!

I threw Bubble Bobble at it because I think the bright and vibrant colors and their contrast on the black screen really make the compact Trinitron monitor shine. The loading screen is also cute.