Compaq FS740: I Spend Way Too Much Time Staring At This Thing
Written: Mar 21 '02 (Updated Mar 21 '02)
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Pros: -Flat screen, clear images, good extras.
Cons: -It's kind of large.
The Bottom Line: The compaq fs740 is a nice, clear, flat screen monitor. Read the rest to find out more.
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| pavona21's Full Review: Compaq FS 740 (White) 17 inch CRT Monitor |
Is "The Pav" Lost?
This is quite the day in the history of Epinions. The outspoken, charming, and witty games reviewer Pavona21, known by most as "pav" has finally peeked his eyes out in to the real world of Epinions. Am I lost? No, I purposely have found myself in the computers section of the site. Do I really know what I'm doing here? No, I have no genuine idea of how to write a nice computer monitor review. But, I'm just going to ask you to bear with me here. If I do something very wrong, leave a comment and tell me what is "bothering" you. Anyway, I upgraded to this monitor when I purchased a compaq 5000t desktop computer. And ever since that day, I've looked into this screen more than I've looked at anything else.(including my girlfriend)
Design: 8/10-It Won't Turn You On, But You'll Want To Turn It On
The FS740 is essentially the very essence of all 17in monitors. Looking at it, you'll basically see a large square sized front and a back that curves in as it continues. The power button is located on the bottom right of the monitor, and the 3 other "action" buttons are located right below the middle of the screen. The monitor itself is not too "stylish", but has just enough personality not bore you to death while looking at it. The vast majority of this piece of machinery is an off white color, but the monitor features a couple of silver accents to add a little variation to it. The monitor is a bit on the bulky side though. If my math does me right, the monitors dimensions are approximately 15x16x14 inches. Even though it's slightly large, the monitor isn't too heavy.(*lifting it up*) I would say that the thing weighs somewhere between 40 and 50 lbs, but it could be easily lifted by most able bodied individuals. I also sent in for the optional green color package, which replaced the speaker coverings that were grey, and made them match the rest of my computer.(green)
Extras: 9/10-Not Quite Everything You Need, But Nothing You Don't
The two major extras that you get with this monitor are the built in microphone, and the JBL speakers. First let's start with the microphone, which is an internal telex mic. It's located on the very top of monitor and is one of the 2 silver parts of the monitor. I can't get too technical with you, but the clarity of this microphone is very good. I can sit 2 or 3 feet away from my monitor, and talk in a normal voice and this thing will pick up my voice, and trasmit it clearly. I've never had to scream into my microphone to get a decent sound, and the playback voice is pretty excellent as well. Lastly, it's built in which will save you from plugging in an add on and having to use that.
The other major add on that was included with this monitor are the JBL platinum series speakers. They slide easily into the left and right side of the monitor, attach, and hold. You won't be able to use them freestand though, because of their "interesting" oval shape. On the right speaker, there is a headphone slot, and a big power button. Click that button in, and begin to hear the sounds of your computer. Let's face it though, these are not quite Bose 36 inch speakers with huge subs or anything. But they do get the job done well. The sound on these things is very clear, and can get moderatly loud as well. Put it this way, for being only 8 inch computer speakers, these things work easily and effectively.
Picture: 10/10This Thing Shines When It Counts
The picture quality on this monitor is nothing short of amazing. This thing has basically everything that will make your eyes feel good. First off, this monitor projects things in crystal clear 1200x1024 resolution. It also supports all picture types from video to standard animation very well. Next, this thing has a nice "reduced glare" feature that allows user to look into this thing for hours at a time without ever hurting there eyes. This screen also features reduced .25mm dot pitch for even clearer picture quality. And being the good flat screen monitor it is, you can always expect nice unaltered square imaging.
User Friendliness(that is a word!): 10/10I Can Finally Adjust Things Without Problems
This is by far one of the most user friendly monitor that I have ever laid on eyes. The three buttons on the bottom middle of the monitor pretty much control all of your options. You just click the top button to get into the options menu, and play around with thing from there. Here, you can control things like brightness, sharpness, picture position, and temperature with relative ease. Just find the correct option on the "wheel of options" by by scrolling with your right and left arrow buttons. Then, click the top button once again to get into that specific option, and adjust it with your left and right buttons. What's best about this "wheel of options" though is the clearly marked "exit" icon. I can remember playing around in the options screen countless numbers of times in other monitors, and being unable to exit. I would mash the monitor with my hands until the screen nearly cracked but nothing would happen. So, I'd be forced to either turn the thing off, or just run away. But here, one can easily exit the options screen. Also, this monitor features a nice power saving option. If the monitor is idle for about 5 minutes, it will go into a screen saver, and after you turn the computer off, it automatically puts itself into a "sleep" mode.
Closing Statements
I must also mention that this monitor is very easy to hookup. Just place the monitor in the designated location, and plug in one cord to your computer, and you'll be ready to go. Also, mine came with a nice stand which lets me rotate it all the way around. Sure, this monitor is a little costly with a suggested retail price of 400$, but it's a very nice monitor. It's also available with many of the current compaq desktop packages. That's all for now, I hope to find myself lost in this section again soon.
-Pav
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 400
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
pavona21
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Member: Eric Pavona
Location: Scenic Michigan
Reviews written: 105
Trusted by: 67 members
About Me:
Well Friends, it'll soon be GTA4 time.
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