ADI MicroScan 5P Plus

...at the screen of the ADI MicroScan 5P+. It is the usual beige colour and has a screen size of 17 inches (16-inch viewable area). For those who do not know, the size is measured diagonally between two corners of the screen.

At the top of the monitor and placed centrally are three triangular marks. The left and right sides are decorative indents. The central mark is a hole and behind it is a microphone. There is a wire provided that ...
...someone when linked top their computer. I have used this to scare my family across our network by shouting down the microphone when I know they have their speakers on. You have to stand close to the hole though, as it is a very cheap and nasty microphone.

This monitor is heavy, I have moved it around a number of times and it is hard. You can buy newer monitors that weigh a lot less these days. The dimensions of the monitor are 415mm ... more

I thought I would try a consumery op for a change. As I type this, I am looking at the screen of the ADI MicroScan 5P+. It is the usual beige colour and has a screen size of 17 inches (16-inch viewable area). For those who do not know, the size is measured diagonally between two corners of the screen.

At the top of the monitor and placed centrally are three triangular marks. The left and right sides are decorative indents. The central mark is a hole and behind it is a microphone. There is a wire provided that plugs into the soundcard and allows you to talk to someone when linked top their computer. I have used this to scare my family across our network by shouting down the microphone when I know they have their speakers on. You have to stand close to the hole though, as it is a very cheap and nasty microphone.

This monitor is heavy, I have moved it around a number of times and it is hard. You can buy newer monitors that weigh a lot less these days. The dimensions of the monitor are 415mm (W) X 415mm (H) X 452mm (D). You will find a lot of modern monitors that are nowhere near as deep as this and this monitor occupies a large area of desk space. The actual weight is 16kg.

You should not use this monitor in conditions that exceed 40 Degrees in use or 65 degrees in storage. In this country, I suppose they mean don’t put it next to the radiator or in the oven.

There is a very sturdy base that is quite difficult to attach. Firstly, you have to tip the monitor. DO NOT tip the monitor so the screen is facing downwards. Apart from the risk of damage to the screen, if there are dust particles inside the tube, they will fall against the screen and will be visible for the rest of the life of the monitor. To attach the base, you align the hooks on the base with the holes on the monitor and push into place until it clicks into position. If you are doing this on your own you are in for a struggle. It is nearly impossible to hold the monitor still and press the base into position. Get someone to hold the monitor for you.

Now that the monitor is standing on it’s base, you have the power cord. The monitor is supplied with a cord that plugs into the power unit in your PC so you should ensure that you have a monitor power socket there. If you don’t, you can buy a power cord at any computer shop that has the normal three pin plug that goes in a wall socket.

After following the instructions and attaching the wires to the computer (the computer must be switched off while you do this), you switch the computer on and you should play with the settings to set the screen (I will get to this later). If you are running Windows 95/98 onwards, the system may detect the new plug and play monitor. I just let Windows select the best match. You can get drivers for the monitor from the Microsoft Web site, I think but I couldn’t be bothered and the standard drivers work fine.

Now we get to the buttons, you know the things on the front that kids press and cock everything up. I spend more time re-aligning the screen than we do playing with the computer. There are three buttons on the front of the monitor. The top and bottom buttons represent + & - and the middle button is the function button.

Pressing the function button brings up a menu on the screen that lets you change various settings. The main menu gives you the following options:

Size and position – Allows you to place the viewable area and move it around.

Geometry – Allows you to change the shape of the screen by making the picture bulge or squeeze. You can also tilt and turn the screen. When used in conjunction with size & position, you can make the best use of the viewable area.

Color(it is a US monitor so this spelling is used on screen) – I have not used this function but it allows you to mess about with the levels of red, green and blue. I thought green should be yellow but the manual knows best (I hope).

Degauss – This function seems to blow up the screen but actually demagnetises the monitor if there is a heavy build up of static. There is a warning that it should not be used often.

Language – You can select the language for the menu system. English (US), Italian, French, German or Spanish.

Management – You can set power saving options in this menu along with USB and other management type options that I don’t use or understand.

Advance – Has extended menus that use the options from above for those with greater technical knowledge (i.e. Those using the monitor for CAD work).

On the bottom edge of the monitor, there are two twistable knobs for setting the brightness and contrast.

The power consumption of the monitor (for those who are interested) is:

Active – 110watts
Suspend – 15watts
Off/standby – 8watts

I have the monitor set to a resolution of 1024x768, which has a refresh rate of 75Hz. The optimum setting is 800x600, which has a refresh rate of 80Hz.

For typing this review as well as playing games, this monitor performs extremely well and has given me no problems. I read a number of reviews in magazines before I bought this monitor two years ago and it was recommended for home use but not for high-end graphics work or CAD. This is because the colour definition could be a lot better and if you are touching up photographs, you can have trouble making them look perfect.

I would recommend this monitor today to anyone who has a very old 15 inch monitor and would like to upgrade to a 17 inch. There is however, a big BUT. There are definitely newer and more technologically advanced monitors around now and they are probably as cheap as this one was. I cannot remember how much I paid for this one but it has served me well and will continue to do so until I can afford that Sony 19 inch flat screen I’ve been drooling over in the magazines for the last few months.

Just one word of caution (or a whole paragraph)… It is very sensitive to radio waves and magnetism. Don’t put your mobile phone near the screen as the picture distorts. A friend left his mobile phone on the monitor while the monitor was on standby and the memory got wiped so he lost all his numbers. My screen had a funny shimmer to it that looked as though there was a heat haze in front of the screen. After trying everything else, we found that my radio aerial wire was causing the interference at four feet distance so I had to move the Aerial further away.

I have set the manufacturer support to satisfactory as I have never used support. 

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