Monitor Reviews

I tested this monitor using its DVI-D input connected to my PNY GeForce FX5900 128MB Graphics Card's DVI-D output. The presentation was bright and clean, although my unit had one dead pixel in the lower right quadrant. It was most noticeable on a pure white background. From what I have read, this problem with one or more dead pixels is quite common with all LCD monitors, so it's truly the luck of the draw to get a screen that doesn't have at least one. However, while it may be considered "normal", it is simply unacceptable to expect people to put up with such glaring flaws when shelling out this kind of $.

This is a beautiful monitor, aesthetically speaking, and the set up was virtually plug and play on my Windows XP Pro-based system. The controls include one-touch presets for different viewing modes (gaming, pc, video). I found that it was wonderful on strictly computer-based images (i.e., gaming, where its 16ms response time meant no blurring of moving images), text (although there was some lack of clarity with smaller fonts when running it at its recommended native resolution of 1280x1024), web surfing, etc. However, the rendering of high-quality graphics and DVD movie playback is similar to all LCD monitors, i.e., flat, lacking in detail and incapable of rendering accurate color - in other words, far inferior to a high quality CRT.

In spite of the fact that most computer stores are selling (pushing, actually) almost nothing but LCD monitors, they are simply inferior to CRTs for rendering accurate color, detail in high quality graphics and DVD movie playback.

For this reason, I returned it for a refund. I will instead purchase the new 22" IBM ThinkVision C220p CRT, which is listed by IBM on their website at $589. It is the top IBM CRT (Trinitron-based). Per IBM: "...the C220p is best suited for professional graphics applications such as CAD/CAM/CAE, desktop publishing, web design, digital content creation, video editing and high-definition image manipulation..." Basically it should blow away this or any other LCD monitor for reproduction of high quality graphics and DVD movie playback - not to mention IBM's 3-year Rapid-replacement warranty. They'll ship another one to you and take the defective one and even pay the shipping! I guess you don't get to be IBM by jerking people around on defective merchandise. Try getting the same deal from Sony. Yeah, right.

Given the caveats, only you can decide if the Sony SDM-HX73 monitor will fill your needs.

Just got this monitor along with my new HP m470n Media Center PC. Works great!! My previous was a Philips 17" CRT. There were no dead pixels, and the clarity is great. Very bright and clear images.

Make sure you install the drivers from the CD, and in particular, go through the display optimization steps for both Media Center as well as on the Sony CD itself. Otherwise the factory default settings may not get it right. I also found that the TV picture is clearest when it takes up one quadrant of the screen; otherwise you need to move back further.

Net/net I am very happy with the monitor.

This is a great monitor, great picture, great text, however the only complaint I have is that it started having trouble right after the warranty ran out.

I'm always wary of products like this one, that are described as "good value", because that often means mediocre quality at an aggressive price. That's not the case here. The Optiquest/Viewsonic Q95 really delivers outstanding performance - both text and graphics - at a bargain price.

Because flat-panel LCD monitors are pressuring the prices of flat-screen CRT monitors which in turn are pressuring the prices of conventional "curved" screen CRTs (like the Q95), this monitor is selling for less than half of what it cost just a few years ago. If you're the type of person who's not happy unless they have the latest technology, then this ISN'T your monitor. Otherwise, you may want to give it careful consideration.

Also, if you require very high screen resolutions, you won't be happy. The Q95 can do 1280x1024 with a decent refresh rate (80hz), but no higher unless you're immune to the flicker that comes with low refresh rates. I have mine set to 1152x864 at 90hz and am very happy with it there. I do lots of work with text - Excel and other spreadsheet-type type programs - and have no need for any higher resolution than that.

Speaking of text, the Q95 is superb. Letters are sharp and black. I initially looked at the Samsung 955DF, but in 2 different stores where I was able to find it, its text was very blurry. Its possible that it was just the way it was set up, but I've also read some reviews of the 955DF that raised the same objection.

Graphics performance from the Q95 is also quite good. Images are bright and vivid, DVDs look great.

All monitors require calibration and this one is no exception. I recommend that you find the free Nokia Monitor Test program out on the web and also check out some of the web sites devoted to the subject (which you can find by pointing your search engine at "monitor calibration"). Optiquest gives you all the controls you need, except that I found that mine also required a gamma adjustment, which is NOT one of the available monitor controls. I was, however, able to set it with the driver software for my video card. You may want to double-check that your video driver offers this, as the display was a little dark without it.

I've read some reviews that complain that the controls are confusing to use. These are the same people who can't set the clocks in their VCRs. I had no trouble.

The monitor is quite compact. It fits in almost the same space as my old Iiyama 17" which it replaced.

