Terminal Illness

 

Instead of relying on the vendor to repair its video display terminals (VDTs), Collegian Inc., a newspaper publisher at Pennsylvania State University, hired a local TV repairman to fix the televisionlike portion of the terminals.

Since last summer Dan Barker, who owns Barker Electronics, has fixed four terminals for $468 -- which included his one-time charge for studying the manuals for the equipment. According to Gerry Lynn Hamilton, general manager of Collegian Inc., it would have cost the company $1,600 if the vendor had repaired the VDTs.

Although many TV repair people may shy away from VDT equipment, Barker says the video monitor is "really just a stripped-down TV and is actually simpler to repair." According to Barker, the vendor, whose nearest service post is 150 miles away, is just as happy to have him repair the equipment. "In their eyes," he says, "the equipment is practically obsolete."