Monitor Reviews

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 easy to use as well - even my wife can operate it!

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!!!

purchased unit 6 month ago and I am happy with hd and digital picture. Analog pictures from my cable provider leaves something to be desired. I am going to get an extended warranty when the regular one runs out.

I have been waiting for the killer product that would enable me to use my pc monitor as a tv, and free up space on my desk. This flat panel monitor is it! HDTV and fantastic resolution for pc use. Games displayed with a new dimension of clarity. My 7.5 yr old daughter loves it. Also, the PIP feature is great to use while surfing the net. I don't have to argue with my daughter or wife anymore to see the news or watch the game. I can't wait to install the new dvd I bought as well. Design looks sharp as well.

Set up was very easy. Took about 5 minutes to set up for tv, and 10 for the pc. Only negatives are the slots for the plugs in the back of the unit: a little hard to get to.

Great product that I would highly recommend.

I was given the Garmin GPS 3+ for christmas and I am very satisfied with it! Perfect for just about any sport you want to use it for. It includes options such as: altimeter, current speed, max speed, average speed, odometer, sunrise/sunset, high-resolution map, satellite status page, highway position page (shows you how far off coarse you are), a compass page and many more features! The GPS aquires satellites very fast (usually under 10 seconds) and holds them even if you drive through a tunnel or heavy foliage (for a short time). On top of all this, I was extremely impressed on how well-built the casing is! Buttons feel very positive, and everything feels solid. The casing is also water-proof rated to 30ft (although I wouldn't recommend testing it).

A notable downside to this unit is the VERY small memory space for the Mapsource maps. In most cases, it will only hold about one large city. If you live in a large city, you will be extremely limited. If you travel a lot and need more detailed road information (the basemap on the 3+ only has major highways and some local roads), I would recommend you get the Garmin eMAP Deluxe because it comes with a Mapsource cartridge that will allow you to put much more detailed area on your GPS plus the EMAP is designed more for the road.

Overall, I would rate the GPS 3+ very high for anyone.

I waited nearly a year for the introduction of the "plus" model and it has been well worth the wait. The folks at Garmin are extremely helpful (even if they consistantly promise delivery dates far sooner than the actual ship dates) and knowledgeable. The unit itself is built quite well. The screen is clear and the backlighting is more than sufficient. Make sure you update the unit's ROM with the most recent version from Garmins web site since they frequently improve the product's capabilities. Also, spend the extra $100 and get the US Roads and Recreations CD ROM. It lets you upload (via a PC) all streets and street names down to the level of dirt roads. For interstates, it has exit info which inlcudes not only whether there are hotels, food and gas there, but which hotels, which gas stations and the names of restaurants....incredible. Otherwise, I use it on my motorcycle, in my car, hiking, that was impressive as you knew exactly where you were and the unit will calculate when you will arrive. It's IMPOSSIBLE to get lost with this unit and for about $400 bucks, you can't beat it or have more fun.

Like any "real" man, I hate to ask for directions, a trait that has led to many an argument with my wife. Since buying the Garmin GPS III, there has not been a single argument. If you are tired of acting like you know where you are going, and really want to be heading in the right direction, buy this product now. Your wife will thank you.

Looking to send your teenager away for college, but don't feel like parting with the 27" television? This is a perfect solution if they already have a computer.

For comparison purposes, the other alternative is to purchase a TV tuner card for the computer. However, this substantialy degrades the picture quality and performance of the machine. With the ViewSonic box, your monitor becomes your television, even with the computer turned off.

Overall, this is an inexpensive solution that makes sense. Why haul two large pieces of electronic equipment, when this box combines the two? Now they can save their money, and buy a VGA flat panel monitor, or DVD player!

