A Monitor Good Enough To Surf On...
Written: Jun 20 '03 (Updated Jun 20 '03)
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Pros: It's worked beautifully for a year; clear and crisp; trouble free!
Cons: Collects dust...
The Bottom Line: It's been a perfect monitor for the year I've owned it--I'm so confident in its workmanship I've decided not to extend the warranty.
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| briandalsmom's Full Review: Hewlett Packard HP Pavilion MX70 (17 in.) CRT Conv... |
I have been looking at this screen for nearly a year now, and I would have to say that it has been an enjoyable. In the year I have owned it, it has seen hundreds of hours on the Internet—played games, visited chat rooms, and countless hours rating and reading at Epinions.
I have watched DVDs on it, redesigned a website on it, and spent tons of time editing family photos. Through it all, it has performed well. I have never had to think much about it—it just performs. Sure, it collects dust like any electronic gadget, but a quick swipe of the screen and it is ready to go.
What got me thinking about my monitor was receiving a notice from HP that the warranty was about to expire on its one-year anniversary. I decided it was time to take stock in my purchase and see if I am willing to gamble on it continuing to be an asset to my life. First, I will tell you how I came to buy this monitor…
Last year in June, I was happily telecommuting on a company-issued Dell notebook—I was in heaven. Unfortunately, I became the owner of a new Director, one from hell, who did away with telecommuting (except for himself). Oh well. I had several desktops at home and even a laptop, but after using the Dell, I was spoiled and wanted a new computer. Thinking that maybe someday I might quit that job and get the opportunity to work at home again, I thought I would buy myself a gift—a gift of a new HP computer!
Choosing a monitor was easy for me—I wanted a flat screen because they were sooooo cool, but the budget could not handle it so I pared down my “wants” to my “needs” and decided on this 17” monitor. I knew that with all the graphics work I do I needed the larger screen (plus, I like to watch DVD movies while I surf the web—you’ve got to have a lot of screen to fit it all in!). My kids like to play games so it had to be crisp and clear (so they insisted).
We brought home the new computer, hooked up the new monitor, and were up and running in minutes thanks to the monitor being Plug & Play compliant. It was beautiful from the first start-up screen! In the year that I have owned it, I have never had to do any adjustments to the color, brightness, or screen position—not a thing, it has been perfect since that first day.
It is an attractive monitor, silver and slate gray with a nicely rounded shape for a futuristic look. It sits on a footed base that allows for swiveling and adjustment for each user (tilt range: -5/+15, swivel range: +60/-60). It demands a lot of real estate on the desk—its measurements are (H x W x D): 17.36 x 16.30 x 17.44 in and it weighs 34 pounds. The footed base balances the weight well and because it is slate gray, it does not seem that large (you know, dark colors make you look thinner!).
It has a built-in microphone above the HP logo on the front/center of the machine—it picks up very well and people entering the room while I am using Yahoo Chat wonder who it is I’m talking to when I appear to be talking to my screen.
Now remember, the 17” size refers to the complete size of the monitor—the actual viewing size is 15.8” (I know, it seems like cheating). If size is important to you, always check the actual viewing size. Also, remember that these dimentions are measured diagonally.
This is not an anti-glare monitor, although I've not had any problems with glare and actually don't care for the anti-glare models--I think they make the text fuzzy and hard to read, but for some they're a must-have.
The maximum resolution is 1280 x 1024—I have mine set at 1024 x 768. Why do you need a lot of resolution? Picture quality—DVDs and photos look best at higher resolutions—they have more detail. Lower resolution results in pictures that are pixilated—remember the old monitors? They had low resolution so you could actually see the pixels. This one is of such high quality, that watching a DVD on my monitor is as nice as watching it on my Sony big screen TV (only smaller). High resolution also means more desktop space—view a website at 800x600 and the type is HUGE! View the same site at 1024 x 768 and it fills 1/3 of the screen.
As I said, I have never had to adjust the monitor but had I needed to, the adjustments are done from the button just below the screen. The MODE button allows you to use pre-set settings—choose from Text or Video/Games. The Text mode dulls down the screen just a bit; the Video/Game mode brightens the screen a tad. You are able to preview the changes before accepting them. You can also adjust the brightness and contrast manually to your liking. First press the Contrast button and then the – and + buttons to change it to the exact look you like. The brightness is adjusted in the same manner. For adjustments that are more complex the Select button takes you into a menu where you can adjust the following: brightness, contrast, zoom (size of the screen/resolution) size and position (horizontal size, horizontal position, vertical size, vertical position) and so many more. In all, it means that if your screen is catawampus, you can fix it with a few minutes and a few buttons. I do not use the pre-set modes--it works great for text and video without the adjustment although people with special needs may enjoy the one-button change available to them.
The Power button is located in the same area—shaped like a fingernail, with a green light above to let you know the power is on.
It arrived with Polk audio speaker mounts (small slits on either side of the screen that will accept speakers with the male mount).
It has Energy Star® compliant (a government-backed program that encourages manufacturers to produce products which conserve energy—in this case, the monitor is compliant with those standards so if your computer is capable it can put your monitor to “sleep” and use other energy saving features).
Well, there’s not much to say about a monitor—it’s got a great picture, it’s easy to maneuver on the desk so all users can us it comfortably, it’s not troubled me in any way, and I’m confident that it will continue to work well into the future. I have decided that the HP quality is present in this monitor and I have decided to forgo the extended warranty. Had I opted for it, it would have been $209.95 for 3 years of added coverage, $159.95 for 2 years, or $99.95 for 1 year. Since I paid $179.95 (because of a rebate--check the HP site, they have tons of rebates there!), I’ll just opt to get a new monitor should this one fail me.
SPECS
CRT
Dot Pitch: 0.27mm
Phosphor arrangement: Dot Trio
Faceplate Treatment: Polished Glass
Curvature: Standard
Signal Interface
• input type: HD-15 (VGA) Captive cable
• sync input: Separate H + V
• max. dot rate: 110MHz
• H. sync range: 30 ~ 70kHz
• V. sync range: 50 ~ 120Hz
• primary format: 1024 x 768 @ 85Hz
• supported refresh rates (Hz):
o 640 x 480: 60, 72, 75, 85
o 720 x 400: 70
o 800 x 600: 60, 72, 75, 85
o 1024 x 768: 60, 75, 85
o 1152 x 864: 75
o 1280 x 960: 60
o 1280 x 1024: 60
user interface
• control interface: OSD
• contrast preset: Text, Video/Graphics
• brightness: Yes
• contrast: Yes
• H/V size: Yes
• H/V position: Yes
• manual degauss: Yes
• pincushion: Yes
• pin balance: Yes
• tilt/rotation: Yes
• paralellogram: Yes
• trapezoid: Yes
• moire cancellation: Yes
• languages: 5
This monitor is compatible with HP pavilion 500 series, 700 series and HP media center 800 series desktop pcs
WARRANTY
One-year Limited Warranty
FOOTNOTES
I didn't buy this one from HPShopping.com, but I have purchased many other items--it's a fabulous website. Read my review at http://www.epinions.com/content_98144980612
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 179.95
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
briandalsmom
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Member: Mom
Location: USA
Reviews written: 249
Trusted by: 191 members
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