Monitor Reviews

After my old 15" CRT monitor went dead, and after reading all the reviews from this website, I was convinced to go out and get a LCD flat panel monitor. I did some serious research to find out which monitor was better between this one and the Envision 15" LCD monitor. So I went out and got the NEC MultiSync LCD 1530v. I was very impressed on how quick and easy it was to set it up. The "auto adjust" feature tuned in my monitor correctly the first time. My wife and I have played many video games with this monitor without any problems! When playing a DVD, the picture is crisp and clear with no signs of distortion. The colors on this monitor are absolutely amazing! My wife who uses the computer as much as I do also gives this monitor 5 stars for the reason that it does not hurt her eyes. For those of you whose eyes have low tolerance to glare, you don't have to worry about that. The monitor works best at a resolution of 1024x768. My system is an AMD K6-2 550MHz processor, Windows XP operating system, and ATI Radeon 7200 video card. I've had this monitor for 3 months now. I must say that it was the BEST purchase I've made!

If you're looking for an LCD flat panel monitor and can't afford to spend much money, then this monitor is for you. The viewing size of this monitor is 15.1", the same size of a 17" CRT monitor. With all the features and advantages that comes with this monitor, it's worth the spending. So go out and get one while they're hot! I give this LCD monitor my highest recommendations!

The NEC 1530V is an absolute winner. Price, image quality, footprint, ease-of-use, you name it. . . I use a Radeon 64MB DDR video card which allows me to set the monitor at the recommended resolution: 1024 x 768. Any lower resolution makes the image look pretty ugly and the monitor shows an annoying warning sign which keeps popping up saying you're not using the optimal resolution. The auto adjust function is excellent!!! Just press one button and the image fits automatically and perfectly within the screen. The on-screen menu is very intuitive and easy to use (I still haven't even touched the instructions manual).

One drawback: you can't regulate the monitor's height or swivel it. All you can do is regulate the angle or remove the arm and hang it on the wall.

Nevertheless, it's the best purchase I've done.

At this price, don't bother looking into other brands . . . Not worth the effort. You can't go wrong with this one.

I endlessly researched LCD computer monitors before I purchased this and the research paid off... big time. My friends and family are amazed at the sleakness (I ordered the black version) and the picture quality of this monitor. Additionally, believe it or not, this monitor appreciated from the time I purchased it on AMZN, imagine that! It's expecially great in a dorm/apartment setting.

No problems with this LCD monitor at all. It's my first LCD flat panel, so I haven't got much to compare it with, but I must say, I am pleased. Excellent contrast, bright screen, works well with both my 2 year old G4 PowerMac (in OS 9 and OS X) and my 3 year old Windows 98 PC. I had no problems getting it set up or working with either system.

Of course, it is a transition from a traditional CRT monitor-there is a set "native resolution" that the monitor looks best in (1280 x 1024). Of course you can use other resolutions, but they are not quite as nice. Since I was planning on setting it at 1280 x 1024, this is a non-issue for me. (All LCD monitors have a set "native resolution".) And, color calibration is ... "different" than it is with a CRT. Also, the colors get a little skewed when I look at the screen from an angle. (In this monitor's case, there is a pretty good viewing range, so I have no complaints.) I hasten to add, these are issues with all flat panels, so it comes with the territory! All-in-all, minor issues for me.

I am very pleased with this monitor, and hope to get another just like it soon.

The LCD1700V monitor has rich colors and a bright screen. It is an excellent buy...The only problem I'm now facing is that I'm running Windows with a 2 monitor setup. In comparison, my professional Viewsonic CRT monitor looks pale and I see myself often turning it off and working only with the NEC LCD monitor. I guess sooner or later I'll have to buy another LCD monitor :)

I had this monitor for about 1.5 years and loved it.
However, one day the screen went blank. I called NEC customer service and was sent out a refurbished model. That had the same identical problem! Again I called customer service and was told I would be sent a NEW monitor. I waited several days and what do I see upon arrival? A big box with "REFURBISHED" stamped all over it! Still, I plugged it in and it worked fine for about 3 hours then went to super-low resolution with "glimmering" all over the screen. I know it is not the graphics card because the monitor I borrowed from a friends works great with my computed.
I have this theory that NEC never actually "refurbishes" their monitors, but instead continually cycles returned defective monitors to purchasers...

