Gr8ful's Full Review: Proview PL513S 15 inch LCD Monitor
I have been using a 19-inch monitor for so long now that using a 15-inch just seems too small. However, this monitor was a replacement for an old 15-inch CRT monitor that I lost last summer in a flood. It serves as the display for my web server and as such I haven’t used it very much, hence the reason it took me so long to write a review of it.
It is a rather nice monitor, its just not big enough for me. I am used to my 19-inch ViewSonic LCD and before that I was using a Philips 109s so I am severely biased. But in the last few months I have worked with the monitor creating web pages and upgrading my server software so that I have a good opinion of it now.
Proview PL513S
The monitor is silver with a single solid foot and sits very sturdy on the desk. You can adjust the angle vertically and horizontally to get the display right for your height. The viewing angle is fairly wide and the display is bright and crisp. There is no digital video support, only SVGA.
It has the manual adjustment buttons on the front at the bottom of the display but the auto-adjusting feature is pretty good so there really is no need to change anything. The on-screen menu is easy to read and easy to navigate and setup is a breeze.
In the box
* Proview PL153S LCD monitor
* AC power cable
* SVGA video cable
* Owners manual
* 1 year written warranty
* Driver diskettes (not necessary for most computers)
The monitor has a very small footprint and is ideal for small desks and crowded office areas. Sitting between my server and my laser printer, the monitor is dwarfed and almost unnoticeable. The display is very sharp and clear but the display is so small that at 1024x768 resolution it is a little difficult to read text sometimes and I have got headaches from straining to read on occasion. Grant it, my eyes are not as good as they used to be.
Personal Use
I use this monitor for my web server and most of what I work with on that computer is text or html. I have played a few games just to see how they played and to my surprise, the monitor did very well with games. There is no noticeable ghosting and it was actually easier on my eyes playing games on the small screen than reading text.
I played a movie also to see how the display was and again it was very good. Motion is smooth on the screen and there was no ghosting that I could see. I don’t think I’ll make a habit of watching movies on a 15-inch monitor but it is nice to know it does a decent job.
I changed the resolution to 800x600 to try and get my text larger on the screen and found that this is not a good idea. At 800x600 the monitor loses some of its clarity and the images look a little fuzzy. I think this monitor was designed to be set at 1024x768 permanently.
It is nicer than the 15-inch CRT that it replaced and a good deal lighter as well. I had to strain myself to heave that old CRT into the dumpster, but the Proview I can pick up with one hand and move wherever I want easily.
Cleaning and care
The Proview PL153S does not have a protective glass cover over the LCD display so cleaning with a glass cleaner is out of the question. I have to use a static free cloth (like an eyeglass cleaning cloth) to wipe dust off the screen and if the screen gets very dusty, I use a lightly damp paper towel to clean the hard stuff off and then dry it with a static free cloth. Using any kind of glass cleaner will leave permanent marks on the screen.
Unlike old CRT monitors, LCD monitors do not get “burn-in” so you do not need to use a screen saver. However, they do have a backlight and leaving the unit on 24 hours a day is not recommended. If you set the display to turn of after 15 idle minutes, you can prolong the life of the LCD backlight and save money on a replacement down the road, at least for a while longer than you would otherwise.
Conclusion
This is a good monitor for people who want an LCD and do not have a lot of space. If you have a hard time reading small fonts, you may want to get something a little larger. It is a great monitor for gaming and does a good job for watching movies if you can handle watching movies on a 15-inch screen. I don’t think it will replace my ViewSonic anytime soon but so far it has done its job well enough. This was an insurance replacement, but you can find them online for about $250 or less.
Thanks for reading,
Gr8ful :-)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): N/A 250 Operating System: Windows and Macintosh
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