Compaq FP5017

At a Glance

HP FP5017 MONITOR (Compaq-263873001)

Artwork by: Rick Rizner, John GoddardCompaq FP5017The FP5017 has excellent controls. They're quite simple: You navigate them by pressing three bezel-mounted buttons (not unusual), but the controls themselves are displayed on the screen set against a dark background that makes reading the text easy. One control varies the transparency of the menu background. If those controls aren't simple enough, you can easily set the monitor to display just a basic set of commands. You can also adjust how long the on-screen controls stay visible.

The panel is very thin, and Compaq built a handle into its top, so the monitor is easy to carry. The base is shallow and doesn't take much desk space, yet it's still quite stable. The display tilts with little effort.

At $599, the FP5017 is one of the most expensive monitors we've seen recently. The high price tag is even harder to fathom when you consider that the monitor lacks a digital signal input, adjustable height, and pivoting capability.

In our tests, the FP5017 earned a Good rating for text display, but it did poorly on graphics. Our judges gave it low marks on most of our graphics screen tests, as it produced unrealistic, pale-looking colors, especially in the skin tones of photos.

Front-mounted speakers just below the screen generate clear, if not particularly loud, sound. The VGA cable mounts to a side-facing port on the panel; a clip secures the cable so it's mostly out of view. The black base and silver-colored panel match Compaq desktop systems (and the company's notebooks, for that matter). Asset management software can read the monitor's serial number. Compaq provides 24-hour, seven-day toll-free tech support--a much better offering than what many of the vendors on the chart give.We appreciate the elegant on-screen displays and case design, but those features don't justify the premium price, especially for a monitor with disappointing image quality and lacking something as simple as adjustable height.59915-inch screen, 1024 by 768 native resolution, 13.7 by 15.1 by 5.8 inches, 8.8 pounds, active matrix TFT panel, analog input. Three-year warranty (including backlight); 24-hour daily toll-free tech support.www.compaq.com800/282-6672