24" Widescreen CRT (FW900) From Ebay arrived,Comments.

btbowen1 said:
The guy wants $350 for it but I talked him down $275. The picture quality is really good, the monitor is gray and is in excellent condition. I can tell that its older than the Hp version as it doesnt have the some of the features and the refresh rates isnt as high but for that price and not have to go through the shipping process, I purchased it. I'm still adjusting it to my liking and looking for drivers for it but hopefully it work out well.
Click to expand...
Put it this way, as long as you're happy then consider it a steal, you just bought a nice 24" 16:10 monitor for $275. All thats left now is some calibration and tweaking, or maybe just a restoration to factory default...Here's the W900 driver btw (at bottom)

On a sidenote, i also have a local used CRT dealer that has the same W900 on special for $150 :( which places me in a predicament. I had been watching craigslist for a higher end Diamondtron tube to round out my 21" CRT collection (currently have a like-new Dell P1130, and a very sharp Nokia/Hitachi shadow-mask tube). What the heck do i do now? I want the high quality the diamondtron tubes have to offer, but the 24" W900 is bigger and supposedly no slouch in image quality (from what i've seen and read). I might have to head down there with my own PC and a copy of the W900 monitor driver to better test it. But the $150 expense forces another choice, For just a few dollars more i can buy the grand FW900 that has the brightness/gray issue, which can be fixed for a few measly dollars. What to do: 22" Diamonstron -vs- $150 24" W900 -vs- a cheap FW900 with a fixable brightness issue :confused: ?

Edit: Oh yea, This dude recently found the focus pots in his FW900 (no pics but it gives you an idea).
 
I'll tell you what, i think this monitor is a steal at $150. I did the adjustments that was put on this thread, the one that changed the color bias and gains, and it worked for this monitor well.
I might have to focus this but overall it has an excellent picture and 1900 by 1200 at 85hz is pretty good. I had a 19" Samsung lcd but i like this one better for games but this don't look nearly as good for text. I still have alot of tweeking to do. I do wish this had the image restoration button.
 
Thanks for the driver link. What are you referring to when you said the brightness issue can be fixed for a few dollars?
 
Hey Everyone!
I've been enjoying this monitor for the past few days but have two little concerns. When hooking up my regular Xbox through a transcoder, I can't get the monitor to autodetect its widescreen mode. When viewing the dashboard and Halo 2, the picture is centered on the monitor and not filling up the whole screen. Are the Zoom settings the correct way to remedy this? And yes, the Xbox is set up for widescreen and it works fine on my LCD. Also, when switching between resolutions on the PC, I've noticed a kinda tick-tock sound from the monitor as it switches. I'm pretty sure I've experienced this with other monitors, but just wanted to make sure. I'm on vacation right now so I can't mess around with it's settings, but it would be nice to know....

Eddie
 
Campfire said:
Hey Everyone!
I've been enjoying this monitor for the past few days but have two little concerns. When hooking up my regular Xbox through a transcoder, I can't get the monitor to autodetect its widescreen mode. When viewing the dashboard and Halo 2, the picture is centered on the monitor and not filling up the whole screen. Are the Zoom settings the correct way to remedy this? And yes, the Xbox is set up for widescreen and it works fine on my LCD. Also, when switching between resolutions on the PC, I've noticed a kinda tick-tock sound from the monitor as it switches. I'm pretty sure I've experienced this with other monitors, but just wanted to make sure. I'm on vacation right now so I can't mess around with it's settings, but it would be nice to know....

Eddie
Click to expand...

With Xbox you just need to use the monitors Size option in the user menu and stretch the screen across, as long as you have Xbox set for Widescreen then it will look correct, also the monitor will save your Size settings so you dont have to adjust it every time.

The tick tock sound is normal when switching resolutions, My FW900 is definately louder than any other CRT ive owned when changing resolutions.
 
