Compaq 19" Monitor Model MV900

URL: http://www.compaq.com

E-mail this article to a friend

Rating: Forget about it

Review:

My family and I have been into home computing fairly heavily, and last March (3/99) we decided to go for a nice huge monitor, buying the Compaq MV900. Thank goodness it came with a warranty!

It's been 9 months since we bought it, and we are getting Compaq to replace it for the 3rd time now (i.e., our 4th monitor is on the way). Each replacement until now, they've sent another MV900, which lasts for as long as a month (or as little as only a few days) before it starts turning itself off! The little green "POWER" light stays on, but there is no picture, and no amount of turning off and back on again or rebooting will solve it. If you let it sit for about a half hour, you can then turn it back on, and it will work, but it will do it again when you least expect it, and the frequency it does this will increase until you can't resurrect it at all. Compaq admits they have been sending us refurbished monitors for replacements, not new ones, and also they admit that the MV900 has problems with one of the processors.

After much complaining and run-around, they are now going to send a new (not refurbished) MV920, which supposedly has a different processor in it that corrects this problem. I don't know if Compaq still is selling the MV900 model, but I imagine there are still quite a few of them on the market, so beware. My experience in general is that monitors have a shorter life span than other hardware, so my suggestion to all is to avoid the Compaq MV900 monitor, and always go for the extended warranty on monitors!

Submitted by: Roger