raoulduke said:

But to extrapolate from Elfen's hypothesis (I don't know Duo's really), one could also just swap displays on a bunch of models (I assume between 140s and 170s, but between 5300s and 5300c's/cs's or 3400c's and Kangas (apparently) - and then at least with the 5300 series I don't think there would be a way to tell them apart - with the exception of the 5300ce, which uses a slightly faster processor). - Maybe serial number.  I know that the old Serial Lookup algorithms can determine the model based on the serial; I don't know if (i.e.) 140/170 5300/c/cs 3400c/3500 have uniquely identifying serials.

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Well, we can take the case of the 190 and 5300 and remove all identifying markers off them. Since they use the same case, you would not be able to tell them apart without opening the cases and see what CPU in the actual machine! This is the same problem with the 68K Powerbook Duos - they all share the same case.

The 3400/Kanga has a slightly taller case than the 5300, and things are arranged differently to make a CD ROM Drive and battery fit in the case. But other than that the cases are similar enough to need a closer look. 

You may have something in the reflection of the screen to determine what the machine is, as long as it is the original screen it came with. In the case of the 190cs passive LCD, it can be upgraded with the 5300c screen to give it the better active matrix screen.

Compared to the 5300s, the 5300ce has a larger sized screen (800X600) than the 5300 (B/W/Grey Scale), 5300cs (passive screen) and 5300c (active screen) which were all the same size (600X480). and the 5300ce has a different video circuit to support the larger screen, which you could not transplant to another 5300 to get the better screen.