Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!ucbvax!dewey.soe.berkeley.edu!mkent
From: mkent@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu (Marty Kent)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Viking large screen displays
Message-ID: <25075@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 14 Jul 88 18:46:11 GMT
References: <5350@eagle.ukc.ac.uk>
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: mkent@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu.UUCP (Marty Kent)
Organization: School of Education, UC-Berkeley
Lines: 53

In article <5350@eagle.ukc.ac.uk> jg@ukc.ac.uk (J.Grant) writes:
>
>	A nice simple one this ... does anyone have one, either
>size will do (19 or 25 inch) - if so, what's it like ?  What
>resolution are you using ?
>
>	Reason for question - basis for purchase decision, whilst
>no product is currently imported for evaluation.

I have a couple of Moniterm 19"-ers (Viking I's), a Moniterm 24"-er
(Viking 2400) and a 19" Megagraphics. I got the Viking I's with the 72dpi
cards, not the 90dpi, because I like text and graphics to show up the same
size on all the displays.

The image quality on the Megagraphics is clearly superior to that of
either Moniterm, but the difference is not really that big a deal; i.e.
the display quality is certainly acceptable on all three monitors. The
small Vikings look better than the 2400 - the big display has a whiter
tint and I think it looks a bit "washed-out" by comparison with the 19".

The Viking I has 1024 by 768 pixels, the Megagraphics 1024 by 860 pixels,
and the V 2400 about 1280 by 960 pixels. Price-wise, at least here in the
states, Viking seems to be about the best deal available: as a developer,
my price on the Moniterm 19" was about 75% of the Megagraphics price. At
the time I got the Megagraphics (it was my first) I didn't know the 19"
Moniterm was available with a 72dpi card - if I'd known that, I'd probably
never have gotten the Mega.

Problems: the main problem with the Megagraphics is a people problem: the
people at Megagraphics are absolutely some of the rudest, most moronic
scumbags it's ever been my displeasure to deal with, right up their with
the customer service people at Apple. After 6 or 7 phone calls and 2
letters to my Megagraphics rep, I haven't received a single word of
documentation, or any of the software that was supposed to be shipped with
the display (they advertise some communications software). I live in fear
and trembling of the day the Mega needs service...

Unfortunately I'm just about to find out about the service setup for the
Moniterms, because we just got two new machines (Mac II's) with the
revision B roms, and the Moniterms don't work with the new roms! So far
the Moniterm folks have been pretty good (which is really a huge selling
point to me, after the Megagraphics a**holes) and I'm hoping this doesn't
bring out the worst in them.

All in all, I recommend the Moniterms pretty highly...



Marty Kent  	Sixth Sense Research and Development
		415/642 0288	415/548 9129
		MKent@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu
		{uwvax, decvax, inhp4}!ucbvax!mkent%dewey.soe.berkeley.edu
Kent's heuristic: Look for it first where you'd most like to find it.