I've always thought that watching tv/movies (dvd/vhs) on a computer screen was out of the question. THe most important part of the puzzle the 'video card' had to be of such a quality that made it impossible to find. Plus, having the 'puter on while watching a dvd/cable can make things annoying. This tuner is amazing...i've since gotten rid of my tv (a 25" magnavox) which did well but took up space and really did nothing more than what this tuner along with a new flat screen monitor can do. Plus i get to keep everything in one place. Games (rugby, football, etc...) are near perfect on the screen, as are dvd's such as the matrix! which can become a big blur if you don't have the right equipment. I recommend the use of a high quality (not high $) flat screen or crt monitor. I have since purchased a Planar 19" from reviews i read. I had the highest rating for clear and concise pictures when viewed as a multi-entertainment screen. If you have any more questions/points that i may have 'glossed over' or forgoten to make feel free to email me.

-mike

mike

I got this product today and had it up and working inside 10 minutes. Just connect the cables (which are all nicely included), put the batteries (also included) in the remote, and turn it on. It was seriously that simple.

Pros:
- The picture quality is amazing at 1024 x 768. Just like a regular television.
- Menus are easy to navigate and simple to bring up with the remote.
- Setup is quick and simple.
- All the cables you need are included.
- Even comes with batteries (AAA) for the remote.
- Good instructions with lots of pictures in the manual.
- Channel, Volume and Input buttons on the main box pretty make using the box easy even without the remote.

Cons:
- Channel and volume buttons are awkwardly located at the top of the remote.
- Can only get to the Menu (for controlling brightness, resolution, etc.) using the remote.
- Can't record video to your PC with this.

The last con really isn't a con since it's part of the product design. But I think more than a couple people might be confused and buy this with the intention of recording TV or VCR tapes into digital MPEGs on their computer. You can't do that with this box.

Overall it's an awesome device. Good picture quality. Easy setup. All parts included. Can't beat that.

I did a little research into 'navigation systems' before looking over this particular one, so that way I wouldn't be so impressed. Didn't work - this is a SWEEEEEEET little set-up. You can transfer it from on car to another, and even bring it on trips with you for use in rental cars, too. No re-tooling of your dashboard, or other permanant modification of you vehicle is needed. I'd really like to own one in the worst way (because I can't read a real map to save my life), however...

I did run into a snag that really put the brakes on this purchase. Although all the major routs in the U.S. and Canada are in the unit already, you still need to load up the 'memory card' (which IS included along with an interface cable) with the areas you want fine detail for - that's how it can route you to a specific movie theater, restaurant, or house.

That's where the map CD comes into play. All that detail IS given to you on the CD, but has to be read from your home computer, and then transferred to the memory card - I have absolutly NO problem with that, except that the CD interface is for Windows systems only! No Mac support at all. I even called Garmin direclty.

If you have a Macintosh computer, make sure you at least have access to a friends PC before you get this. Otherwise you'll be a little frustrated. After you get it set up the first time, you'll have no trouble at all. I persoanlly don't have a PC, so I had to hold off. Hopefully Garmin will start supporting Mac soon enough, and I can try for a later generation of this.

This unit does an excellent job of helping you navigate, whether in familiar or unfamiliar territory.

I have lived in the same city for 32 years and I explore a lot. Still, when asking the StreetPilot to calculate routes for some of my favorite Sunday rides, it has managed to show me some nice alternative routes to the ones I've been using. While they may not have been the absolute fastest, they have often been improvements in regard to road surface or traffic. If you like to explore, you'll love this unit.

Another example: Last weekend I went to a huge regional softball tournament west of town. Getting out afterwards, traffic was awful, backed up and at a standstill. I simply went the opposite direction, away from town, for half a mile. Then, I took the first reasonable route that went north of town, and asked the unit to calculate a route home. It gave me a good, fast one that probably got me home 20 minutes sooner than if I had gone the "direct" way in all that traffic. I couldn't have done it without the StreetPilot.

One huge advantage of this unit is that it accepts a 128 MB data card to load MapSource maps. If you're going on a cross-country trip, you will easily require all of that space. Even the next-biggest Garmin units, which allow 24 MB of storage, are severely limiting by comparison.

