Our school's computer labs are equipped with several different flat panel LCD monitors and even some CRT monitors. This monitor is by far the best at school, but I prefer my Sony DELUXEPRO SDM-X93/B (Black) 19 in. Flat Panel LCD Monitor at home or my Eizo FlexScan L 771 (Black) 19.6 in. Flat Panel LCD Monitor at work. Of course those are both 19 inch monitors, so that is to be expected.

I have used over 20 of these monitors at school for more hours than I care to count. In my experience I have not noticed a single dead pixel and I tend to notice those.

Screen and Color Quality:
I have used this monitor extensively for both image editing and text. I felt the color rendition was excellent when working with images and the text was crisp and clear.

Of course, you need to use this monitor in its native resolution of 1280 x 1024. Unfortunately the computer people at my school do not seem to realize this and most of the monitors are set to 1024 x 768. Not only is this too small these days, it makes the monitor's text grainy and fuzzy at the same time. In some computer labs they have disabled the ability to change the resolution and I quickly get eye strain as a result. Put this monitor in its native resolution of 1280x1024 and you will be very happy.

I believe that the viewing angles are a bit overstated for this monitor. I begin to see a noticeable blur and shadow at about 45 degrees horizontal and 45 degrees vertical. It is still readable, but my other monitors at home are better than this one.

Monitor Construction:
The monitors mount is stable, but does not allow you to pivot the monitor left and right, you need to slide the mount on the desk to change the left/right angle. You are able to pivot the monitor in the vertical, probably by around 45-60 degrees up and 15-30 degrees down. Pivoting the vertical is easily done with little force.

I also have looked over the monitor and the construction is mostly plastic, but it feels like durable plastic and doesn't look excessively cheap. I have used the monitors at night when they have been on all day and they are not hot to the touch.

Monitor Controls:
I have used the monitors controls to increase the brightness in a couple of computer labs where the lights were dim. I did not have access to a manual, but it wasn't needed as the controls were very straightforward. I have used this monitor in our main library which at times gets very intense sunlight. While I have never had the sun directly on the screen, even when the sunlight is bright outside I haven't had trouble seeing the screen.

Game Playing
I have never personally played computer games on this monitor as I'm always too busy at school to play games. But I have seen some students playing Doom 3 and a couple of other shooters I didn't recognize and the games graphics were smooth and crisp. It made me want to play, but I was a good student and did not :)

Game performance is of course tied to your graphics card as well, but it looks like this monitor will be able to handle anything thrown at it. Except of course the maximum resolution of this monitor is 1280 x 1024, so you can't use anything above that.

Drivers:
Monitor Drivers are included on a CD-ROM which is very easy to use and install. They are also available from Dell as they are the manufacturer, so I expect that the drivers will be available for a while.

The Basics:
1,280 x 1,024 native screen resolution(Max 1,280 x 1,024)
0.264 mm dot pitch.
1 - analog HD15 inputs and one cable included
4:3 (Standard) Aspect ratio
Refresh Rate at max resolution: 75 MHz
Enclosure Color Black
Viewable Size: 17 in
Height: 15.9 in
Width: 14.9 in
Depth: 5.55 in
Horizontal Viewing angle +-70
Vertical Viewing angle =-60

Manufacturer website:
http://www.dell.com

Summary:
This monitor is being replaced by the Dell 1703FP and 1704FPT monitors that have DVI-D capability, but there are still quite a few of these available new and used. The nice thing is that now that they are being replaced their price has dropped and you can find one for around $200, sometimes less. If you don't need the DVI-D connection, this is a very good monitor for the price and would be a great replacement for an old CRT monitor with its small size and weight.

If you need more screen real estate, I would suggest my other monitors linked above as options.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 200.00
Operating System: Windows