Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 930SB

Well it’s Christmas time again, a time for family, xmas trees, decorations, parties and presents and for some, Jesus. Now my reason for writing this monitor opinion is not because I was lucky enough to get one as a present, or because it came as part of a decoration for a xmas tree, or because I went to a party and won one, and no Jesus didn’t just pop up with one for me so that leaves us with one more connection left between me and this monitor….Family.

I moved out in June 2003 and because I hardly see my parents anymore it was only fair that I should go and see them at Xmas. They live in the middle of nowhere and so entertainment here mainly consists of sky television, darts, punch bag, exercise bike, a small gym thing, various game consoles and the internet. Now my parents don’t have a lot of money but the money they do have they like to spend it on decent things that will last a long time and my dad being into computers loves to spend his time on one. This means that when he recently had the opportunity to purchase a brand new computer, he chose nothing but the best. This computer came with a Diamond Pro 930SB Monitor.

So as you can see it isn’t me that is blessed enough to have one of these yet, but seem as though I have spent quite a lot of time using it I feel I can pass as having first class experience of it (like now for example while I am writing this).

Now this is my first monitor opinion as I really don’t have much of a clue when it comes top computer things. However as this was such a nice, stylish monitor I felt I had to share it with others and so I researched a little about it.

Now the first thing I mentioned there that I should mention is that it is stylish. From the front it looks like a flat screen Monitor but that is deceiving because when you peer around the side you can see it goes back around 25 inches. That’s quite far back so remember that if you want to buy one just to check that you have the space available for it. It isn’t that chunky though as the front section is wider than the back as with all monitors. So first things first I should tell you a little about the monitor itself.

*The Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 930SB*

This monitor is obviously made by Mitsubishi and it really performs to a high standard. It has a 19 inch screen and it is a CRT/ display device. Its exact measurements are 44.2cm x 44.8cm x 44.3cm. Its diagonal size is 19” but its viewable size is 18”. It has a dot pitch of 0.24mm and its maximum resolution is 1920 x 1440 / 73 Hz. It does have an option of using a resolution from 640x480 to 1920x1440. It is a plug and play device which basically means if you plug it into the PC, as long as the drivers are installed, it will work. If it is the first time you are using it, it should automatically come up with an installation screen. The rest of the compliant standards if you need to know them are:

It is FCC Class B certified, CE, TUV GS, ISO 9241-3, ISO 9241-8, VCCI Class B ITE, ISO 9241-7, cUL, DHHS, DOC-B, EN 60950, EN 61000-3-2, EN55022, EPA Energy Star, MPR III, PTB, TCO ‘95, UL 1950.
Now to me that doesn’t really make sense but I know there will be some people on here wanting to know that. Basically it is just a great monitor with a lot of great features. It is compatible with both an IBM PC and a Mac computer.

***Aimee’s description of the product***

I thought I’d add a touch of my own experience of the product here because after all that is what this opinion is for…experience of it. I really do love this monitor because with it being a flat screen it seems to be more in your face than the monitors that come out a little bit. I don’t know if you have noticed that yourself but when you are sitting at your computer, with a monitor that comes out a little, things seem quite far away like word documents for example, whereas with a flat screen, even if you are sitting quite far away from the screen you are still able to see everything clearly, especially word documents. This makes it easier to see what you are doing and you aren’t straining your eyes as much trying to see things better.

From the different monitors I have seen, this seems to be the best one for graphics and the clearness of the picture. I feel it is quite a stylish looking monitor as I said earlier but I still feel it would benefit personal use just as well as business use. Its buttons don’t stick out and they are almost invisible to the naked eye unless you actually get up close. They are easily accessible and work at just the slightest touch of the finger. I’ll explain more about the buttons and what they do in a moment. The thing I like most about the monitor is the look of it. It has a silvery front with a really clear screen and a black exterior.

So now you know a little about the monitor but how do you install it? And what do you get with it? Well read on and you’ll find out!

***Thing’s included and how to work it***

When you purchase your monitor you should receive…

1)The Monitor
2)Power cord
3)Captive Signal Cable
4)User Manual on a CD Rom

In order to be able to access the User Manual you need to have the latest version of Adobe Reader. You can easily get the latest version of Adobe free on the internet or it sometimes comes with a game if you purchase one.

The manual is 16 Adobe pages long and I found it really helpful. It has diagrams showing you where everything is and it labels everything clearly too. The only downside with this is of course to view the manual you need a monitor already installed so I’d recommend if you don’t know what you are doing then this isn’t the one for you. However I should stress that it is really easy and all you basically need to do is plug the cables into the back of the monitor/computer.
To install the Monitor on a normal PC all you need to do is place the 15-pin mini D-SUB captive signal cable in the back of the PC where it will fit. Basically all that means is place the cable with 15 pins (the things in the gap of the end of the cable), in the back of the PC wherever it will fit, which will be different in each PC. Next you place the power cable in the back of the monitor and plug the monitor into the mains. The power cable is the only remaining cable and it has a plug on the end of it.

For a Mac computer you need to place it in the back using a Mac adapter which you do not get included with the monitor. This means you should keep it in mind that if you buy this monitor for a Mac computer you will need to fork out extra for the adapter. You then put the power cable into the back of the monitor and then plug it into the mains.

Make sure that you press the power button at the front of the monitor to make sure it turns on. When it isn’t turned on the light is orange and when it is turned on it is green so that should help you know when the monitor is turned on or off. I have known quite a few people to think that their monitor is broken when they have quite simply forgotten to turn the button on at the front.

So now you know that let’s talk more about the monitor’s functions.