Campfire said:
Hey Everyone!
I've been enjoying this monitor for the past few days but have two little concerns. When hooking up my regular Xbox through a transcoder, I can't get the monitor to autodetect its widescreen mode. When viewing the dashboard and Halo 2, the picture is centered on the monitor and not filling up the whole screen. Are the Zoom settings the correct way to remedy this? And yes, the Xbox is set up for widescreen and it works fine on my LCD. Also, when switching between resolutions on the PC, I've noticed a kinda tick-tock sound from the monitor as it switches. I'm pretty sure I've experienced this with other monitors, but just wanted to make sure. I'm on vacation right now so I can't mess around with it's settings, but it would be nice to know....

Eddie
Click to expand...

Just curious, but have you ever used a pc crt monitor before? Because with every pc crt monitor via vga, you have to stretch the screen vertically and horizontally to make it fit exact.
 
btbowen1 said:
Thanks for the driver link. What are you referring to when you said the brightness issue can be fixed for a few dollars?
Click to expand...
NP

The brightness issue is something thats known to affect some trinitron tubes. Basically it results in a screen thats too bright, to the point that blacks appear a shade of gray. This thread here lists a couple of fixes for it.

BTW, oftentimes blurry text can be fixed by upgrading/downgrading video drivers and certain video cards just aren't capable of sharp text (older ones usually). It also helps to get rid of any vga adapters or VGA M/F "extension cables". The shorter the cable the better, especially when running higher resolutions such as yourself ;).
 
Hi to all!

In looking for a replacement and upgrade for my archaic (and small) monitor, I fortunately found this forum – what a Godsend. After reading and trying to digest some of the many excellent and helpful posts, I decided to see what was available. I went to eBay to search for the Sony/HP monitors, and found several. I was able to find a seller located close to me, albeit across the border – I am in Ontario, Canada, the seller is in the Michigan. The seller has a local pickup option, and this caught my eye, since the shipping and customs would add to the cost by a significant amount. Also, they had a 'Buy it Now' option, and this is what I exercised. After the purchase on eBay, I went to pick up the monitor – they had about 6 of these at their location when I was there – and was able to check out the unit and see it in operation. Included was the power cord, VGA cable and a short VGA to DVI adapter cable (a Molex brand piece about 6 inches long). I purchased it on Monday, March 6th and picked it up 2 days later. The seller was excellent to deal with, and I highly recommend them.

The monitor I purchased is the HP A7217A variant, which from what I have been able to determine, are the same as the Sony FW900 – except for the case color (spelled 'colour' for you Canucks and Brits) – mine is beige. In comparing the user manuals from HP and Sony, the only difference that I can see is the cover sheet – the rest appears to be the same. As noted in an earlier post, it is not known whether they are identical in terms of circuitry or electronic components selection, but I suspect that they are probably identical internally and with regards to features. Also, thanks to mathesar for the Sony service manual and Sony datasheet links in the first post. I went to the HP website to see what documentation they had for the A7217A, and found only the user manual – no service manual was listed. The HP user manual is at -

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...ypeId=382087&prodSeriesId=77450&lang=en&cc=us

At the HP parts site, they list some power cords and a refurbished monitor – the monitor is available – for US$1998.00 plus a US$1778.00 core charge for a total of US$3776.00. What a bargain, eh? If interested, check it out at -

http://h20141.www2.hp.com/hpparts/Search_Results.asp?mscssid=5WL1GAF0RP1D9GFT5GDGU1P5W0VVE0BA

The monitor I bought was manufactured in March 2002. There are no screen defects (chips, scratches, marks, etc.). The monitor is huge and not the easiest thing to move, but once it is in place, who cares? This thing is definitely a great 'bang for the buck' deal!

