Consumer oriented 17" monitor offers solid value
As far as monitors go, Apple has generally played second fiddle to the more mainstream manufacturers, sticking a 3rd party tube in a case that bears the Apple logo and charging fair bit for the luxury of having a multi-colored fruit stamped on the case. Many things have changed with Apple's monitors, though, and the budget-priced 17" MultiScan 720 is evidence of this.
The chassis is the first thing you'll notice about the 720. Despite its larger viewing area, it maintains a small footprint that will 
fit nicely on any G3-like desktop case. The rear portion of the monitor is comparatively small compared to the actual tube, meaning it doesn't look like a bulky box but rather like the back of a 15" monitor with a larger screen.
As far as image quality is concerned, the 720 is right on par with other 17" monitors in the $650 price range. Image quality remained sharp and distortion free up to 1,024 x 768, the standard 17" resolution, although at the higher resolutions, particularly 1,280 x 1,024, text became blurry and difficult to read. The color and contrast of the monitor, which uses a shadow-mask tube, was virtually flawless with rich reds, vivid blues, and deep greens good enough for most any graphic artist, although the professional may want to spring for the more expensive ColorSync 17" display which combines a Sony Trinitron with a finer dot pitch (.25 mm vs. .28 mm).
The on-screen controls, apart from the brightness/contrast switches, have been reduced to a single button and knob, an approach that you'll either appreciate or find awkward and cumbersome. Pressing the button brings up an on-screen menu with controls over every geometric aspect of the picture, color settings, and preferences for the controls themselves. Navigating from choice to choice is then performed by turning the knob, selecting a choice by pressing the button, and then rotating the knob once more to adjust the settings.
Like all Apple products, the 720 comes complete with a 90-day phone support card and a 1-year warranty on parts and labor. Also included is a CD containing 8 MB of display software that is probably already installed on your Mac (including ColorSync, AppleVision, and Monitors and Sound). The one new piece of software is the DigitalColorMeter, which like all the installers must be accessed by going through a couple of folders ignoring cryptic Windows files. DCM will tell you how much red, green, and blue is being used to create a selected color pixel on the screen, although most users won't have a use for such a utility.
The MultiScan 720 is a solid 17" offering from Apple that any user shopping around for such a monitor should consider. The on-screen controls, however cumbersome they may be, are comprehensive, the image is sharp at the recommended resolutions, and the case is relatively small and attractive.
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 SRP: $649.99 |