No problems with this LCD monitor at all. It's my first LCD flat panel, so I haven't got much to compare it with, but I must say, I am pleased. Excellent contrast, bright screen, works well with both my 2 year old G4 PowerMac (in OS 9 and OS X) and my 3 year old Windows 98 PC. I had no problems getting it set up or working with either system.

Of course, it is a transition from a traditional CRT monitor-there is a set "native resolution" that the monitor looks best in (1280 x 1024). Of course you can use other resolutions, but they are not quite as nice. Since I was planning on setting it at 1280 x 1024, this is a non-issue for me. (All LCD monitors have a set "native resolution".) And, color calibration is ... "different" than it is with a CRT. Also, the colors get a little skewed when I look at the screen from an angle. (In this monitor's case, there is a pretty good viewing range, so I have no complaints.) I hasten to add, these are issues with all flat panels, so it comes with the territory! All-in-all, minor issues for me.

I am very pleased with this monitor, and hope to get another just like it soon.

The LCD1700V monitor has rich colors and a bright screen. It is an excellent buy...The only problem I'm now facing is that I'm running Windows with a 2 monitor setup. In comparison, my professional Viewsonic CRT monitor looks pale and I see myself often turning it off and working only with the NEC LCD monitor. I guess sooner or later I'll have to buy another LCD monitor :)

I had this monitor for about 1.5 years and loved it.
However, one day the screen went blank. I called NEC customer service and was sent out a refurbished model. That had the same identical problem! Again I called customer service and was told I would be sent a NEW monitor. I waited several days and what do I see upon arrival? A big box with "REFURBISHED" stamped all over it! Still, I plugged it in and it worked fine for about 3 hours then went to super-low resolution with "glimmering" all over the screen. I know it is not the graphics card because the monitor I borrowed from a friends works great with my computed.
I have this theory that NEC never actually "refurbishes" their monitors, but instead continually cycles returned defective monitors to purchasers...

This is the 2nd GPS I've purchased, the first being one for someone else back in early 2001. Since taking up geocaching in March of 2003 and purchasing the Venture soon after that, I've had the opportunity to take a look at the old model (which was also a Garmin and looks like it belongs in a museum already), as well as a couple of Magellans and one of the Garmin Gekkos. So far, I like this unit more than any of the others I've seen.

The three things that really stand out in this product are the screen resolution (much clearer than any of the other units), the icon choices (I couldn't believe my friend's Magellan doesn't have a geocache as an option! Let alone a found geocache), and the durability (the other units all had hard plastic bodies that wouldn't bounce or take a fall as well as the rubber-coated Venture).

I only give this a four because I'm sure there is better out there, though perhaps not at this price range. My friend's Magellan, which is priced much higher than the Venture, does have some actual road maps in the device, as opposed to the Venture's city points, but for my purposes, this unit is doing all that I require of it and more. Given the limited research I did, I am thus far not at all disappointed that I paid up from the Gekko models or that I didn't pay up to the even higher priced models.

much too advance for a begenner!

I have been using a Garmin 195 GPS for flying for the past 4 years and have been really impressed. But when I acquired the Etrex Venture about a month ago (picked up used at Amazon at a great savings!)it is amazing the progress in electronics. When comparing the two units inside the house the Garmin 195 would never even get usable signal to navigate while the Venture would be ready to navigate in less than 30 seconds. The accuracy is incredible including the elevation readout which so far had been very consistent and I have been getting about 20 hours of battery life when in the "Battery Saver" mode which I am in 90 percent of the time. This is one of the easiest GPS to use, very "user friendly" and for people whose eyes are getting older the screen can be set up to show large numbers which is much appreciated even the backlight is bright! The unit works in every car I own with no problems, I wedge the unit in front of the speedometer on the Camry and Dodge pickup. It works on the front seat of a 90'Plymouth Acclaim. Make certain that you go to the Garmin website for the lastest software updates currently (2.29) the version I started out with was 2.20 vast improvements have been made to the unit. The new MapResource "points of interest" CD is a great addition to the versatility of the Venture adding cities, landmark and marine details that are not including in the original database. I thought that 1meg of memory would not be enough (do you ever have enough?)but found that it is sufficient for most needs. Living in the East bay of SF I have loaded the unit with all cities (most of northern and central california), businesses(which includes the address and phone number), landmarks and marine to cover from Richmond, ca to San Jose. I recommend Wolfe PC cable and 12 volt adapters with can be purchased on the net in lieu of the Garmin adapter cables. I highly recommend the Venture, however I would like the Etrex Vista but don't want to spend 3 times the price just for the moving map and 24meg of memory.

