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On the face of it, a 15in monitor that costs three times as much as a 17in one from the same manufacturer hardly seems like a bargain. Alas, this is the way things are when it comes to TFT flatpanel monitors, and at £833, the ADi MicroScan A610 costs about the going rate for these screens at the moment.
Apart from ridding yourself of excess cash, one of the reasons for opting for a TFT monitor over a CRT one is that it takes up less desk space. The A610 is a prime example of this - its base is about half the size of that of a CRT monitor and the screen itself is only about 2.5in thick. Better still, it weighs just 4.5kg and is reasonably stylish too, which means finding somewhere to put it is a relatively simple task.
The A610 plugs into a regular VGA connector (unlike some digital flatpanel displays) and has a built-in power supply, so there's no hefty mains adaptor to hide under your desk. No drivers are supplied and there are none on the ADi website, but running the monitor under the settings reserved for one of ADi's other flatpanel monitors works just as well.
Setting up the image on a TFT can be a tricky business but the A610 has an Auto Configure option in its setup menu that takes care of such things as resizing and repositioning the image automatically. This also comes into effect when the resolution changes, ensuring that the screen is always displaying an optimum image.
Image-wise, the A610 is a first-rate performer. The model we tested had no dead pixels (all too common on TFTs) and a clear, even image. The 15in viewable diagonal gives a 1024 x 768 display that's eminently readable, and since TFT screens give off none of the harmful emissions associated with CRT displays, it's a far healthier one, too.
See also:
Flatpanel monitors are highly desirable but always expensive. Has CTX managed to produce the hardware but at an affordable price? 10 Aug 2000
All Flat Panel monitors
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