For those still looking for one of these, the seller that I purchased mine from has listed some more on eBay. Do a search for 'A7217A' – it doesn't show up if you search for 'FW900'. They still have the 'Buy it Now' option - US$179.00 plus shipping. If you are interested, see -

http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-Sony-24-Trin...yZ116350QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Edit - Link modification for HP Parts for A7217A -

The above noted link to view the HP Parts page does not work correctly - use this link -

http://h20141.www2.hp.com/hpparts/s...A7217A&Smethod=1&sRefAsp=Search_Multi_Product

then click on 'List all parts for this product'. This should work OK.
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Hi to all!

In looking for a replacement and upgrade for my archaic (and small) monitor, I fortunately found this forum – what a Godsend. After reading and trying to digest some of the many excellent and helpful posts, I decided to see what was available. I went to eBay to search for the Sony/HP monitors, and found several. I was able to find a seller located close to me, albeit across the border – I am in Ontario, Canada, the seller is in the Michigan. The seller has a local pickup option, and this caught my eye, since the shipping and customs would add to the cost by a significant amount. Also, they had a 'Buy it Now' option, and this is what I exercised. After the purchase on eBay, I went to pick up the monitor – they had about 6 of these at their location when I was there – and was able to check out the unit and see it in operation. Included was the power cord, VGA cable and a short VGA to DVI adapter cable (a Molex brand piece about 6 inches long). I purchased it on Monday, March 6th and picked it up 2 days later. The seller was excellent to deal with, and I highly recommend them.

The monitor I purchased is the HP A7217A variant, which from what I have been able to determine, are the same as the Sony FW900 – except for the case color (spelled 'colour' for you Canucks and Brits) – mine is beige. In comparing the user manuals from HP and Sony, the only difference that I can see is the cover sheet – the rest appears to be the same. As noted in an earlier post, it is not known whether they are identical in terms of circuitry or electronic components selection, but I suspect that they are probably identical internally and with regards to features. Also, thanks to mathesar for the Sony service manual and Sony datasheet links in the first post. I went to the HP website to see what documentation they had for the A7217A, and found only the user manual – no service manual was listed. The HP user manual is at -

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...0&lang=en&cc=us

At the HP parts site, they list some power cords and a refurbished monitor – the monitor is available – for US$1998.00 plus a US$1778.00 core charge for a total of US$3776.00. What a bargain, eh? If interested, check it out at -

http://h20141.www2.hp.com/hpparts/S...GU1 P5W0VVE0BA

The monitor I bought was manufactured in March 2002. There are no screen defects (chips, scratches, marks, etc.). The monitor is huge and not the easiest thing to move, but once it is in place, who cares? This thing is definitely a great 'bang for the buck' deal!

For those still looking for one of these, the seller that I purchased mine from has listed some more on eBay. Do a search for 'A7217A' – it doesn't show up if you search for 'FW900'. They still have the 'Buy it Now' option - US$179.00 plus shipping. If you are interested, see -

http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-Sony-24-Trin...1QQcmdZViewItem
Click to expand...

Hello wirehead333 and welcome to the forums. It sounds like you got a good deal. If I were anywhere near this guy, I would be all over this. I have been contemplating getting this monitor for months now but I dont want to buy something that I cant try out first. Shipping for this beast is outrageous.
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Just curious, but have you ever used a pc crt monitor before? Because with every pc crt monitor via vga, you have to stretch the screen vertically and horizontally to make it fit exact.
Click to expand...

Sure, but this is the first widescreen CRT that I've had the chance to use. I was just thinking it had sort of auto detect mode for widescreen sources that my LCDs have. Just me being stupid perhaps. But honestly, this is the first CRT, and definately the most advanced tech wise, that I've used it at least 6 years. Sorry for my ignorance.