This piece of technology makes the top tier of all electronic equipment I've ever bought (assuming the ranks along with my Thinkpad 600E and my nokia phone) It fills a perfect niche for me and how I live: my apartment is modest size, primarily I wanted a replacement for my 17 inch tube monitor, but my 24 inch Sony Trinitron TV was also dying a horrible death, I don't watch much TV, don't even have cable.

In walks the 170MP. As a monitor it is great, huge compared to my standard 17 incher, the colors are bright and sharp and you can see things clearly even when off center. As a TV I wasn't expecting much especially since I just use the antenna from my TV but it's really very good. The strongest stations are extremely clear, there's no blur, shadows, or streaking, the weaker stations are acceptable especially at 7 feet or so. I haven't had any trouble with the remote, it works fine for me, even bouncing off the walls works no problem. No this isn't the best television out there, don't center your dvd home entertainment system around it. But, if you, like me, are looking to loose a clunky 50lb TV, the same for a 25lb clunky monitor, and win back about a small refridgerator's worth of space, all for something you can carry in one hand (and the price!!!), then this one is for you.

I upgraded from a flat screen 17 inch CRT to the 170 mp, and now it's a better world, at least for a computer user. The screen is big, bright, and very easy on the eyes.
Pros are: Easy set up, even the slightly awkwark connections on the back; tons of available desk space now; easy to use with the TV and the PIP; very sharp picture and wide viewing angles; the speakers are pretty good; easy to motor around in the on screen menus; and the styling is impressive.
Cons are: The full screen TV is just a touch grainy, and I can't adjust it out (this may be my cable connection though); the remote IR has a very narrow projection cone, it has to be aimed almost directly at the IR sensor on the monitor, but this is easy to get used to; it's a bit pricey but then you're getting much more than a monitor, with built in TV (and PIP), and inputs for all kinds of stuff.
All in all, if you're looking for a multifunction 17 inch TFT, this is the one.

I am working with it already 2 years and absolutly satisfied.
Very good picture, absolutly no problems.

This is an outstanding monitor with fantastic image quality. I've used 19" flat screen Trinitron CRT's exclusively for the past few years, and was skeptical about flat panel displays, but this one changed my mind. Beyond the superior image quality, it's also great to have a viewable image that equates to a 21" CRT but with 1/2 the footprint. I checked out flat panels by Sony, Samsung, HP, Compaq, etc., but this one blew them away. It's a bargain to boot, with a price that compares to competitors' 18" and 17" models. I'd intended to buy a 17" myself, but when I saw the image quality and price of the VX900, I was hooked.

I am beside myself with the quality of this monitor. Excellent contrast and color reproduction along both VGA and DVI input all for a great price made this my choice. I don't use the built in speakers (I have a separate speaker system) but I did plug in my PC just to listen to them and they weren't that bad considering their small size. The only drawbacks I've seen so far (I've had it for 5 months) are the lack of pivot technology (being able to turn the screen to a full page format), lack of Viewsonic releasing a screen protector for the 19" model (it's avail for the 17 only).

It is an attrative unit with good fit and finish, has an excellent warranty including the backlight and my unit had NO dead pixels which can often be a problem in LCD monitors.

I would recommend this monitor to anyone looking to save deskspace.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to compare this monitor next to my sony 19" crt, at the same time. I run a g4 ti4600 with twin view. I must say this monitor is impressive for an LCD. It will run neck and neck with the trinitron in sharpness and color reproduction. It's only problem is in gaming. It just can't respond fast enough in action games. I fly combat sims and the ghosting is noticable. In first person shooters it's less noticable. With that said I still give it a 5 for it's outstanding sharpness and good looks. One of the best LCD's I've used.
I will also add that viewsonics tech support is verygood. When I contacted them about a driver update question, they were quick to respond and very helpfull.

