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InterAct's Mobile Monitor Display

February 19, 2001
Web posted at: 12:59 PM EST (1759 GMT)

By GamePro reviewer,
Tokyo Drifter

(IDG) -- When the PS One was first previewed over a year ago, the unit was shown with a small LCD screen that was roughly the same size as the compact console itself. No extra details were given, and a vague "Spring 2001" release date was mentioned. Sony has yet to set a solid date for its screen, but several third party companies have decided to fill the temporary void.

The latest of these is InterAct's Mobile Monitor Display, which doesn't stray too far from the designs of the proposed Sony unit. The Monitor is slightly heavier than the PS One, although not as heavy as one would expect from a screen this size. Once you get it out of the box, it's a snap to set up. The Monitor has side speakers that put out decent sound, but doesn't feature a headphone jack. In addition to connecting directly to your PS One via the Multi Out slot, you can also use the Monitor with other sources thanks to its composite inputs. The base of the Monitor is flat and can stand on its own, making it useful apart from the PS One. We couldn't help but try it out with the PS2 this way, and it worked fine.

The most important test of the Monitor is with games. We selected a variety of titles, and here are the evaluations:

"Ridge Racer IV": The action was easy to see. The small lettering was pretty much impossible to read, but, thankfully, it was only on the main and sub menus and not in the game's text. It was a bit hard to see turns on some tracks, and you'll have to adjust picture controls a few times in between races. Overall, a good job.

"Tekken 3": Some moves were harder to see, but not by much. No other problems here.

"Castlevania: Symphony of the Night": The action didn't suffer, and the text was easy to read. Good job.

"Final Fantasy IX": Yes! We could read all the text with no problem. The only drawback was that the hit-point damage in battle was a bit tough to see.

"R-Type Delta": Ouch. It was tough to see all the small bullets coming at you, and the frantic action suffered from the small screen.

DVD Movie (running on the PS2): This was actually where the Mobile Monitor did best. The picture quality was very nice. If you want to travel with your PS2 and watch DVDs, then this is a good way to do it as many Hotel TVs don't have proper connectors that enable you to do this. The only catch is that widescreen movies look pretty tiny on the monitor for obvious reasons.

Overall Picture Quality: Very good. It's not mind-blowing, but it's a good deal for the price and convenience.

Overall Sound Quality: Below Average. The speakers got the job done, but just barely. Some games sounded better than others, although most sounded tinny. A headphone jack would have done wonders, especially since it comes with a car adapter.

If you're in the market for one of these and need one right away, the InterAct Mobile Monitor is currently the best on the market. Whenever Sony's shows up, however, expect higher quality all around -- even though the price tag may also be higher.