Monitor Reviews

Sony's new 30" XBR WEGA LCD tv is hands down the best 30" flat panel on the market. It has stunning picture quality, all due to its external media reciever. While this external box certainly detracts from the space saving aspect of a flat panel, it makes the trails or distortion one typically sees with fast motion on an LCD (motor cross or football, for instance) non existant. If you don't believe me, stop by any high end electronics retailer (they should have one of these if they're worth their salt) and watch for your self... the picture is rediculously perfect.

Obviously if you're shopping for a 30" TV, then plasma really isn't an option. But while in the store, take a look at those plasma displays and compare it to Sony's LCD... you'll notice something quite interesting: the picture quality on this LCD puts all the plasmas to shame! There's been so much hype over plasma TV that, well, facts get distorted. Technically speaking, picture reproduction on a high end plasma is not as good as on a high end LCD (or DLP for that matter). But who am I to try to convince you -- go see this TV for yourself. The advantage to plasma, currently, is that you can make really big TVs that display fast motion very well. However, as LCD TVs get bigger and cheaper, and motion jitters are eliminated, i think plasma will go by the wayside... for now, though, its the only option if you want to put a 50" TV on the wall.

Aside from the picture, this 30" has everything else I could want in terms of sound reproduction, inputs and outputs, etc. I'd prefer it to be 1080i compatible, though.

Anyway, if you got a couple thousand and are shopping for a superb 30" TV, look no further: Sony's got the answer.

My Sony SDM-HX93 is the best monitor I've ever owned. This is the third flat screen monitor my family has (I have an HP and another 17" Sony) and this is by far the most wonderful device! The colors and brightness are incredible, very clean text and great performance. Setup was very easy and intuitive. With MS XP no driver installation is required - just connect and go; it configures itself to the best resolution. I loved the back-slide panel that neatly hides the cables. If your display is important to you - purchase this monitor.

This monitor had the most detailed picture and IS worth the cash. If you purchase this, you will not regret it. Along with a decent Sony computer it wonders everyone with both its looks and performance. I really like the input setup for two different computers so you can save some money and have one monitor for two systems if your occupation needs that sort of power. I highly recommend this Sony monitor.

We have owned our SONY SDM-N80 for 2.5 years & we enjoy its high-level function & understated style daily. Once I decided I was going to build a computer to better position ourselves for future upgrades, I knew the monitor had to be a choice of quality, utility & form.

Sure, you can get a boxy CRT monitor for super cheap these days, taking up your space, - but an LCD is most likely the wish now, right?....No worries, LCD prices are falling!

So, helpful pushes toward SONY's SDM-N80:
1. Classical, understated design which inspires!
2. If you go for an LCD, make sure it's Digital (otherwise it's a bit of a waste technologically speaking) => This model offers both Analog & Digital capabilities
3. Truly clutterless workspace with one-cord, break-out box
4. Base has two USB ports, act as a hub for other peripherals, -clever & helps hide more cables, et cetera
5. SONY picture quality
6. SONY reliability (especially since we're here rating it high after 2.5 years of ownership)
7. *You DO NOT want to save a little now & look at beige/black plastic framing bezels for the next some odd years! ;)

...P>One thing that's VERY nice about this LCD is the dual input option. The base break-out box has 2 video inputs (w/ USB & Audio input). The inputs are configured as one normal VGA port & one DVI port. The cable that comes with monitor is a DVI to analog converter cable so you can hook up 2 normal PCs right out of the box, - quite handy. Two PCs may be utilized at once, - switching between them with one button-press; highly convenient features.

The speakers are tiny yet sufficient, but, you're not buying an LCD monitor & comparing speaker quality. Thus, SONY includes them, plus provides jacks for upgraded audiophiles.

Video quality is excellent. The display is very high contrast & colors are rich, textured, realistic & vibrant, like SONY Trinitrons of legend. The LCD we received had no defective pixels.

The viewing angle isn't quite as broad as some, - but plenty wide.

The A/D Converter is of superb quality. On other LCD's the sharp pixel boundaries are jittery, - here, it's rock solid.

The scaling of input signals is wonderful. The LCD smoothes out scaled images, so you are treated to a very smooth picture.

Ok.
Good luck to you.
I'll leave you to choose with your priorities.(...my wife has been happier with my monitor choice than with my computer-building skills). ;)

I know there are better contrast ratios to be had on LCDs or bigger sizes for less dough, - but we'll be getting another SONY SDM-N80 from Amazon; 18" & superb build quality is big, better & best enough!

***Wait until you get the reactions from guests at the home office! "FOR-get-aboutit!!" You'll see Delight, Awe, Respect & then a little friendly Jealousy come into their eyes! Then, you'll know. You made the right LCD decision.

I just bought this thing from Amazon and all I can say

is WOW!!!!

This is probably the best purchase I have ever made.

This thing is everything I ever expected and more!! It's

very easy to use as well!

I have bought other brands before, and this one just

blows everything else out of the water! I have to say,

everyone out there who is thinking of buying this, stop

thinking. I bought it and I am extremely happy with it

the moment I powered this thing on. YOU ABSOLUTELY

POSITIVELY CANNOT GO WRONG WITH THIS PURCHASE! I

GUARANTEE IT!!!

I bought this 15" LCD because I needed to downsize my clutter.
I had a 17" NEC (bought here 6 months ago)
I've always relied on Sony products before and thought I would try out the NEC. What a mistake!
The brightness and the clarity of the Sony have to be seen to be appreciated.
The zero footprint is a bonus to the space impaired.
You won't be dissapointed with this one.

great addition to my sony V1. very sturdy. well built. looks great. it comes with a carrying case and a soft towel to wipe it down with. overall good.

I was looking for a longer DVI-D cable for my recently purchased LCD monitor. Most other vendors carry the DVD-D cables for [$$$], which was too much for my liking. I received these cables within 5 days of ordering and it works perfectly. The only issue is that the cable's wire (not the connector head) actually looks like StarTech's DVI-D Dual Link wire. That is it has the 1/2 inch by 1 inch barrel about 2 inches below the connector head.
See [the startech website] for a picture of the cable wire.

I have a really sharp Trinitron monitor which came with a decent quality video cable and text was sharp and clear. Recently I bought a new top-brand Geforce 4 Ti4800 video card and, after installing it, text became significantly ghosted. I later heard that the manufacturer used cheap parts which degrade the signal at high frequency (above 60Hz) when used in 2D (i.e. text) mode. I had to switch to 60 Hz to get sharp text, which still wasn't as sharp as it was with my previous graphics card running at 85Hz. Every step above 60Hz became increasingly ghosted. 85Hz and higher is much easier on the eyes, so I searched for a VGA cable to replace the one that I thought was pretty good. I decided to try a mid-priced cable, this Startech model. I liked their site and felt confident that they were selling a quality product. I connected it and PERFECT! I was back to sharp, clear text at 85Hz (and all the way up to 144Hz). This is an excellent cable for a great price and if you suffer with blurry text or ghost images, please give this one a try.

I bought this TV form Tiger ( the best rate on shipping) via Amazon.Great picture great sound. Everything included, all cables, stand and wall mount...Surprisingly good picture from TV broadcast, even better from DVD or S-video. I would strongly recommend this product, it is a perfect choice for a smaller living room and general home use in this($1600) price range.