Time to trash that 21" CRT
Written: Nov 12 '02
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Pros: sharp picture, great customer support, digital input, bang for the buck
Cons: black is not so black, USB port placement
The Bottom Line: Very good picture and a great value. It's a no-brainer compared to a CRT of comparable size.
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| beeflog's Full Review: Planar CT1904Z 19 inch LCD Monitor |
I've had this monitor for about 2 months now so I feel I can give it a balanced review. First of all, setting up was easy although the menus are not the best. But after you settle in on your favorite settings, you probably will never mess with it again. There were no dead pixels.
The picture quality overall is very good. Text is razor sharp (in digital mode). Colors are bright and rich. One imperfection is that the black background I use is not as black as my other flat panel, a Silicon Graphics 1600x1024 digital monitor. Playing with the contrast/brightness didn't help much. The picture is quite bright, even on the lowest setting, but unlike a previous reviewer I didn't find it overly so. The specs boast a fast 25 ms response time. I can say that this is fast enough for gaming and DVD watching. I don't miss the old CRT for doing either, although there is some slight streaking during fast motions in games or movies. The bright colors and ultra-sharp images more than make up for it.
Sound is crummy but what do you expect out of two speakers small enough to fit into the bezel. USB ports are nice but they are in the back and hard to reach. Would be fine for a USB keyboard and mouse.
It recently had several incidences of the screen going blank and the LED remaining on. Pushing the power button didn't do anything. The screen came on after unplugging and replugging. After a 5 minute conversation with Planar customer service, they shipped me a new one free, with postage paid return. Great customer service!
Finally, you'll need a fast video card with DVI out. Picture quality is *much* worse in analog mode, or in digital mode at non-native resolutions. You'll want to do all your gaming at 1280x1024 so make sure your card can generate the FPS at that resolution.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 700
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
beeflog
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Reviews written: 3
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