[Kaps]

I am having trouble with my Apple 15 in. Multiscan monitor. It is connected to a Performa 6200. I know that there has been a lot of discussion regarding color problems with this monitor, but this is not my problem. When I first turn the monitor on, it is OK, but soon afterwards its starts to get a little blurry and then gets blurrier and blurrier. After about 10-15 minutes, standard text is pretty difficult to read. (It usually max-es out at 20 minutes and doesn�t get worse after that.) Things that I have tried that have not worked are: zapped PRAM (also, I recently installed a new PRAM battery), ran TechTool Pro 3, tried it in a different location in my apartment (thinking that the problem may be some sort of electrical interference), I tried it hooked up to my PowerBook 3400. None of these things helped. I read a lot of bad reports on this monitor, but currently I am learning abroad, so I can�t pick up a cheap monitor on e-bay. I did read some posts that mentioned �degaussing.� What is this? Would this be able to solve my problem? Is this something any TV repair shop could do? About how expensive is it? Is there anything else I missed that might be able to solve the problem?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am a student and can�t afford a new monitor.

Thanks.

[Allah]

To degauss you monitor look for a button (mine is on the front, my old Apple was on the back, sometimes its recessed and you half to use a toothpick or something). Just press it, your monitor (which is on) will buzz and the image will waver for a second. You are done.

This may help, couldn't hurt.

As this is a degenerative problem of some component (from the sound of it) to repair it may be costly in excess of its value. Then you may look into apple to vga adapters and vga monitors, which are plentiful.

[Dan Szwarc]

You definitely have a monitor problem. The blurrieness is caused by the aged components changing value as the device heats up. I'm not sure what controls the focus (which is what is going out when it get's blurry) but if you are so bold, open the monitor up (unplugged, of course) and look on the logic board for some potentiometers labeled "focus", "sharpness", etc. Mark their original position then adjust then a quarter turn in either direction.

Put it back together, power it up and see what happens. If it's worse, turn it the other way. If it's better (let it warm up again) you may get a few more months out of it.

I would just buy a new monitor. They are cheap now and the adapters are widely available.

Do not touch anything while inside the monitor! Even unplugged, hazardous voltages exist for long periods of time! Never "poke" around inside a monitor!

This advice is not warranted in any way. Be careful! Or just buy a new monitor!

Yeah, just buy a new monitor. If you can find someplace like Computer Renaissance, you should be able to pick up a Compaq multisync for less than 79 bucks. You'll need a mac adapter, though, and that will cost you an extra $20 or so.

Be sure to get a multisync monitor (not an old Apple monitor).