Bill.Frandsen@samba.acs.unc.edu (Bill Frandsen) (10/16/90)
Well, if you think 1950's are bad.... I got my A2000 system thru the educational program last March. I got the current version at that time of the "D" model. It is the one that is shaped like the original 1902's and 1080's. It has a Toshiba tube in it. As mentioned last spring on the net, it suffers from the typical warped tube problem. About 3 inches from the right of the screen, there is a vertical "warp-zone" that if characters/screens are moved horizontaly over this area, they seem to warp to the front/back of the screen. It's especially noticable when text scrolls vertically (the tube seems to be warped more than usualy vertically as well---i.e. a line measured at the top of the screen is shorter than the same line measured in the middle). Also I use the monitor as a TV connected to a VHS-VCR. Watching camera pans on the TV or bottom text scrolls, I can notice the warping. I have seen this identical problem on the dealer demo monitors as well. And then, when I asked my dealer what he could do to fix it, you know what his reply was???? "Just turn down the contrast, it'll clear it up" I'm NOT talking about interlace!!! Then, just last week, I noticed a new problem. A fleck of phosphorus has disappeared from the top of the screen, whiceh is appx where the workbench titlebar resides. It is also noticable from 2 feet away while watching TV. I had this same thing happen when I had the 1084 made by Phillips/Magnavox I got in March of 1988 with my Amiga 500. It flecked phosphorus off, on the right side of the screen. Also, with the Toshiba tubes, there is a terrible convergence problem, looking at the workbench title bar, the bottom of it on the left smears from pure white to a 1/2 scan line of red, then the background color, and the top of the title bar on the right smears to a full scan line of blue before blending to the background. Back when I had a C128 with the 1902 (Toshiba) I noticed the same problem. When I switched to the 1902A (Magnavox), I got better convergence, but could notice strange "zones" of varing densities in the tube with a solid color screen. (Also see this on MANY 1084's made by Magnavox). How come EVERY Commodore monitor I've ever had has had some annonying (or two) "features". [except my first 1702 on my C64!] I sell various brands of monitors including Magnavox, Packard Bell, Emerson, Epson. Of those, the Packard Bell VGA's seem to have the best picture overall. The Epson's smear, the Maganavox's waver with the smallest interference. The Emersons are made by Samsung like the Packard Bell's, and seem ok. You would think that they would make better quality monitors for the price we pay for them. (Or do we have to shell out $600 for a decent NEC or Sony?) If I ever upgrade from my Amiga (which I love), to another C= product, I think I will NOT buy the monitor. The CPU seems fine, but it's those add-on peripherals that seem to be of lesser quality. Otherwise, those clones or new Mac's @ educational discount are beginning to look more worthwhile. --