A Good 17-Inch Deal - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, March, 2001 by Wayne Kawamoto

HOC RATING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

AOC Spectrum 7Glr

* Requirements: PC with standard video port * List Price: $199 * Manufacturer: Envision Peripherals Inc., 888-838-6388, www.epius.com

WHEN IT COMES TO MONITORS, SIZE DEFINITELY matters. And because those extra-large monitors come with equally large price tags, most of us settle for decent 17-inch or 19-inch monitors. Fortunately, AOC's Spectrum 7Glr offers a solid 17-inch monitor for only $199.

The Spectrum has a 16-inch viewing area, and offers a fine 0.25mm dot pitch that produces clear images and supports resolutions up to 1,600 by 1,200 pixels. At that resolution, the 60Hz refresh rate may produce too much flicker for your comfort. The monitor comes with the usual controls, most with handy numerical scales. It also has adjustments for trapezoid and parallelogram, plus a control for pincushion balance. These are handy for adjusting the image, as the monitor isn't as flat as some higher-end CRT monitors. We found the monitor's convergence to be first rate, and its color handling good.

The controls are accessed via an innovative dial-type knob that you press to activate onscreen menus, and then turn to make selections and adjust them. In use, we found these controls more intuitive than those found on most monitors.

Unfortunately, AOC neglects to supply driver disks; you have to go online and download drivers from the company's Web site. We had no problems finding, downloading, and then loading the monitor's driver, but it was inconvenient.

The manual is somewhat sparse and dry, but adequate. AOC also sells its 7GlrA, which is the 7Glr plus speakers, a volume control, and earphone jack.

Overall, the AOC Spectrum 7Glr isn't exceptional, but no other 17-incher on the market can match its price. When you want to upgrade from your old 15-inch model, definitely consider this.

[pros] Good controls; great price

[cons] Ships without drivers

THIS MONTH

IBM NetVista A20i Rating: 7

Norton SystemWorks for Macintosh(a) Rating: 8

AOC Spectrum 7Glr Rating: 7

Lexmark Z82 MFD Rating: 6

CorelDraw 10 Graphics Suite Rating: 8

MacSOHO(b) Rating: 9

Philips 170B Rating: 8

Epson 1640 SU Office Scanner(a) Rating: 8

Microsoft Picture It Publishing Platinum Edition Rating: 7

(a) HOC VALUE

(b) HOC PERFORMANCE

RATINGS

HOME OFFICE COMPUTING rates products on a scale of 1 to 10--with few 9's or 10's--based on value, performance, innovation (medals go to rare standouts in these areas), ease of use, and suitability for home offices. The [pros] and [cons] symbols indicate pros and cons.