I have been using this unit for 7 months now and it does more than I expected for the money. It doesn't have a lot of the frills like other more expensive models but does a lot of the same and great for geocaching! I have purchased a mount to secure it to my mountain bike and it tells me my speed, direction, altitude, and tracks my path where I go so I can backtrack. It does lots of other things also. Bottom line...it's a great buy!

I have been thinking of buing a GPS for over 3 years, after I heard about Geocaching a couple weeks ago it was enough to make be jump to get one. Did not know much about them in the beginning and I guess I am still learning. I paid ... for mine last week and this week it is less,... it really is quite a deal.

I like that it is small, light and compact...it seems smaller than some of the other magellans that I have seen others with. The screen is good size and the menus have been pretty simple to get around with. My 9 year old picked it up in about 15 minutes and my 5 year old used it to create a breadtrail.

Yesterday I used it for the first time geocaching and it took me within 8 feet of the cache box each time. Features it does not have is average speed and more memory would be nice.

Nice unit for the money

Back in March/2004, I was looking for a cheap/quality GPS that used alkaline batteries, a monochrome display, and could be used out of the box, without connecting the unit to a PC. Well this GPS was my answer! It took me sometime to find it, but the wait was well worth it! I remember stopping by Fry's, Best Buy and a number of other electronic stores and being told that I would not be sold a GPS that did not offer a monochrome display, and worst of all would not be sold a GPS under $400! I do not understand why so many people using electronics feel they need a Bazooka to kill a rabbit. Shouldn't sales people understand that not everyone needs a powerful device, and some people just need a simple unit? Well I only needed a pistol for the job and found it at Radio Shack.
Well the Magellan SporTrak Map GPS has 2MB of built in maps, which entails interstates, freeways, and highways, not to disclude airports and other points of interest. For me, I do not expect a GPS to replace a regular map, but just to be a strong add on, which will tell me my exact location when I'm traveling. This GPS unit has 6MB of free memory for detailed street maps, but the only catch is the price of the MapSend CD-ROM, which is highly overpriced. So, I do not expect to add on any detailed maps to my GPS anytime soon. I recommend this GPS to all users wanting a simple monochrome GPS unit with great battery life (15+ hours) and only need a GPS for freeway, interstate, and highway navigation. Oh one more thing for the best battery life use the Energizer Titanium cells.

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.

As an LCD monitor, the Smsung 191T gives very crsip, bright colors. I'm connecting it analog right now, but will use DVI as soon as I get my new alienware computer. I can't comment on gaming issues yet, since I hacen't/can't play games on my current computer. I would like to give 5 stars, but my monitor actually has two "stuck on" pixels. It's not that big a deal since they're so tiny. Nevertheless, it's still disappointing. Buying LCDS in such a large screen size is pretty much hit or miss when it comes to being "perfect pixels" or having "dead pixels."

The other monitor that I was strongly considering was the 19" NEC Multisync. In general,if you are a hardcore gamer, I don't think it's ideal to play games on LCD's above 17" Still, I'm going to play games with this samsung, and when I do, I will return with another review.

I am returning with my second review for this monitor, and my rating hasn't changed. But from what I have to say, maybe some of you out there may lower my rating. First, in my first review, I said that the monitor had two dead pixels. I've since found about 3 more. They don't all show up at once though. It depends on the background color of whatever you-re looking at e.g. games, web-surfing. One is always blue when it should be black. On a white background, as I type this, there's one pixel that's stuck in red. It would have been nice if the monitor was perfect with out any defects like these pixels, but I'm an easy going guy and never felt a need to return the monitor because of this.

On my old CRT monitor, I was used to having the resolution at 1024X768. Switiching to the Samsung's native 1280X1024 made things like pictures in webpages look smaller at first, but I quickly adjusted and it's no big deal. You can see more of the web page without scrolling at this resolution anyway. Other reviewers mention rotating the monitor, and yes, it comes with special software to adjust your screen when you rotate it. Unfrotunately, I haven't taken the time to learn how to rotate my monitor. The instructions come on a d CD, not a printed booklet I i wasn't able to find out how to rotate the monitor from this CD. I'm sure the insructions are in there somewhere, but i need to look harder.

