Letting a monitor light the way
I got a new monitor at home. I broke down at the CompUSA going out of business sale, spotting a deal I was happy with, and bought the Gateway FPD2485W. It’s a flat panel LCD monitor I’ve been eyeing for a while and the price was acceptable. I was willing even though I was leery of purchasing an expensive new display without the possibility of return (“absolutely no returns,” CompUSA’s signs read) and without having a modern computer to connect it to.
See, eventually I’d like to get something like a Mac Pro with a large display. Actually, I’d like to have a computer that could handle two large DVI flat panels, just for the overkill factor.
I like the 1920×1200 resolution on the 24-inch LCD panel. I think the picture quality is excellent; compared to other 24-inch monitors on the shelf at Best Buy when I first discovered it, I felt it was the best. I like that it is supposed to handle HDCP for HD content; that makes it more future-proof in my mind, along with its bevy of digital and analog ports, including component video. It doesn’t hurt that its design gets out of the way, looks similar to a black plastic version of Apple’s aluminum flat panel monitors, practically glides on its elevation-and-swivel stand, and has a 90-degree screen rotation feature. It’s also wider than my chest!
I had concerns yesterday evening after unboxing it. The on-screen display (OSD) controls were driving me nuts; Gateway had decided to equip the monitor with touch-sensitive controls, and they weren’t responding well to my commands. The response was sluggish and instead of the main menu, I kept getting the Product Tour popping up on-screen when I pressed the admittedly-cool blue-backlit “buttons” that dim when not in use. Things were going so badly with these buttons that I wished with a sour feeling that I hadn’t gotten the monitor. I filed a support request with Gateway while I attempted to sort it out myself — because I knew that they wouldn’t care if I couldn’t get it working with a five-year-old Power Mac.
Today, I hooked the monitor up via VGA to my Athlon PC — and even though it has a similar GeForce 4MX card as the Power Mac I tried yesterday, using DVI, the OSD controls worked! Trying it on the Mac again, it appeared to work with both VGA and DVI.
However, I still haven’t quite figured out whether it plays nicely with the Energy Saver settings on the Mac and I still haven’t decided on VGA or DVI. I have some quibbles with its operation in both modes, but that could be due to the old computers or the Belkin KVM that’s in the loop. I’m hoping when I get a new computer, this will all work itself out.
It’s when, not if, that we plan to get a new computer. I just don’t see the point of getting today’s Mac Pro towers, when they may be replaced at any minute. But, in the meantime, this display makes me feel as if we already have a new computer; it’s bright enough to light up the room it’s in. It reinforcing my view that a good display, especially one with a higher resolution, can really change your computing experience.
I plan to write a full review at Epinions in a bit.
Update 03/08/2008: Just for reference, I did get a second one … along with a more modern computer.