Apple Reviews

I bought this monitor for use as a second display on a dual head card. My primary monitor is an Apple Studio Display CRT (2000 model). Using that as my basis of comparison to the Sony SDM-X52, I came to the following conclusions:

Cons:
- Colors on this LCD are a bit too warm, though I suspect you can tweak this with careful (manual) calibration.
- Low refresh rate: Again, among most LCD monitors, refresh rate tends not to be that important of a "feature" since LCD screens in general are easier on the eyes. I did, however notice some flickering during DVD playback.
- Two video inputs is nice, but one is DVI-D and the other is analog VGA. Besides, the monitor only switches video (and audio, but that is trivial), not your keyboard and mouse.

Pros:
- I believe it's a common trait among LCD monitors to display graphics and text much crisper than on CRTs. This particular monitor displayed everything clearer and sharper without looking fuzzy from Mac OS 10.2's anti-aliasing.
- Dual input with dual audio input (auto switching). While the built-in speakers aren't adequate for music, a headphone jack is provided at the side of the monitor.
- The design: Being a designer myself, I find it quite humorous how all of us are attracted to sleek, mass-produced black boxes. And essentially, that is all this is. Maybe it's the simplicity of it all; Sony hides the 7 control buttons by camouflaging them with the color of the case. Maybe I've been a Mac user just too long.

Overall, I was attracted to this monitor for it's appearance and Sony name. If you are a graphics pro, gamer, or someone who requires accurate color and fast pixel response, stick with a good CRT. ....Otherwise, if you are already familiar with Apple's proprietary ADC connector, spend the extra dollars on an Apple Studio Display. From what I've seen, those are by far the best LCDs on the market to date.

Best,
Greg

I'm an art director, almost crazy with color perfection. My G790 's been with me for five years. During this period, and thanks to its many color controls, I've managed to fine tune it as I never could another. And I'm talking about Sonys, Apples and one or another lesser brand.
My G790 is sharp, with no out-of-focus areas, luminosity is very consistent. And I'm using its full viewable area.
My system is a Mac, the video card an ATI Rage Orion, but I once had an iXMicro 128 connected to it. Doesn't matter, it had the same amazing image.
Maybe I'm lucky to have been blessed with an exemplar one. But I'd rather pass it to Viewsonic. This brand captured me with this monitor. Give it a try if you're considering a new monitor.

I had this monitor for 6 years. It worked great, looked great, everyone who saw it wanted one. Last night it died : (. It was acting funny during the day, flickering and stuff. It made some really weird sounds and went black. I was talking on the phone and ignored it, then I smelled it. It was glowing orange inside and everything was melting (I assume, from the smell). I'm sad. I loved my monitor.

If you are thinking upgrading from a CRT monitor to LCD, do it now!! Simply there is no comparation between both. I bought this monitor to replace my 19' Viewsonic E90. I always thought my old monitor was one of the best, but when I put it side by side the difference was huge. The VE700 is very sharp, clear and with a great look. DVD's and Games looks great when there is not much movement (even NFS 6 works very good). Since its native resolution is 1280x1024, you will need a good graphics card to play at this resolution because on other resolutions the image look fuzzy and with shadows.
A mayor cons for me was the fact that the stand does allow to move the monitor horizontally and also it is to short. The auto adjust resolution doesn't always work as you wish but if you have time, you can adjust it manually.
The on screen menus are sufficient and very easy to operate.
The botton line, for the price your are paying, you are receiving a very good monitor, especially if it is your first LCD monitor.

I have been using this monitor for about 1 1/2 years. I am very pleased with it. I wanted something flicker free, clear and that would last for a while.

This monitor has both analogue and digital inputs, so I can get the best use out of my new graphics cards.

Like many LCD monitors, the viewing angle is not as wide as I would like, but since most of my work is right in front of it at my desk that is hardly an issue.

I do not really play many games on it, but the few that I have played have not displayed any significant screen lag (Half Life, Need for Speed).

This monitor is relatively expensive, but it seems well built and with the digital connector should last me for years more.

I did much research on buying a Flat-Panels since I was replacing my CRT, I did not want to make a bad choice and waste my money. I eventually came across the Viewsonic vg500 LCD monitor.

To start off its one of the sexiest Flat-Panels I have seen. It has a 450:1 contrast ratio which is the highest I've seen in its class. For those that don't know, the higher the first number, the better. I had some trouble opening the back to attach the power supply and monitor cable, so be careful not to pry too hard or you will scratch something up. ;)

Installation 5/5
It was a snap on my Windows XP at home. All I had to do was plug it in and Windows handled everything for me. It does come with its own software and drivers which I installed.

Performance 4/5
I notice a flicker/glitch every now and then. Doesn't happen often but maybe once every 2 days. It's not anything bad nor does it permantely damage it, but it's not 'perfect'.

All in all, it was well worth my money and I was very impressed from the transition from CRT to LCD.

This is a very nice monitor. The 17" refers to the screen size and not the surrounding case and the maximum resolution of 1280 X 1024 provides for a very sharp picture. The footprint on your physical desktop is small. There isn't much not to like about this monitor. It has built in speakers which further limits the clutter around your computer. However, these speakers are no better than the typical "PC speaker" and probably will be unacceptable to all but the least discriminating user. Otherwise, this is an excellent item.

this monitor has very good quality, but it is very, very bright, too bright. it is good for graphics, video, movie...., but not good for reading text. some people like it really bright, but being used to what i used for a long time, this lcd's ultra brightness hurts the eyes -there's no way to make it darker even if setting the brightness to 0. if anyone knows an lcd that is good for text (and have good quality as this one), please recommend.

Because the imac I bought came standard with a very low amount of memory, I purchased this upgrade. I would highly suggest that all Mac users with 64mb or less memory jump at the chance to purchase more memory at such a great value (for instance, buying memory directly from Apple is about 2-3 times more expensive). Some of the benefits are smoother game play with graphic intensive games, the ability to keep more applications open at the same time, and an overall boost in the speed of applications. (Don't forget to allocate more memory for games and applications after you have installed the new DIMM - you'll have to do this by hand in the file-->get info-->memory window).

The one problem I encountered was the installation of the memory. The memory ships without directions, though they are available for download from the manufacturer's website. These are a must. I would also suggest consulting the directions that came with your computer. I found that each provided information that the other did not. My main problem was that, given the small space in which to work, I found it difficult to push hard enough on the edge of the memory for it to snap completely into place.

The upgrade in performance is definitely worth any frustration caused by the installation.

The 333mhz is enough for most users, and at the price is a bargain, but if you really want to bring things up a notch, go with the 400mhz. Gamers will really appreciate the extra speed.