To hold it's price down, the Q95 offers little in the way of additional bells-and-whistles. No USB hubs, no component video input, no integrated speakers. You get a monitor with integrated video cable, a stand, a power cord and a driver diskette.

If you aren't a tech-head who has to have the latest-and-greatest hardware, or a graphics person who needs to work at 1600x1200, this might just be a way for you to have a big monitor at a small price.

The E-790B is an excellent monitor for students and industry alike. The 0.22-millimeter horizontal dot pitch and 1,600 x 1,280 maximum resolution make for an excellent resolution, ideal at 1024. The black case is also nice for those that double their computers as DVD players, and with some clever feng shui (and maybe a really long monitor cable) you can eliminate the need for a TV. Good support, documentation. I've had it 2 years with no problems whatsoever.

It has a sharp and crisp image. Pretty decent for its price. Comparable to the G series. I would recommend this to any home user.

I purchased this LCD TV thinking that I could use it for a computer monitor as well, but it is really not designed for that purpose. Technically, I can plug it into the computer and get an image, but the image is exceedingly blurry because the resolution is that of a regular tv. There's no way you can read text that blurry. I had trouble getting information regarding this aspect from the documentation and online salespeople, so I thought I'd better post the info here. As a tv, it's fine, although the sound is not as good as my external 40W computer speakers. Also, it doesn't receive tv images without an external antenna or cable plugged in.

I bought this 1 month ago and I am blown away! It didn't even mention in the specs that it scales HD! I plugged my canblevosion box with HD and it works!! Also, the best picture I have seen with a DVD. remote was easy but not great but the picture was stunning!!!

I bought my PJ1060 for a home theatre setup. The 2000 lumen projection is more than adequate for daytime viewing of a 100" diagonal DA-Lite screen (projection distance ~15'). With inversion and keystoning features, I was able to mount the projector upside down from the ceiling using a third party mounting kit. Since I have a TV-tuner card (ATI All-in-Wonder Radeon) in my computer, I watch TV in 1024 x 768 resolution RGB mode, as opposed to Video mode. The quality is super. Projection of PC DVD movies is even better. I have had my projector for a year now without problems, operating it on average, several hours a day . I have not had to replace the bulb yet. The only reason I'm not giving the projector 5 stars, is that it does not support 1280x1024 non-interlaced. However, in my opinion, the price/performance ratio is excellent.

This very light, portable projector is perfect for small conference rooms.

It is easy to set up and connects in a snap to your laptop. Don;t leave home without it!

This a stunning-looking new toy -- nice, big, bright and shiny -- but I would caution anyone currently using a CRT that motion is not well displayed on this unit. Video clips at the tiny size currently on the web appear grainy and fuzzy. Even panning up and down on certain websites produces flickering results. The LCD just doesn't keep up with the motion. Also on many still images you'll see moire patterns...

This VG800 LCD display is one sharp looking unit. It certainly has exceeded my expectations. This display is BRIGHT and has excellent contrast. Once I set it up, and tuned all of the parameters with the easy-to-follow instructions (twice-just to make sure), it has performed perfectly. I have not noticed any video response problems viewing video clips, DVD movies, and even streaming video over the web displays just fine.

I have used this product for over two months now, and am completely satisfied. I use spreadsheets, word processing, powerpoint, digital image viewing and editing, financial programs, lots of web surfing, some 3D gaming and writing reviews for products on AMAZON.COM :>) and it is just great.

The only performance drawback I have found is the rather useless and weak speakers. Just don't use them! Also, if you let the ViewSonice control panel run in the background (as it wants to do), it does have an annoying habit of always wanting to connect to the internet to "make adjustments" or some such nonsense. I just removed that program from the Windows(R) startup file and it still works just fine. If I need to fine tune, I can just start the ViewSonic control panel from the programs list. Easy enough, even for me.

All I can say is, I'm very happy with my VG800 and am going to get another one for my work computer as well. It also saves a lot of space on the desk and helps reduce that clutter - no big, bulky monitor hogging half the space on my desk. It is rather a lot of cash for a "monitor", but is well worth the price, from my experience. Check out the technical specifications and industry recomendations, make your own judgement and decision.

Regards and Toodles from the high desert, east of the sun and west of the moon.

I spent several weeks researching and evaluating different LCD monitors to replace my 19' Sony Trinitron CPD400 CRT. (Grew tired of moving around with the 75 pound mammoth!) I use my computer extensively for programming, and occasionally for web surfing, word processing, spread sheets and DVD viewing. The specifications of most LCDs are pretty close to one another, so I decided to go with the one that was easiest on my eyes. I looked at Sonys, NECs, Samsungs, and Viewsonics in multiple stores. In the end, I liked the Viewsonic VX series, and went with their 18' model for my home computer (Windows XP & Redhat Linux 8 on a Pentium 4 with 1GB memory). The image resolution was even quite decent when I ran some graphics-intensive games on it at the store.