The voice guidance system is well-implemented. The voice itself is quite pleasant. On a long trip, that's a huge plus. It gives excellent advance notice of all turns, and even tells you to "stay left" or "stay right" when appropriate. A nice feature is the graphic display of the remaining miles/estimated time to the next turn.

The only negatives: 1) It's not WAAS-enabled. You will not get the accuracy of position with this unit that you will with almost any other current unit from Garmin or Magellan. This is seldom a problem, since the software is intelligent enough to put you on the correct road, even if accuracy is only within 40 feet at the time. But a few times, it has registered me as being on a nearby side road, most often when that route is approaching mine at an angle of 40 degrees or less. 2) The packaged MapSource software is sometimes out of date. For example, passing through Rising Sun, Indiana to get to the riverfront, it always wants to route me through roads that don't exist anymore, having been eliminated where a Casino was built several years ago. If I didn't know the area, I'd have problems. Again, this is rare.

Final note: Read the manual. Become thoroughly familiar with all the functions and all the options. Some (not all) of the complaints in prior reviews could have been resolved if the authors had read the manual.

I love it! It was extremely intuitive. Easy to use, lots of features, voice/speaker feature is great.

I received my Garmin 2610 a week ago and I have been having lots of fun ever since.
I saw a review where another buyer had troubles with the software that comes with the unit. The operating system on my computer is an ME too but I got the software installed with the help of a Garmin tech. This is my first GPS but the unit is really user friendly. Even I could use the unit in my van the first day that I received it. I have a van, truck, and a motorcycle that I will be using the unit on and it will get it's share of use. I always worry about my wife getting around but I don't have to worry any more. Yesterday she had to go to the airport and did not know how to get there. I set a route for her to the airport and showed her how to use the "home" feature to get her back to the house. She made the trip there and back without any problems. It worked so good that I may not ever see the unit again because my wife says that she loves it! I went for a ride on my motorcycle with a few of my friends and found a down side to owning this GPS unit. Now all my friends look to me to get them everywhere we go. If there is a negative to having this unit on my vehicle I can't find it. This is one of the most effective pieces of equipment that I have ever put on one of my transportation vehicles. If you had six stars this product would get it!

Mr. De Leon cannot be talking about the 2610.
* It is not hard at all to program addresses from the car - use the remote, or the on-screen spelling capability. You can type the first part of a street (or city, or business, etc) and then see all starting with these characters.
* You can drive to a location and mark it as a waypoint. Then you can easily give it a name (other than default 001) and change its symbol from a box to a school, a house, etc.
* 2610 doesn't have batteries! Use car cigarette lighter or home AC power.
* I think De Leon had the StreetPilot III Deluxe. Using the III is much more cumbersome than the 2610.

For more info, see my other review, the first on this device.

My bottom line: If you're looking for an excellent GPS for navigation in your car and you can afford the price, then this is the device for you!

The Garmin automotive navigation is a great item in which for those new comers who drive or ride from Florida or California. This little item makes it easy for regular travler to find their way around. So in times of going to the club in the next town or just driving around major one way streets this little gadge makes anyone a pro in getting to thier point of orgin. So travel a little safer whether you take the train in holland or the drive to El Paso, Tx. Here's to TRAVELING ON A SAFER LEVEL.

Thank You
Shara L. Bouie
Atlanta,Ga<USA

This is a great monitor for the price. I got this monitor for someone who needed a monitor mainly for word processing and browsing the web.
The default resolution is 1,024 x 768 pixels (and it won't look very good at any other resolution). NEC recommends setting the screen to this resolution, and then making the system type size larger - and that works fine.
I wouldn't recommend this monitor for graphic designers or photographers only because the color seems to change when viewed from different angles. Also, the colors don't seem to be uniform from one side to another - it's just like a laptop monitor (if you don't need color accuracy, then this isn't an issue).
And lastly, the monitor itself looks really cool (I purchased the black one), and you can push it back to free up your desk space.

