Very vivid Viewsonic

Without giving up my age, I remember the days when color TV first became popular, and I'd walk into a department store and look at a vast array of color sets. Then I'd ask the saleman, the colors are great, but which TV has the right colors? It took years before automatic color control was the standard.

Now I walk into a computer store and see a vast array of LCD monitors and wonder if they are all supposed to be that fuzzy, or are the settings incorrect, why does the football blur as it sails across the screen, are my eyes that bad, or are these lower priced monitors just not up to par when compared to my old 19" CRT monitor?

Then I saw the Viewsonic VX1962wm, a 19" wide screen monitor with a resolution usually found in the bigger LCD sets (1680 x 1050). With a price tag of $199 at Costco, and given Costco's 90 day return policy, no restocking fee and two year extended warranty, I decided to take one home and try it out. I was not disappointed.

While the print and the icons are smaller when the proper resolution is set, I was elated to find that I could see my entire home page on the screen and still see all my desktop icons on the side. The print is sharp. The colors are real. I put a picture I took this summer at the beach as my wallpaper, and let me tell you, the ocean and the sand and the faces are true colors.

I did have to go to Intel and upgrade the software for my graphics card to be able to set the proper resolution for the screen. That was easy.

I noticed that when I used Picasa to look at my photos in the slideshow mode, there was a slight bit of ghosting as one picture replace another. I don't know if this is Picasa's normal fade-in, fade-out mode, or picture persistence. I haven't tried the display with any fast moving action scenes, but everything I've seen on YouTube so far looks great.

No glare, as I used to get from the CRT. Using about 50 watts with the LCD vs. about 100 watts with the CRT. At 5 hours per day, that only adds up to about $1 per month less electricity usage, but every bit helps. I just feel better sitting in front of a light bulb rather than a cathode ray gun.

My only disappointment was that the built in speakers sound awful. They are tinny, and even with the volume cranked all the way up, the volume was too low. I already had external speakers that I used with the CRT monitor and really didn't expect the built in speakers to perform as well.

The specs for this monitor can be easily Googled. I won't bore you with the details.

I couldn't be more pleased with this Viewsonic for the colors, the sharpness and the low cost.

UPDATE: 9/17/08 Stopped back at Costco today and noticed that the price on the Viewsonic was reduced from $199.99 to $179.99. Customer Service gave me a cash refund with no hassle. :>)

Update 10/30/08:  The price on this monitor was reduced again at Costco to $159.99 with an immediate manufacturer's rebate of $20.  While I didn't try for another refund, I'd bet that Costco would tell me that the rebate only applies to newly purchased units, and if I wanted to push the issue, I'd have to return this one under the 90 day return period and then buy another.  A bit deceitful, so I'm not about to do it.  Happy with what I paid for this terriffic monitor.