I made the announcement at suppertime: "This evening, I go to buy my Christmas present!" When I explained what it was, quite frankly I was surprised at the lack of reaction from my wife.
Making (and Returning) the Purchase
When my daughter and I entered FutureShop, we noticed that there were boxes of my desired monitor within easy reach. Unnoticed by usually vigilant salesmen, I grabbed a carton, headed for the exit to pay, and was relieved the sleepy male cashier only half-heartedly asked if I want the extended warranty. (My credit card gives an extra year warranty free.)
Exalted, we exited the store. We'd made the purchase without encountering a salesman or having to argue over the extended warranty!
Getting home, I unpacked the unit. All I had to do was attach the aluminum base, and plug in the cables. I could reuse the power cord from the old monitor. But then the first problem arose: the VGA signal cable (included in the box) was too short to reach my underdesk computer. I had to place the monitor at the back end of my large desk, and shove the computer to the back, as well.
Next problem: The monitor's base is not tall enough, putting the center of the screen at 9"; I need the center to be higher, at 12"-15" inches. I found a spare wooden box from IKEA to raise the height by 3". Good enough for now.
I went to the BFG graphics board's utility software to change the resolution to 1680x1050. Except that the utility software would not accept it. I tried several times, clicking several options, until I realized I probably needed to install a driver for the monitor. Plug'n Play still doesn't work at the end of the year 2006.
The ProView CD has an interface that's so strange that I won't attempt to explain it here. Ignore it. I tried to get Windows 2000 to read the .inf (driver information) file, but it complained the .inf file was invalid. There's a number of ways to get Windows to update itself for new hardware, and I had to try several before it worked. Unfortunately I don't remember which one worked for this driver file. With the monitor driver installed, the BGF utility now recognized the monitor's strange resolution.
And the screen looked beautiful! I can set my Opera Web browser to display Web pages at 150% (to read the text more easily), and the text no longer spills off the edge of the screen. I can run PageMaker at 200%, and not have the text overlapping the toolbars. Wonderful!
And the screen is so bright that I could turn the Brightness setting down to 40%.
And then the screen went black. After turning off the monitor and back on, the screen worked again. For about an hour.
Then the screen went black again, and stayed black. Even the built-in menu didn't display. The monitor's power light stayed blue, indicating it was getting a signal from the computer (an orange light means it detects no connection). I emailed ProView tech support, but after 48 hours I still haven't had an answer.
The next day, a mere 14 hours later, I returned the monitor to FutureShop. I figured it would be a simple swap: bring in the old one, walk out with a new one. Well, no. I needed to cool my heels and wait impatiently while a techie checked out the unit. Fortunately, I was not crazy; he confirmed it was busted. I think the fluorescent backlighting broke down in the first one.
Next I needed to show the customer service person where the units were on the floor, so I could get the new one. And wait longer while FutureShop "bought" back the old one from me, and then generated reams of cash register tape selling me the new one. No kidding: the cash register tape is 23.5" long.
(While we were waiting, a three-year-old boy discovered a huge boxed remote control Hummer toy, almost as big as him. He pushed the carton around the floor, and then right out of the doors of the store. Staff stared amazed at this shoplifter-in-training.)
Got home, plugged it in, and so far the new one's been working fine. Curious effect, though: from the side, the monitor looks small; it's not until you sit in front of it that the 22"-diagonal size has its impact. Google Earth looks fabulous at that size!
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