After doing some research and looking at various monitors I decided on the NEC 1550V. For the price it is an excellent deal and seemed to perform the best. When I first saw the model the 1550v replaced, the 1530v, in the store I was amazed at the picture quality. This monitor shares that same excellent picture quality.

Setup was a snap and the picture is incredible. Vibrant colors, even backlighting and quick refresh all make this monitor a joy to use. I have had no problems using it with work applications and the screen is fast enough to use with games as well (though I am not a hard-core gamer, it definitely seems fine to me). I've noticed less eye strain and fatigue using this LCD for long periods of time. All in all, a great deal and I will never go back to a CRT. Highly recommended.

I just bought this monitor a week ago, and I'm very pleased with it. I really don't have anything to complain about. It works flawlessly, and it looks great. And, it's nice to get back a huge amount of my desk-space. I had read some of the other reviews that mentioned that the screen isn't bright enough, or that pixels were dead, or that the color isn't uniform. I haven't had any of those problems. The screen is very bright, and people have even commented on how clear and easy to read the screen is. After he saw this monitor, one of my friends is now going to order one.

I use the e-trex for hiking. The unit is small, rugged, easy to carry and easy to operate one-handed. The controls are well done and waterproof - power & backlight switch is recessed so it doesn't switch on or off by itself in a backpack, other controls have a good "feel".

It's great for getting a coordinate to locate yourself on the topo, and for remembering a location you want to return to. It's possible to pre-enter coordinates of destinations from a topo, though the process is a little tedious (entering two 7-digit coordinates by scrolling though lists of digits.) E-trex displays direct distance & direction to such waypoints nicely.

It does have trouble receiving the satellite signals in narrow canyons or in a forest with leaves overhead. As a result, the recorded "track" and trip odometer are often spotty or inaccurate (it only records your track and tallies distance when it has a good signal.) I've done 10-mile hikes where it's read only 3-4 miles at the end, reflecting the part of the trip it had satellite reception. It receives better when held rather than kept in pocket or pack. It usually receives fine in the car, too.

The manual doesn't cover all the features, so you have to experiment to master the unit. Battery life is only a dozen hours, so I tend to turn the unit only only to mark waypoints and check locations rather than record continuous tracks.

Just like two out of every five "guys" on the planet, owning a GPS (really cool compass) was a must..."I can't live with-out one". I picked up the "e-trex" vanilla flavored, hiking, biking and trail version. My intent was to use it in my truck, a little added nav equipment for map reading (make long trips less boring). The basic e-trex lacks the memory for *real travel* logistics (car excursions). A three-hour trip ate 98% of its memory and 70+% of battery life. I must add however, my expectations were minimal, given its price. It calculates your speed better then your speedometer, frightening!!! Make no mistake, you are being tracked!!! As far as bearing, speed, travel time, the basics, this little toy is a treat. It saved [me] when I became lost in the middle of Farmington, CA. not long ago. The sun was down, the ground flat and I... backwards. I remembered the e-trex after about two hours of endless rights and lefts (almost ended up in Yosemite!!!), fired that bad-boy up and was on Highway 99 in 20 minutes, headed home. Paid for itself that night. I highly recommend the basic e-trex as a very basic navigational aide. It does everything it's designed to and does it well. It's also a great "starter" for learning about GPS systems. *Note: This thing tracked my rate of speed to the .5 of a mile and was right on target, if you register one with a serial number, use your best friends name!!! Happy trekking...
Dave