Eddie
 
so if you run the fw900 with DVI you don't have to manually stretch it? I've been using it with VGA and with some games *cough* F.E.A.R I had to scale down to 1024x768 so I had to exit game, set my monitor to 1024x768 set my desired resolution then adjust it manually, then I went back to my standar resolution1600x1024 seems like a reasonable resolution, then played my game, is a time consuming thing if I wanna run any others resolution.. Anyway to avoid this? I heard ATI is better for widescreen because it autoscales better the monitor (I have a 6800gt agp happy with it, not switching).
 
ellover009 said:
so if you run the fw900 with DVI you don't have to manually stretch it? I've been using it with VGA and with some games *cough* F.E.A.R I had to scale down to 1024x768 so I had to exit game, set my monitor to 1024x768 set my desired resolution then adjust it manually, then I went back to my standar resolution1600x1024 seems like a reasonable resolution, then played my game, is a time consuming thing if I wanna run any others resolution.. Anyway to avoid this? I heard ATI is better for widescreen because it autoscales better the monitor (I have a 6800gt agp happy with it, not switching).
Click to expand...

The fw900 only support analog. And without a dvi-d input on the fw900 (d means digital), this is impossible.
 
Just to update my drama and trauma, PayPal has now officially dropped the claim, meaning jwang3 is completely off the hook and can even refuse to refund me any money at all if I sent it back to him. So I am officially now screwed.

I guess I am taking apart the monitor next week sometime and trying to fix it. If it can't be fixed I guess it's about to become a very expensive analog HDTV.

The lesson from this is not to use PayPal for anything over $25. Even their debit card. You have zero protection, zero assistance like a real credit card. I can't even get them to give me a name or number to call to talk to a supervisior. I so can't wait for Google Base/Payments to wipe them off the map since you can use real credit cards with real protection.

If other people eventually find this thread after having trouble with jwang3 please contact me as I am building a website dedicated totally to his suckiness and will link it in my feedback on his account.
 
Looks like this thread is about to go dead. Just thought I'd kick it back to life those of you still looking for cheaper FW900's. In case you've been snoozing, you should to happy to find that ruminahui2 has a ton more up on Ebay. Pricing could be better, but the dude got a good reputation from earlier responses to this thread.
 
I just got mine in the mail today and I LOVE IT!!! And to my surprise it does fit on my desk with a keyboard in front of it.
 
Rock&Roll said:
Looks like this thread is about to go dead. Just thought I'd kick it back to life those of you still looking for cheaper FW900's. In case you've been snoozing, you should to happy to find that ruminahui2 has a ton more up on Ebay. Pricing could be better, but the dude got a good reputation from earlier responses to this thread.
Click to expand...
This thread will never die :p

Here's another merchant selling them for $374 shipped free. They have had them "on special" for $348 shipped recently.

If any lucky bastard lives within driving distance of Macomb MI you can pick it up for a paltry $199
 
The Dell's 24 & 30 in lcd forum is still alive, I see no reason for this one to die. The fw900 is cheaper, heavier (not in bad way, makes it harder to steal and if it's stolen the thief will have a backache next day, going to doctors is spensive), more flexible (you got FEAR and u dont got a 500$ card u can always use a slightly lower resolution and with the money you save you can always affort a new card). We still good this Vista comes out, with the new HDCP will not let your CRT or old LCD's and a lotta new ones run certain DVD's or will lower resolution, we can always boycott the industry, the way things are going is not towards helping the consumer but basically abusing the consumer, the oppression must stop so 3 choices.
1. do nothing and blow $$ on equipment you don't need
2. Boycott, Sony put some spyware on some music cd's, aint right.
3. Someone will eventually find a way to bypass it. I can see that the movie industry is not content with ppl bootlegging theyr stuff, but it's not right that consumers should spend $$ just to play a DVD on theyr pc without downgrading immage quality because they feel ppl should spend more $$ on LCD's...
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/windows_vista-ready_hdcp_lcd_roundup/
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/windows_vista_hdcp_lcd_roundup/
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_nvidia_hdcp_support/
 
I'm looking to buy the FW900 soon, haven't decided on ebay or azatek though, i'd really like the sony model since the colors match my P180, but none seem to be for sell on ebay currently.

