Reviews by category
Viewsonic 19inch Analogue and Digital Panel + extra
This Viewsonic unit also has a dock for an iPod and speakers so you get all the leads I suggested above, plus two audio leads a power brick and lead a USB lead and just for good measure a box containing six different shields to fit into the iPod dock to accommodate the various sizes and styles of iPod.
The actual screen surround is 44x33cm, with the stand bringing it 10cm above the desk. The stand is oval and a maximum of 20cm in depth. The screen is 19 inches when measured diagonally the actual outer edge of the screen measures 41x25.5cm.
I mentioned a USB lead and that is because apart from the speaker volume control on the stand base there is also a three port USB2 hub so now you can really put the PC out of site and connect all your peripherals to the panel. Just for good measure on the right side there is an 8 in 4 card reader that covers most popular styles apart from 'xD'. To use either the hub or the card readers the power brick needs to be connected.
The size of 19inch used to be a buffer stop as anything of 20inch or more was in a different category and was hit by a higher tax band. Also 20inch panels used to give a higher resolution however now I see even larger panels with far less than my own 20inch panel has. In fact I know a lot of 19inch and 17inch notebooks have higher resolutions so why the reduction in pixels I do not know.
As stated this both Analogue and Digital and both leads are supplied, in fact during the test period I used both and could not find any discernable difference in the screen quality from a dedicated 256MB graphics card to that produced by onboard graphics. The quality from both was excellent and flicker free. I even tried a few games and while none of these was bang up to date they were not ancient either and did have fast moving action I saw no pixelisation and the colours stayed strong and did not wash out.
Size of screen display is 1440x900 pixels and while the contrast, brightness and colour stability were excellent I feel that this size of panel should support even more pixels. The 75Hz refresh rate gives an image that will not strain the eyes even over a long day of usage.
So having mentioned the ad on bits - could not find the cuddly toy - speakers, a USB hub and card support all in a panel make perfect sense, so, I must assume the ability to connect an iPod to play music or maybe something more stimulating use while working at your PC is acceptable.
To me however you buy a panel for one purpose that is to get a good clear image of information from your PC, this of course does that. Being what is termed as widescreen you can also view DVD's and I - never one to shirk responsibility - did that several times. The extras could mean that the only things on the desk are keyboard, mouse and panel. This is perhaps nirvana but the USB hub means other devices can easily be hung from the panel. The speakers are perfectly adequate for someone sitting up to say 50cm away even when watching a DVD. The card support makes viewing of images easy and it also means - providing you do not use 'xD' - that you no longer need to hunt for a card reader as the side of the panel can hardly hide as I tend to find my card reader does.
Really my only minor gripe is the 1440x900 screen display but now far larger panels seem to have little more to offer so maybe this is nit picking.
Doing my Internet searches for the Viewsonic 19inch HD View Dock LCD model VX1945WM found it at a best price of £169.95 from the first link below.
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=49XX
http://www.viewsoniceurope.com/UK/Products/LCDX/VX1945wm.htm
| add to del.icio.us | Digg this review |
| StumbleUpon | |
!!
