Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
LED Message Pen (IlluminX - HotConcepts) - $2.50 on sale at Walgreens — Parallax Forums

LED Message Pen (IlluminX - HotConcepts) - $2.50 on sale at Walgreens

T&E EngineerT&E Engineer Posts: 1,396
edited 2009-09-05 13:46 in General Discussion
I stopped in at Walgreens for a prescription for my wife and saw the LED Message Pens for $4.99 but when I went pay for them, they were on sale for $2.50!! I bought 2 of them. They use 3 LR44 batteries which are included. I was going to buy more batteries there but Walgreens had energizer versions (3 pack for almost $9). It was cheaper to buy 3-4 of the pens and dispose of them later. I can probably get a good deal at the local flea market on these common watch / game batteries also. The pen is pretty neat and can store up to 4 messages that is 16 characters each. It reminded me of the Message Fans I bought at Radio Shack a couple of years back for $5. I asked when then sale would end at Walgreens and he said probably when they run out. They had about 10-15 of them. I might take one apart and see about interfacing to it. Although I tried this with the Radio Shack fan and it was not easy to put back together again and prettymuch unusable to interface to. I will check it out.
Test 082909 026.JPG
1536 x 2048 - 1M
Test 082909 034.JPG
1536 x 2048 - 1M

Comments

  • sam_sam_samsam_sam_sam Posts: 2,286
    edited 2009-09-01 01:01
    I bought a few of these as well and found out that it has a very thin contact that controls the Leds·going ON and OFF as it spins

    You can slow the motor to almost a stop and still see the letters·very clear

    ·T&Engineer

    ·I might take one apart and see about interfacing to it. Although I tried this with the Radio Shack fan and it was not easy to put back together again and pretty much unusable to interface to. I will check it out.

    This might not be a easy thing to do because the IC chip has Glob of Black stuff on it and no # on it

    It can be put back together and still work

    My thinking is that I might try to make a board that I can spin and see if make some thing work like that just a thought




    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    ··Thanks for any·idea.gif·that you may have and all of your time finding them smile.gif

    ·
    ·
    ·
    ·
    Sam
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2009-09-01 03:23
    Good find, Tim! My local store had a full box right by the checkstand. No hunting for them at all.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    ·"If you build it, they will come."
  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2009-09-03 02:55
    Cool! I'll try to find some tomorrow.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Whit+


    "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,938
    edited 2009-09-04 00:09
    My wife picked up 11 of these for me today. Will be using some of them as Christmas gifts for my staff.

    Didn't know the case came in different colors; red, blue, and black.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Andrew Williams
    WBA Consulting
    WBA-TH1M Sensirion SHT11 Module
  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2009-09-05 13:46
    Our Walgreens didn't have any! Bummer.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Whit+


    "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
Sign In or Register to comment.