Anyone know how long I can expect to wait before more show up on Ebay? Still waiting on my refund from dell (returned a 2005FPW), but I want to buy the FW900 as quickly as possible when the refund comes, hopefully to break it in with Oblivion :)
 
Only buy off ebay if you are able to inspect and pickup locally.
Otherwise it's $100+ to ship it back.

If anyone is crazy enough to still buy off ebay, here's a 10% off code that seems to work on some accounts C-MAR2006ANNIV good until 3/31 (up to $25 off but still it's $25!)

also:
Save 10% (up to 25 bux) c-march2006cat
Save $20 (min. $100 purchase on technology) c-apr2006tech
 
On my Hp the text is hardly readable. I knew it might not be great but does anyone have any ideas how I could improve it?
 
b18turbo said:
Is their a guide somewhere on how to adjust the focus?
Click to expand...
Check out one of my previous posts since there can be a lot of reasons why you have blurry text:
SJetski71 said:
Well we know Vibe definitely has an F'd up FW900 but are you sure your monitors blurriness is being caused by something internal? Before you go taking apart that nice FW900 go thru this checklist that i posted

(one last time! :))
- Use a shorter, thicker, high quality VGA cable with ferrite cores on both ends (those barrel looking things on the cable). Longer cable lengths can introduce anomolies like blurriness, especially at high rez.
- Try to avoid using DVI~VGA adapters as they can also cause blurriness when running a high resolution and using a longer cable.
- Definitely avoid VGA "extension cables" (the ones that are male + female), they are notorious for causing blurriness and other artifacts.
- Make sure you have an up to date graphics card and driver. Many older graphics cards are a pure mess with higher resolution monitors, bad drivers can cause problems as well.
- Try to route your VGA cable away from other cables, especially power cables, cross over them perpendicular if you must (reduces the amount of interference that enters)
- Keep anything magnetic, such as unshielded speakers, away from both the monitor and VGA cable.
- Edit: Try upgrading or downgrading your graphics drivers, also try a different rig or different graphics card if possible.
- I'm sure there's more that i'm forgetting...
Click to expand...
If none of these troubleshooting steps work then i'd maybe recommend opening up your monitor. You can refer to this thread for more info on the internal pots: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=446353
 
I remember my monitor coming with an extremely long vga cable that I used. I will try the cable I was using before. Thanks
 
I'd like to look at getting a fw900 also... but there is something i'm slightly concerened about. I don't think it would exactly be a deal breaker, but still...

My friend has a slightly older 17 inch Sony Trinitron Monitor and, while it looks really great, it's got these two tiny horizontal lines running across the center of the screen, sort of dividing it into thirds. It's really hard to see the two lines unless you're right up next to the screen and looking closely, knowing what you're looking for, but they're there nonetheless.

I was wondering... does the fw900 also have these two horizontal lines through the monitor?
 
GreatGreen said:
I'd like to look at getting a fw900 also... but there is something i'm slightly concerened about. I don't think it would exactly be a deal breaker, but still...

My friend has a slightly older 17 inch Sony Trinitron Monitor and, while it looks really great, it's got these two tiny horizontal lines running across the center of the screen, sort of dividing it into thirds. It's really hard to see the two lines unless you're right up next to the screen and looking closely, knowing what you're looking for, but they're there nonetheless.

I was wondering... does the fw900 also have these two horizontal lines through the monitor?
Click to expand...

Yes, the FW900 also has these two horizontal lines. ALL Aperture Grille monitors contain these lines. I believe they are wires that hold up the grille.
 
synergyo1 said:
Yes, the FW900 also has these two horizontal lines. ALL Aperture Grille monitors contain these lines. I believe they are wires that hold up the grille.
Click to expand...

oh, okay. it's been awhile sinse i've seen a trinitron monitor... just how obvious are the lines on the fw900? what i mean is, are they visible when you're just looking at the monitor, or do you really have to squint and search for them in order to see them? i remember being able to barely see them on my friend's monitor... but that monitor wasn't an fw900...
 
