Crisp, Clear, Bright & Easy
Written: May 27 '00 (Updated Jun 05 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Extremely bright, good on text, easy adjustments
Cons: Not the best for color (but hardly second class)
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| sylloge's Full Review: NEC MultiSync FP950 19 inch CRT Monitor |
I spent about 8 hours researching monitors for this latest purchase and found conflicting advice everywhere. All the major hardware review sites rated the same monitors very differently and even the "objective" metrics came out at odds with each other depending where you looked.
And everyone has their own biases -- some people won't consider anything but Sony and some judge by a single aspect (like brightness, dot pitch, etc.) In other words, getting advice on monitors is hard. I hope this helps; I worked pretty hard to find out what to buy and it definitely worked out.
Since I use the monitor about 10 hours per day, I want something that was easy on my eyes as well as easy to use. I spend a lot of time in graphics programs but even more time reading and writing so a balance between graphics and text was a main consideration. The FP950 excells in both.
The contrast is excellent and because you can adjust convergence over the whole screen or just in specific areas, you can ensure a perfect picture from edge to edge. A USB cable (included) from the back of the monitor to your PC allows you to use desktop software rather than the on-screen controls (but even the on-screen controls aren't bad -- much easier to use than the almost impossible ViewSonic, for example). You can save and recall settings for different resolutions (very handy) and there is the widest range of available controls I have seen on any monitor.
The pure flat CRT makes a big difference if you are still using a conventional (convex) CRT screen and NEC seems to do the best job getting a flat picture without distortion at the edges. The 18" of viewable area looks more like 20" or traditional CRT.
Some specs:
* Max resolution: 1920 x 1440 @ 73 Hz
* Realistic everyday resolution: 1280 x 1024 up to 102 Hz (I am one of those people who is extremely sensitive to refresh rates and I run it at 1280 x 1024 @ 92 Hz, which is amazing -- no flicker anywhere).
* 0.25 - 0.27 mm (variable) grille pitch (larger at the edges)
* Aperture grille (which means you get those two horizontal lines where the grille is held in place, but they haven't been a problem at all).
* No frame pulsing (rapid high-contrast shifts don't cause any pulsing after-effects in the image).
* "GlobalSync technology to compensate for magnetic fields" -- when I first read this, I thought "Uh huh. Marketing bullsh*t." But I have it sitting next to another old monitor and lots of speakers and there have been no problems -- never even had to degauss.
* Though it is pretty heavy (60 lbs), it is exactly the same depth as my old 17" so it fits pretty nicely on regularly sized desks.
One final cool thing about this monitor: in the on-screen control you can set it to give you "fitness tips" every 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90 or 120 minutes. It is nice that every hour or so it reminds me to get up & stretch or focus on something far away.
Good job, NEC. Definitely worth the price.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
sylloge
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Member: Stewart Butterfield
Location: Vancouver
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 6 members
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