NEC Multisync FE700

Previous to this review, we had tested the FE700's larger brother, the FP950, so we were expecting good things from this 17" CRT monitor. Like the FP950, the FE700's screen is completely flat, leading to less reflections and, hopefully, no geometric distortion in the corners.

Unlike the £630 price tag carried by the FP950 (the FP standing for Flat Professional) the FE700 costs a whole pound less than £200. An amazing price for a 17" flat-screen monitor, we hear you say. And you'd be right. Don't expect any other high-end features, though - no USB hub, no BNC inputs, just captive VGA signal cable on the rear.

A top resolution of 1280 x 1024 is more than enough for the 16" viewable area, and NEC sensibly recommends 1024 x 768 pixels at a flicker-free 85Hz. For those who want to know about the actual display technology, NEC has used a PerfectFlat aperture grille CRT.

We put the FE700 through its paces in our tough Display Mate for Windows tests to discover whether it truly is a bargain. First, we noted that the screen was quite reflective despite the OptiClear anti-reflective coating. Placed in the right position, such as not facing a window, this was not a problem.

On one of the next test screens, we couldn't overlook the two dark areas in both the bottom corners of the display. Normally, in lower-end models without landing controls, the image is optimised in the factory, but this particular unit wasn't perfect.

Flat CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitors have the theoretical advantage of better geometry, especially in the corners of the screen. We found that our test images looked pinched in the corners of the FE700, and geometry overall was not up to the high standard of NEC's more expensive models. This made menu bars and other lines at the edges look distorted. Focus over the whole screen was very impressive, and although moire (interference patterns) was evident, it wasn't terrible. Using the controls in the OSD to try and correct it simply led to blurred text - an unacceptable situation.

Colour registration was excellent, mainly thanks to the aperture grille. Unfortunately this technology needs tension wires to hold the grille in place, and these were too noticeable on white backgrounds such as Microsoft Word and many other Windows applications.

Overall, we weren't stunned by the FE700's performance, but at this price we have to say it's worth considering even just for the large, flat 17" screen.