Inexpensive Doesn't Have to Mean Cheap
Written: Jan 04 '03
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Pros: Inexpensive for its class, excellent refresh rate and brightness, built-in speakers.
Cons: Speakers are a little sub-par, max resolution could be higher.
The Bottom Line: Want to replace that old CRT monitor but don't want to spend a fortune on larger 17/19" flat panels? Then getting the Mag-LT565 won't disappoint you at all.
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| orion522's Full Review: MAG InnoVision LT 565 (15 in.) Flat Panel (TFT) Mo... |
I recently received many many Best Buy gift certificates for my birthday, and being that I am the kind of tech who loves having the new techie toys when they come out, I immediately sought out to look for a nice flat panel monitor to replace my ancient 17" CRT monitor.
Size
My first inclination was to look for a 17" flat panel monitor since I didn't want to go spending all sorts of money for something that's smaller than what I was used to. However, since no one wants to measure things the same way (to keep us consumers sane!), a 15" flat panel monitor has just about the same viewing space as a 17" CRT monitor (depending on brand and style of course, but i'm speaking generally). So once I whipped out the measuring tape, I was content with spending a whole lot less money and going for the 15" flat panel.
Picture Quality and Resolution
I looked at 3 flat panels at Best Buy before deciding on the Mag LT565. The other two brands I looked at were Samsung and NEC (can't remember the models, but neither of the others came with built-in speakers if that helps). All three I looked at were very bright, however the NEC was slightly brighter, but not enough to warrant the extra $40 price difference.
Dot-pitch (the diagonal distance between dots of the same color - the lower the better) was virtually identical in all three brands and centered around just under .30; .297 for the Mag, .30 for the NEC, and .296 for the Samsung. This didn't make any difference at all in picture quality, but rest assured the Mag has excellent picture quality and a great refresh rate (VERY little ghosting as graphics or the mouse point move across the screen).
The resolutions on 15" flat panels is somewhat of a drawback. I realize that having a resolution great than 1024x768 is not going to have the greatest of picture quality on a 15" screen, but I still think they should have upped the max resolution at least one more stepping. By the way, every single 15" flat panel that I've seen has this same 1024x768 resolution cap so it's not really a drawback for this specific monitor.
Design
The footprint of this monitor is only about 5 inches. However, it was designed to allow the removal of the foot pedestal so that it could be mounted on something else using the hooks on the back.
Silver and black are the two colors that the outer shell can come in. The only one they had at Best Buy (my choice anyway) was silver and it looks quite sharp.
Other Features
The one feature that really stands out, since it's right in front of you, is the built-in speakers. These aren't the greatest of speakers, but if you are desperately trying to save space and outlets by not having to deal with desktop speakers and the power transformer that comes with them, then they will be useful to you. Just don't go expecting great sound quality, especially at higher volumes. I use them for my second computer that is connected to a KVM switch (the KVM doesn't support audio switching). So they're fairly helpful for me since it allows me to use my nice surround speakers for my main computer and the mediocre speakers for my secondary testing computer.
There is an on-screen configuration menu for the monitor most like all other newer monitors built today. The options available are quite good and include things like the normal vertical and horizontal shifting and sizing, brightness, contrast, color adjusting, and phase adjusting. The phase adjusting is to correct any blurring that may occur from resolution changes or environmental conditions. If you adjust the phase correctly, you can get a super sharp, crystal clear picture (i'm talking sharp!). You can also change the OSD language and it's position on the screen.
That about does it. In case you're wondering, I've been using this monitor for about 2 months now and still think it's the greatest thing in the world compared to my old CRT monitor. If there are any other questions, I'd be glad to respond and update this opinion.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 349.99
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
orion522
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Member: Larry
Location: California
Reviews written: 47
Trusted by: 6 members
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