Gaming: With the native resolution at 1280X1024, I prefer to leave my monitor at this setting at all times. I don't like the fuzziness of graphics/letters when shifting to other resolutions (I.e. UI'm spoiled by the sharpness of the native resolution). So, if you want to play your computer games at the native resolutioin, you need to make sure that you have a fast computer. I notice ghosting during the cutscenes of GTA3. and if I go to www.gamespot.com and scroll down a web[age, you can notice the refresh rate isn't as fast as a CRT (the screen "blinks" as you scroll). This only happenes from gamespot's website, and it's really not a big deal to me. Overall, I think the colors/graphics of games still look very nice on this monitor. Yes, CRT is sharper, but the Sam,sung comes pretty close. Plus, you save all that desk space. SO, I don't feel like going back to my old CRT (Sony 21" GDM-F500 from ~1998).

I'm happy with my purchase of this samsung.

Nice monitor, with two interfaces (analog & dvi), easy to setup and use; no dead pixels. Brightness is perfect and contrast is nice. I recommend it.

As an LCD monitor, the Smsung 191T gives very crsip, bright colors. I'm connecting it analog right now, but will use DVI as soon as I get my new alienware computer. I can't comment on gaming issues yet, since I hacen't/can't play games on my current computer. I would like to give 5 stars, but my monitor actually has two "stuck on" pixels. It's not that big a deal since they're so tiny. Nevertheless, it's still disappointing. Buying LCDS in such a large screen size is pretty much hit or miss when it comes to being "perfect pixels" or having "dead pixels."

The other monitor that I was strongly considering was the 19" NEC Multisync. In general,if you are a hardcore gamer, I don't think it's ideal to play games on LCD's above 17" Still, I'm going to play games with this samsung, and when I do, I will return with another review.

I am returning with my second review for this monitor, and my rating hasn't changed. But from what I have to say, maybe some of you out there may lower my rating. First, in my first review, I said that the monitor had two dead pixels. I've since found about 3 more. They don't all show up at once though. It depends on the background color of whatever you-re looking at e.g. games, web-surfing. One is always blue when it should be black. On a white background, as I type this, there's one pixel that's stuck in red. It would have been nice if the monitor was perfect with out any defects like these pixels, but I'm an easy going guy and never felt a need to return the monitor because of this.

On my old CRT monitor, I was used to having the resolution at 1024X768. Switiching to the Samsung's native 1280X1024 made things like pictures in webpages look smaller at first, but I quickly adjusted and it's no big deal. You can see more of the web page without scrolling at this resolution anyway. Other reviewers mention rotating the monitor, and yes, it comes with special software to adjust your screen when you rotate it. Unfrotunately, I haven't taken the time to learn how to rotate my monitor. The instructions come on a d CD, not a printed booklet I i wasn't able to find out how to rotate the monitor from this CD. I'm sure the insructions are in there somewhere, but i need to look harder.

Gaming: With the native resolution at 1280X1024, I prefer to leave my monitor at this setting at all times. I don't like the fuzziness of graphics/letters when shifting to other resolutions (I.e. UI'm spoiled by the sharpness of the native resolution). So, if you want to play your computer games at the native resolutioin, you need to make sure that you have a fast computer. I notice ghosting during the cutscenes of GTA3. and if I go to www.gamespot.com and scroll down a web[age, you can notice the refresh rate isn't as fast as a CRT (the screen "blinks" as you scroll). This only happenes from gamespot's website, and it's really not a big deal to me. Overall, I think the colors/graphics of games still look very nice on this monitor. Yes, CRT is sharper, but the Sam,sung comes pretty close. Plus, you save all that desk space. SO, I don't feel like going back to my old CRT (Sony 21" GDM-F500 from ~1998).

I'm happy with my purchase of this samsung.

Nice monitor, with two interfaces (analog & dvi), easy to setup and use; no dead pixels. Brightness is perfect and contrast is nice. I recommend it.