grneyedcwboy's Full Review: Lenovo ThinkVision™ L191 19 inch LCD Monitor
I recently upgraded my computer system at home and decided it was high time to get rid of my bulky 21" monitor. That thing was the old style monitor and, suffice it to say, without proper bracing under my desk, the weight of it would bow the wood that it sat on. It weighed more my office chair!
The system that I chose for my home did not have a monitor with it so it was up to me to choose. As I stood amongst the rows of computers and monitors I was left feeling a little bit overwhelmed. There were so many brands to choose from but none of the flat panels actually jumped out at me and said "BUY ME". It was at this point that I had to let my 'needs' overcome my 'wants'.
My Hunger
The first consideration was the 19" size. I was accustomed to having a 21" monitor with a 19" viewable screen so going much lower than that would have been difficult for me, at best.
Second, the price had to be right. I did not feel comfortable spending more than $200.00 on a monitor and was really feeling as if a flat screen might be out of my league as the 19" monitors were above $200.00.
The Hunt
All of the monitors fit the bill for size as most monitors these days have respectable viewing areas. As for the price, not one met my needs so far.
The Kill
I walked the aisles and came upon this model. I stared at the name and thought "Who the heck is Lenovo?" Well, I must have said it out loud because at that moment the nice, young salesman told me that IBM makes Lenovo. I looked at the monitor. Hmm, clear images for sure. Good viewing area for someone like me. My eyes looked downward and saw that the monitor was under the $200.00 mark. BINGO! I had found the one I wanted!
The Feast
I took it home and set up my system. I plugged in the monitor and turned on the computer. The first thing I saw was a message that basically stated "Please wait while your monitor is auto-adjusted ." Now, I am not sure why that does that, but when it is done, the picture is crystal clear. I am assuming it is to adjust the frequency.
I sit directly in front of my computer so I actually had to move to the side to see if I could read the screen from an angle. The answer is, yes, I can read from the side. It is only slightly shaded when I am at an angle. Is that a good thing? Probably not if you have a nosy cube mate that you don't want seeing your IM's but it's great if you need someone to see what is on your screen from across the desk.
The controls are on the front and easily accessible. I might add that they are also rather attractive the way they are set up. The have orange and gray pastel icons above the buttons showing what each button does. The buttons themselves are arranged in a wavy pattern making them very geometric. The green led light indicating power is small but can easily be seen.
The colors are vivid at 24 bit and there are no dark corners on the monitor itself that impede on the viewing area. The dot pitch is 0.294. Again, respectable for this monitor. The monitor also can be viewed at many different sizes. I like that option because I used different resolutions for different applications. 1024 x 768 for much of the work I do and 640 x 480 for games and reading larger amounts of materials.
The monitor is easy to set up right out of the box. All I had to do was bend the 'neck' that holds the base so I could install the platform and the monitor just clicked in place when I slid the platform onto it. The cords slip in easily in the back and do not interfere with the platform when it you set the monitor on the desk.
The monitor came with a driver disk and user's guide but since my system automatically detected the monitor, I didn't have to do anything with the disk. I did take the time to explore the disk to see what was included. It has the exact same thing that the paper manual has. A WHOLE bunch of stuff in languages other than English and a very brief section of information, troubleshooting and warranty in a language that I could comprehend.
Whoa, Back Up a Minute
The warranty was impressive to me. 3 years on parts and one year on labor. Wow, customer service indeed! That type of warranty is rare with any electronics!
Dessert
Now, I am not exactly sure how it happened, but the price was exceptional. The tag read $199.00 but when I actually went to check out, the monitor was rang up as $179.00.
I wasn't going to argue. Besides, I didn't have to deal with any lousy rebate that all the other monitors were offering. To me, if you can sell it to me for 199.00 after a $25.00 rebate, why don't you just sell the stupid thing for $199.00 and save me the beloved paperwork? Who thought rebates were a good idea? Probably the same person that thought those Bluetooth gadgets look 'cool' hanging off your ear.
Here are some technical specifications for those of you that are at all interested in that sort of thing.
Techie Mumbo Jumbo
Monitor Type Flat Panel LCD TFT (Active Matrix)
Aspect Ratio 5:4
Brightness 300 cd/m?
Response Time 8 ms
Dot Pitch 0.294 mm
Color Depth 24-bit (16.7M Colors)
Viewable Picture Size 19 in.
Technical Features
Form Factor Desktop
Resolutions supported 1024 x 768 • 1280 x 1024 • 640 x 480 • 720 x 400 • 800 x 600 • 640 x 350
Synchronization Range - Vertical 55 - 75 Hz
Synchronization Range - Horizontal 30 - 81 kHz
Max. Viewing Angle - Horizontal 170
Max. Viewing Angle - Vertical 155
Native (Recommended) Resolution 1280 x 1024
Regulatory Approval FCC Class B • BSMI • CSA • UL • NOM • VCCI class B • CB • CCC • DEMKO • Energy Star • FIMKO • GOST-R • IC • ISO 13406-2 (Pixel Defect Guidelines) • MPR- • ||MPR- • • NEMKO • PSB • SASO • SEMKO • TCO-03 • TCO-99 • TUV-S
Miscellaneous
Power Consumption 35 Watt
User Controls Brightness • Contrast • Color • Language • OSD Controls • Factory Reset • Auto Image Adjust • Information • Position
Other Features Slim Bezel (Thin Frame) • VESA External Mounting
Exterior Color Black
Release Date July, 2006
MPN 6135AB1
Product ID 34892221
Well, there you have it. I am pretty sure I will be happy with this monitor for at least 3 years since it is covered until then. Let's just hope it stands the test of time!
As always, thank you for reading!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 179.00 Operating System: Windows
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