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Review: Top 17-inch monitors
by PC World staff
(IDG) -- Three newcomers grace the chart this month, with the number four Hansol 710D climbing highest. The 710D's sharp text makes it a good choice for word processing and spreadsheet use. Similarly, Sony's HMD-A200/L, at number nine, offers crisp lettering and fine detail. The relatively inexpensive, tenth-place Hitachi CM615U displays text well, but its graphics quality is merely adequate. Next month we tackle 19-inch displays.
| Rank |
17-inch monitor |
Month tested |
Street price (1/18/01) |
Overall rating |
Quality of text/graphics |
| 1 |
Best Buy ViewSonic EF70
800/888-8583
www.viewsonic.com | Sept 00 | $255 | 86 | Very good/
Excellent | | FEATURES: 16.1-inch viewable
area, .25mm stripe-pitch Diamondtron NF tube,1 up to 87-Hz refresh
rate,2 Plug and Play ready, three-year warranty, 24-hour daily
toll-free support.
SUMMARY: Deep, saturated color in graphics keeps this model at
the top. Sophisticated on-screen control menu is easy to navigate
with standard buttons on the front bezel. | | 2 | Best Buy Samsung SyncMaster 700NF
800/726-7864
www.samsungmonitor.com | July 00 | $284 | 85 | Very good/
Very good | | FEATURES: 16-inch viewable area, .25mm
stripe-pitch Diamondtron NF tube,1 up to 85-Hz refresh rate,2 Plug
and Play ready, TCO'99 compliant, three-year warranty, 24-hour daily
toll-free support.
SUMMARY: Radiant
colors and fine detail make this monitor a good choice for graphics
work. Easy-to-use on-screen controls are set on a retracting panel. | | 3 | CTX International PR705F
800/266-1491
www.ctxintl.com | Jan 01 | $259 | 85 | Very good/
Excellent | | FEATURES: 15.8-inch viewable area, .24mm
stripe-pitch FD Trinitron tube,1 up to 105-Hz refresh rate,2 Plug
and Play ready, TCO'99 compliant, three-year warranty, 12-hour
weekday toll-free support.
SUMMARY: Produces
smooth text and graphics; a $10 price drop makes the PR705F an even
better bargain. On-screen menus are especially easy to use, with
well-labeled icons. | | 4 | New Hansol 710D
888/426-7651
www.hansol.com | New | $250 | 85 | Excellent/
Good | | FEATURES: 16.1-inch viewable area, .25mm
dot-pitch tube, up to 85-Hz refresh rate,2 Plug and Play ready,
TCO'99 compliant, three-year warranty, 8-hour weekday toll-free
support.
SUMMARY: Razor-sharp text makes this model a good choice
for word-processing tasks. Colors could be brighter; limited support
hours compared to others. | | 5 | DecaView GF385
888/707-6688
www.decaview.com | Feb 01 | $259 | 84 | Very good/
Very good | |  FEATURES: 16-inch
viewable area, .24mm stripe-pitch FD Trinitron tube,1 up to 100-Hz
refresh rate,2 Plug and Play ready, TCO'99 compliant, three-year
warranty, 10-hour daily toll-free support.
SUMMARY: DecaView's
chart maker displays clean text and graphics for a reasonable price.
The control panel is easy to use, with well-marked word descriptions
and pictures on menu options. | | 6 | LG Flatron 795FT-Plus
800/243-0000
www.lgeus.com | Sept 00 | $310 | 83 | Very good/
Very good | | FEATURES: 15.9-inch
viewable area, .24mm stripe-pitch LG Flatron tube,1 up to 120-Hz
refresh rate,2 Plug and Play ready, TCO'99 compliant, three-year
warranty, 12-hour daily toll-free support. SUMMARY: Bright,
saturated color makes this model a good choice for graphics work.
The small, sophisticated on-screen controls on the front bezel are
simple to use and navigate. | | 7 | Iiyama i70A
800/394-4335
www.iiyamadirect.com | Jan 01 | $295 | 82 | Very good/
Excellent | | FEATURES: 16.1-inch
viewable area, .25mm stripe-pitch Diamondtron NF tube,1 up to 85-Hz
refresh rate,2 Plug and Play ready, three-year warranty, 12-hour
weekday toll-free support.
SUMMARY: Moves up three spots on the
chart, despite a $26 price increase. Displays rich graphics and fine
text. Easy-to-use controls include a zoom feature and well-marked
menus. | | 8 | Eizo Nanao FlexScan T561
800/800-5202
www.eizo.com | Nov 00 | $489 | 82 | Excellent/
Excellent | | FEATURES: 15.9-inch
viewable area, .25mm stripe-pitch Diamondtron NF tube,1 up to 118-Hz
refresh rate,2 Plug and Play ready, TCO'99 compliant, three-year
warranty, 8-hour weekday toll-free support.
SUMMARY: Superb image
quality sets this model apart from the others--but for a pretty
penny. Meager support hours; confusing on-screen controls make using
the manual essential. | | 9 | Sony HMD-A200/L
800/352-7669
www.sony.com | New | $349 | 82 | Excellent/
Very good | | FEATURES: 16.1-inch
viewable area, .24mm stripe-pitch FD Trinitron tube,1 up to 85-Hz
refresh rate,2 Plug and Play ready, three-year warranty, 24-hour
daily toll-free support.
SUMMARY: The second-priciest display on
the chart renders crisp, dark text on word-processing documents and
spreadsheets, especially with smaller fonts. Colors look rich. |
| 10 |
Hitachi CM615U
800/441-4832
www.hitachi.com |
New |
$209 |
81 |
Very good/
Satisfactory | |
FEATURES:
15.9-inch viewable area, .25mm dot-pitch tube, up to 85-Hz refresh
rate,2 Plug and Play ready, TCO'99 compliant, five-year warranty,
11.5-hour weekday toll-free support.
SUMMARY: Displays solid text
for at a rock-bottom price, though colors are not as lively as on
other models in our chart. The generous warranty offsets somewhat
stingy support hours. |
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NEC MultiSync FE700+
WHAT'S HOT: At $279, the FE700+ costs $27 less than the average 17-inch monitor. It also comes with 24-hour daily technical support, so small-office/home-office users who might need assistance on weekends aren't left out in the cold.
WHAT'S NOT: When rendering graphics, the FE700+ stumbled behind its competitors--colors on Web pages looked washed out, and they lacked the richness evident on other models. ViewSonic's EF70, the number one monitor on our chart, offers better image quality for $24 less.
WHAT ELSE: Text on the FE700+ looked adequately sharp on both word-processing documents and spreadsheets. Its best performance was at smaller font sizes, as its text was easier to read than text on some competing models.
BEST USE: The FE700+ will suit those who do heavy word processing, but you can do better.
Buying Information:
NEC MultiSync FE700+
$279
16.1-inch viewable area, .25mm stripe pitch Diamondtron NF tube, up to 87-Hz refresh rate at 1024-by-768 resolution, Plug and Play ready, three-year warranty, 24-hour daily toll-free support. 888/632-6487
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