***The Monitor’s features***

The monitor’s features are controlled by its buttons on the front. Now as I mentioned earlier, the buttons don’t spoil the look of the monitor like some other monitors do and they are easily accessible.

Now on all monitors, when you press the buttons you are presented with an on screen display (OSD). This is a tiny, white dialogue box which you can easily exit at any time using the exit button. The thing I like about the exit button is it actually says exit on it. I’ve seen ones that say press the exit button and you haven’t a clue what the exit button is and before you know it you’ve changed all your settings without meaning to.

So starting from the left hand side going to the right hand side you should find the following buttons:

1)The exit button
2)An arrow pointing left which navigates within the OSD menu.
3)An arrow pointing right which again navigates within the OSD menu
4)A minus sign which alters the screen settings within the OSD menu
5)A plus sign which alters the screen settings within the OSD menu
6)A select button… this enters a sub mode in OSD mode and out of OSD mode it switches super bright mode on/off
7)The last but not least button is the reset button.

A little bit more about a few of the buttons:

The select button – When you are using the super bright mode there are some important things to consider. You simply press select once while not in the OSD mode. This will then come up with a window that appears for 3 seconds telling you what the current Super Bright (SB) settings are. If you then press select again you will be switching to the next SB mode. When your computer is turned off the monitor will reset the SB mode to off.

Just so you know, Super Bright mode-1 is used usually for images, Super Bright mode-2 is mainly used for moving images such as DVD movies and for plain text based images (normal mode) the Super Bright mode should be switched off. When you turn your monitor on it is automatically switched off so you will need to follow the above instructions to change it.

The rest button – This resets all controls within the highlighted menu back to the factory settings. If you accidentally press the reset button don’t panic because when it is pressed in both the main menu and the sub menu OSD it will come up with a warning message which will allow you to cancel it.

So what do the buttons control?

***Monitor Controls***

The monitor buttons control quite a few settings. These include:

• Brightness/Contrast Controls
• Size and position controls
• Colour control system
• Geometry controls
• Tools 1
• Tools 2
• Information

Some of these controls will be obvious to you but some handy information about them is:

Brightness/Contrast controls – In this menu you can change the background screen brightness, the image brightness in relation to the background, and you can demagnetise the screen. If you do choose to demagnetise your screen you should remember to leave around 20 minutes between each attempt at it.

Size and Position controls – From here you can move the image on the screen up and down, left and right, and you can increase/decrease the size of the image and the width of it too.

Colour Control System – The settings that are already set on the monitor are named Kelvin. If you change the settings in this menu the name will change from Kelvin to Custom except sRGB mode. There are two modes within this menu. One is the Red, Green and Blue mode and the other is sRGB mode. The Red, Green and Blue mode is where the monitor’s red, green and blue colour guns can be decreased or increased depending on whichever one is selected.

The sRGB mode provides a suitable colour managed picture image. From here you cannot change the red, green or blue colours, brightness and contrast individually.

You can also change the colour temperature of the screen image on this menu.

Geometry controls – This lets you alter the size of the angle of your display. You can make the sides go outwards or inwards, you can tilt the sides left and right, you can rotate the display clockwise or counter clockwise.

Tools 1 – from what I can see I don’t understand what it is talking about but there doesn’t really seem to be much point to the options in this menu so I will skip this section.

Tools 2 – From this menu you can change your OSD settings. This for example could be how long the OSD menu stays on the screen without you pressing anything. You can change it from 5 seconds to 120. This will help if you need to focus on something for a while before selecting an option. You can also choose where you would like the OSD menu to appear. With this you can either have it appear in the middle of the screen, in the top left of the screen, the top right of the screen, the bottom left of the screen or the bottom right of the screen.

Information – This menu gives you information on the current mode and frequency setting of the monitor and the model and serial numbers of the monitor.

***Some helpful safety and points to consider***

1)Don’t open the monitor. If you do you could be exposing yourself to dangerous shock hazards. There aren’t any user serviceable parts so there is no need to open the monitor at all.
2)Don’t spill any liquids on the monitor or near it.
3)Don’t place any heavy objects on top of the power cord. If the cord becomes damaged it could cause a fire or a shock.
4)If you change the direction of the monitor while it is turned on it could cause some image discolouration. If this occurs you should turn the monitor off for around 20 minutes before putting it back on.
5)There is a special coating provided on the glass (a CRT surface), which reduces a reflection and static electricity on the glass surface. This means that to clean it properly you should use a lint free, non abrasive cloth. You should clean your monitor regularly.

Something I haven’t mentioned is that it comes with a 3 year warranty. My dad got his from Manchester and he ordered it over the internet. If he needs any repairs doing for it he will have to send it to Manchester to be repaired which means if you are thinking of ordering this from over the internet you should take into consideration how much it will cost you in postage and packaging to send it to be repaired if anything ever happens to it. That is one of the only downsides for it.

***How much does it cost and availability***

Dad paid £260 for this one but you can get it cheaper if you shop around. As with everything, prices vary wherever you shop. You should be able to find it in most computer shops and I think dad only ordered his from Manchester because it was advertised with his new computer he wanted. I would personally try places like Computer World or PC World. You may also like to try Curry’s or Comet.

***My overall opinion***

In case you hadn’t guessed I love this monitor and I’ve told Stephen we are getting one. It makes using the computer a really pleasant experience and for the competitive people out there you should find that it is a monitor you can show off to your mates. It does look a lot better than the picture above and you can get it in either black or grey. I personally prefer the black myself but it’s all a matter of preference. Whatever you like your monitor to do this one definitely does it.

So what are you waiting for? For a reliable, excellent monitor get down to your local computer store and enquire about one of these now! Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

Aimee xxx