WHAT'S HOT: The P720 has an attractive black-and-silver case and eight buttons on its panel. The control buttons combined with a fairly intuitive menu make the P720 easy to use. Image quality is excellent, with sharp text on our desktop and on Microsoft Corp. Word documents, as well as vibrant colors in our on-screen photos.

WHAT'S NOT: Like most professional monitors, at US$329 the P720 is more expensive than the average model we've tested (about 25 percent).

WHAT ELSE: One of the control buttons governs the Fine Picture Mode, which lets you automatically improve the picture with one touch. Turning on the Fine Picture Mode brightens the image on the screen. The main menu identifies settings with icons only, which can be confusing, but once you choose a menu item, submenus use words that clearly explain your choices.

UPSHOT: The P720 offers great-looking images and text quality, and easy-to-use controls, for a somewhat high price.

Buying Information

Compaq Computer Corp. P720

16.2-inch viewable area, .25mm stripe-pitch Diamondtron NF tube, 118-Hz maximum refresh rate at 1024 by 768 resolution, TCO '99 compliant, Plug and Play ready. Three-year warranty, 24-hour daily toll-free support.

$329

+1/800/888-9909

www.compaq.com