A big monitor for your desk
Written: Jan 26 '02
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Pros: Agreat monitor but needs a lot of desk space
Cons: Expensive
The Bottom Line: Very heavy and very big. If you want a big viewable screen, you may as well buy a TFT.
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| andycharger's Full Review: Sony F Series Model 400 CRT Monitor |
I expect you have heard about Sony.
They have been producing home viewing in the form of Televisions for many years and along with their product comes a guarantee of quality.
Chances are that you own a Sony TV if you rate excellence as a pre requisite when purchasing.
They not only producing viewing material. They also produce the highly successful Playstation series and top quality Hi Fi products as well as Cameras, Walkmans and Videos.
In fact, home entertainment is their business.
Which is why when they decided to venture into Monitors for PC`s, they brought with them their vast range of design,development and product superiority with them and put it into their new range of monitors.
In particular, I can tell you about one of their finest examples which has becmoe a game playing neccessity in my house.
At 19 inches of viewing pleasure from Top Right Corner to bottom left, the Sony HMD-A420 brings with it one important factor from their TV`s. Its all important Trinitron name. This seals the promise of sharpness, crispness and superior viewing performance before even powering it up.
Lets look at the actual monitor now.
Looks
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An attractive square shaped monitor with an extremely flat screen give this monitor a retro look.
Gone are the smooth curves of yesterday and in comes the sharp cornered look.
It tapers away to the back and sides.
On the bottom there is no swivel seat for the unit so instead it uses 2 black rounded feet to sit on. This is fine if you dont need to spin your monitor around too much but not handy for showing your colleague in the next seat what you have just designed.
Picture quality.
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saying it is sharp does not do it justice. You could slice your finger on these graphics.
With a resolution that stretches up to 1600 x 1200 at a refresh rate of 78 mhz, you have one powerful monitor that can cope with any of the latest games and many more in the years to come.
Gaming is going to be its main use in my house as it is large, can cope with quick refreshes and you can see plenty of detail. A games` player`s dream.
With millions of colors to choose from and shades that will make most jealous, this sony is absolutely superb.
Size/weight.
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Warning....THIS IS NOT A SMALL MONITOR.
I know you are expecting it to be big but its huge.
You must check the dimensions fit your desired location.
Mine only just fits on its worktop and the keyboard,mouse and myself are perched perilously close to oblivion on the othe end. It is very deep so make sure there is plenty of room in fron if it is going against a wall.
Make sure 2 of you pick it up and that the work space is sturdy enough to take it as it is HEAVY at 26 Kgs.
Functions.
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You have the control over the contrast, color, size, Trapezoid, positioning and degaussing that most modern monitors have through an on screen menu.
But you also have something much more useful at the back of the monitor.
It plugs into your PC like any normal 15 pin socket display device. This means it is compatible with nearly all pcs around.
But thats not the best bit.
There are sockets for your keyboard and mouse here so no more messing around under the desk while you plug everything in. Use the sockets on the monitor.
Also, how about the USB devices you use?
There are 4 sockets available for your joystick, printer,scanner,camera,keyboard,mouse etc here to so this is very helpful.
Extras.
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If you buy from DABS right now, you get a free pair of speakers with the monitor worth about £40 ($65). So that is a bonus if you do not have any.
Price.
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Its one downfall. You can buy a 19 inch monitor now for about $199 Online. Sure it wont have as sharp a picture of come with the qualities of a Sony Screen but this is nearly twice the price at £400 (about $700). A free set of £40 ($65) speakers makes it more attractive but most people have those already.
Overall.
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Its a great monitor but I would not have bought it if I had to pay for it myself. I can see it benefiting designers and games players as it has a big display but it is expensive and a bit too large for most work stations.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 700
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
andycharger
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Location: Chelmsford, Essex, UK
Reviews written: 112
Trusted by: 8 members
About Me:
I love writing opinions!
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