I've had the display since September 2003, run it at the native resolution & refresh rate of 1280x1024 @ 75Hz rate, and have been pleased with the quality. Mine did have one dead pixel, but most people who have seen the monitor don't even notice... I was just a bit paranoid knowing the dead pixel policy on LCD monitors and examined it closely.

I have never owned an LCD display but have wanted one for the past year once the technology seemed to be up to the task of making a large display at a reasonable price. I bought the Viewsonic VX800 because of my experience with Viewsonic monitors (always has been good) and the glowing reviews on several sites. I did a lot of internet research and went to three computer stores before I purchased the Viewsonic from Amazon.

I am running Windows XP on a 2.4 Gig HZ P-4 machine with 512 Meg RAM NVidia GeForce Ti 4200 high-end graphics card with 128 Meg, so the necessary horsepower was there.

So, how did I fare with this monitor?

First, the positives. It arrived quickly within a few days. The packaging was terrific, never seen better. All necessary cables were included. I hooked the monitor up to my computer - first with the D-Sub analog input and then used the DVI cable. Clarity was definitely better using the DVI input. (Hooking up the cables was easy - the panels came off in a snap and connections were all clearly labeled.) The display is very bright and contrast is excellent. I actually had to turn down the brightness setting. Colors are rich and saturated. Beautiful. And, as other reviewers have stated, not one bad pixel. I didn't bother connecting the speakers as I have a much better sound system. The front panel controls were easy to use. A software driver disk was included. However, this monitor is plug and play for Win XP, so the Win 95/98 drivers were not needed. I tried playing a game and did not see any streaking or ghosting. The weight is less then half of a comparable CRT and it was nice to have less clutter on the desktop, although the screen had to be moved up just as close as with my CRT display. Finally, the monitor looks sleek and well designed. Overall, I would say quality is top-notch.

Now, the downsides. I do a lot of work with spreadsheets and word processing. I wear glasses and my eyes are not great, so text and graphics clarity are really important to me. To get small fonts to show clearly, the pixel dot pitch should be .25mm or better. On all 18" LCDs, the equivalent dot pitch is about .28mm. (The Viewsonic VX 800 is .279mm.) Also, LCDs, as opposed to CRTs run at an optimal resolution - for 17 though 19 inchers, it's usually 1280 by 1024. While this my be OK for many users, it made the text and images too small for me. I like my displays at 1024 by 768. Running the monitor at this resolution did not produce very good results; only acceptable at best. Therefore, I changed to the optimal resolution and got a much better display. But, I had a hard time seeing the small print. Not good! To try and improve matters I also turned on XP's "clear type," which really helped. After some more fiddling and several calls to my local computer pro, I changed the DPI setting from the normal 96 to 120. Again there was improvement as the type was enlarged on Excel, but not when viewing websites or e-mail. Ariel displayed well; New Times Roman was hard to read.

To be fair, I lived with the Viewsonic for several more days to try and adapt. Unfortunately, I couldn't and am returning the item. My conclusion is that while LCDs are really getting good and prices are reasonable (I paid $575 with free shipping for atop-of-the-line model), if you are a demanding user who needs really sharp text or wants to run at various resolutions, stay with a CRT. LCD technology is not ready for prime time for these applications. Maybe in another year or two it will be. Right now, I'm going to buy a Viewsonic high-end CRT to replace my 5-year old Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 900u Otherwise, this LCD may be just the ticket.

I experienced on of these units in Las Vegas during a convention and bought one when prices came down - the warranty is superb (3 years parts and labor) and there are 2 digital (DVI) and 2 analog vga inputs as well as s-video and composite.
You can attach 2 computers to this screen and switch between the two. There is also PIP but I've never used it.
The only problem i had with it is that there is no manual - not even on the driver CD that came with it. I did find it on HP's site but had to look. Can recommend!

This anti-glare radiation filter can make your eyes less strained, because it not only blocks up to 99% ELF/VLF E-Field radiation but alsoreduce the glare.With this filter, people can work longer than before and won't easy get eyestrain...

This 3M filter is pretty good.First, it reduces glare up to 99%, you can have a more comfortable viewing. Second, it can enhance contrast and more accurate color representation. Third, it reduce radiation from the computer screen. Fourth, the Scotchgard Protection makes it a easy clean surface. Fifth, it comes with lifetime warranty. And if you visit 3M.com, you can find and print the $10 rebate from them, but I don't know when the rebate is ending, so be hurry!!!