GreatGreen said:
oh, okay. it's been awhile sinse i've seen a trinitron monitor... just how obvious are the lines on the fw900? what i mean is, are they visible when you're just looking at the monitor, or do you really have to squint and search for them in order to see them? i remember being able to barely see them on my friend's monitor... but that monitor wasn't an fw900...
Click to expand...

Same kinda, and after you have used trinitron / diamondtron monitor for a while, your brain doesnt even register those !
 
Which seller do you guys order from? Is there a lot of set up optimization? How well does it handle non 16:10 material?
 
The lines, they're noticeable enough not to use a light background. But they aren't really noticable while gaming. I'd buy this baby if your primary motivator is gaming. The lines I believe are kind of like gaps to allow the aperature grille to expand a bit. Less noticeable as it warms up a bit? I'm unsure, but I thought it was to expand..

To the above poster, any material looks great on these. CRTs like this one are the best at non native material. There are tons of geometry controls, for better or for worse because with CRTs they sometimes need adjusting, but you could adjust a movie into a trapezoid if you want to. :D Set it up to stretch or do 1:1, whatever you want. Or if watching a movie the software you're using should work and look fine launched from your desktop res.
 
I bought one of the HP branded ones and it's great. I immediately started using 1600x1024 for everything but started checking things out at other resolutions. With the release of ES-IV Oblivion in a few days, I don't see myself running at 1600x1024. I'm hoping I can pull off 1280x800 with decent details. Anyways, great monitor and good information in this post.
 
Who did you guys buy from? I'd like the sony branded one, but they seem to be in shorter supply, so ie pricier.
 
got the sony labeled one from lou, he was helpfull and kind, I went to pick up my self, he let me test all the ones I wanted.
 
I just got this monitor and I got this green on the upper left hand corner.

It's there and it's irritating. I can't seem to perfect the Screen landing.

I tried degause, and image restoration, but nothin.

I'm using a 6600gt so I think that should be good, but what is your adjustment settings at 1920 X 1200. I can just change what I want later if you don't mind posting????

Please help. Don't mean to bug, but man the seller won't even help me!
 
//[T.0.P]// said:
I just got this monitor and I got this green on the upper left hand corner.

It's there and it's irritating. I can't seem to perfect the Screen landing.

I tried degause, and image restoration, but nothin.

I'm using a 6600gt so I think that should be good, but what is your adjustment settings at 1920 X 1200. I can just change what I want later if you don't mind posting????

Please help. Don't mean to bug, but man the seller won't even help me!
Click to expand...
Pretty sure you need a stronger degauss than what's built into the monitor, something like a degaussing wand/coil should clear up that green spot. Are you sure you don't have unshielded speakers sitting too close to your monitor?

DIY degauss coil: http://www.oscarcontrols.com/degauss/index.shtml
Magnet wire $5: http://www.radioshack.com/product/inStoreAvail.jsp?productId=2036277

I have extra magnet wire i'd be willing to send ya...if you're willing to build your own degaussing coil. Or you can buy a pre-made degaussing coil here: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZcurrQ2ddogQ2dscienceQ2dguy (cheapest i've seen them)
 
Well I do have Klipshe 4.1 Speakers on my desktop sitting real close to the monitor side by side (Could that mess it up, daaaamn!).

I'll have to check out that degausing thing later tonight, I'll post again soon.
 
I sold my FW900 a week ago and just picked up an Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 2070SB 22" crt. The color is perfect, as opposed to my FW900, but I have this weirdness on the picture that I can only describe as "noise" or even "dirt". If you look at a white background, on the top, bottom, and sides, you can see this fuzzy black streaking buzzing around. The moniter is set at 85hertz and the Moir has been cancelled to the best I can, and it's pretty close to perfect on that end. Convergence I am still messing with, but does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? Speakers are 10+ inches away and the cable I'm using is from BlueJeanCables and it's high quality vga to dvi (no adapter).
 
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