I've been using this GPS unit for a few months now, for geocaching and for normal land navigation. I've also taken a GPS class with it, and got to see how it stacked up against other GPS units. The consensus of other, less tech-savvy students in the class was that the etrex offered a very user friendly interface in a small package. It offers all the essential features one needs in a GPS, comes in a waterproof, rugged and small case, and is fairly easy to use and read. Garmin's claims of one handed usage are for real, it is easy to navigate the interface with the solid buttons on the unit. The main downside is the antenna, at least compared to units that have more sophisticated antennas, so pulling in weak satellite signals under thick tree cover can prove problematic in some areas. Also this is a basic unit, so it has no fancy bells and whistles, most notably you cannot download or view a map on it (though you can download waypoints). For those of you who hunt, the eTrex camo version would probably make more sense. And for more money, you can get more bells and whistles in the higher end eTrex models. The large screen is both a plus and a minus--a plus in that it's very easy to read and you can easily navigate the menus on it. A minus since it can be damaged, and a large LCD screen will not work well in extreme cold. The bottom line is, if you want to get started with GPS navigation, the eTrex is a friendly way to get going. If you do end up getting this unit, I highly recommend getting the cable to hook it up to a computer, so you can at least get the software updates Garmin posts on occasion.

I bought my EN-7100 in December 2001. I used it to replace a Dell 19" 0.26 pitch CRT Monitor. I use my system for a lot of fine text and graphical work. Not gaming, not video work.

Installation was a breeze. Worked right out of the box, no problems.

So how did it compare???

If you are expecting the resolution to match your CRT, you'll be somewhat disappointed. Since I watch my monitor 10+ hours per day, the lower resolution was immediately evident. But the performance was very much acceptable.

I think the big question you have to ask is if you want to have on your desk a 60 lb monster with unbeatable resolution or a very small footprint LCD that works just fine, but not quite as good as the old monster.

For my money, the switch was worth it. Yeah, the resolution is somewhat less but after a couple of weeks I adjusted and can't think of a time when I've wished I had my old tube back. The really nice thing is that I have regained a third of my old desk space.

Just to reiterate, You won't find the performance of any LCD to be a direct replacement for a good quality CRT, but for me the trade off of slightly lower resolution was well worth the regained desk space.

Hope this helps.

Forget about everything you're reading online comparing one LCD montior to another. You need to go visit a computer store and see them. After you do that, your focus will change entirely, literally and figuratively. I was prepared to spend up to $2000 on an LCD monitor and, therefore, price wasn't the issue. After doing my research, I believed I knew what I was after. Thank goodness I was able to see in-person the Envision 17 inch LCD. It was FAR SUPERIOR in performance to every other LCD monitor I saw. I bought it and I couldn't be happier. And this was with the analogue interface and my existing video card, you don't need a DVI interface to get perfection. I'm a high-end user and I've always owned high-end monitors. In fact, I could rarely find one that satisfied my needs except for scarcely available super high-end models. This Envision product changed that however. At any price, its performance is visually the best in my opinion. But when considering its price, it's like an entirely different product all together compared to the other LCD panels available today. I simply couldn't be happier with this product. The warranty, also, is excellent. And as I mentioned earlier, if you've been concerned about whether you need a new DVI card and an LCD monitor with a DVI interface, you can forget about it unless perhaps you do video editing full-time. This Envision LCD monitor, in conjunction with a solid traditional/standard video card (like you probably already have), offers absolutely outstanding crystal-clear rock-solid performaance.

I spent a total of ($) for this monitor and it was well worth it.

Last Christmas I spent ($) buying a 19" CRT monitor. The picture quality was bad and of course it broke my back everytime I needed to move it around. It was a piece of junk (btw it was a Sceptre monitor).

Then in July after doing extensive research I settled on this Envision. Sure they aren't a household name brand but people who used this monitor seemed for the most part satisfied. The monitor was a breeze to install using drivers from the web-site and mine has zero dead pixels that I can see. The default resolution of 1280X1024 is gorgeous, absolutely no flickering and the image is easy on my eyes.

I don't see why anyone should buy a CRT monitor any longer. I can't imagine any of the ($)LCD monitors being any better than this one. The Envision also carrys a 3 year warranty so if anything does break...you're covered!

This was a great buy and I have absolutely no regrets. Some of the gripes people had was the awkward positioning of the buttons, lack of movement, small viewing angle, etc. None of those problems bothered me and is negligible for this price!