A Long Lasting Display...
Overall
Summary
The Bottom Line Does Not Exist!
Pros
Bright, Clear, and Not Blurry…
Cons
None at all!
A year or two ago I used to have a ViewSonic E70 17” monitor that I got from my sister’s work when they were getting rid of it. I got it because it was a ViewSonic and at that time I only had a 15” monitor that was getting ready to kick the bucket. I have no idea how much my sister’s company paid for this but I can only guess it would have been anywhere from $150 to $250 (maybe even more) back then. I checked the price right now and the cheapest is $120. I had used this monitor for almost a year until I replaced that with one that I bought from craigslist.com for $30; it is an NEC 19” (this NEC is so old that I cannot find it anywhere so I cannot write a review on it) but not as good in picture quality as the ViewSonic.
DESIGN
First of all the specifications say it is a 17-inch monitor, but actually, as most people know that the viewable size is always different. The viewable area for this monitor is about 16 inches, which is really good, and plus it has a maximum resolution of 1280 x 1024 at about 66 Hz. This particular unit is beige in color which did not match well with the mouse, keyboard, phone, and the desk itself.
There are a total of 5 buttons on the front panel: power, 1, 2, up, and down. These buttons allow you to set the brightness, contrast, size, position, color, and other useful settings. To get to these settings just press the 1 button once and the settings menu appears right away. Use the arrows to select the setting you want to change and press the 2 buttons. To actually make changes to the selected setting, you also use the up and down buttons. I personally think it is not an efficient design by ViewSonic; it would have been better to have a jog dial instead to save space on the front panel, make it look better, and also provide faster navigation through the settings.
RESOLUTION
The maximum resolution this monitor can support is 1280 x 1024 at about 66 Hz, but I would recommend 1152 x 864 at 75 Hz for optimal performance. My unit is set to 1152 x 864 at 75 Hz also because I the higher refresh rate. I have a PNY Verto GeForce 6800GT 256 MB video card to go with this monitor. I must say that the video card and this monitor work great together, but I always crave one of those LCD monitors (I will get one soon… I hope).
| Maximum Resolution | 1280 x 1024 pixels |
| Maximum Refresh Rate | 66 Hz |
| Minimum Resolution | 800 x 600 pixels |
| Minimum Refresh Rate | 56 Hz |
DIMENSION AND WEIGHT
This monitor weighs about 33.1 pounds by itself. It is 16.1 inches wide, 16.7 inches high, and 14 inches in dept without the packaging. If you were going to purchase a monitor you would check if the whole package will fit in your vehicle. I suggest taking it out of its packaging before loading it in your vehicle if it does not fit with the packaging. Most stores do allow you to take it out of the package and leave the box behind for them to dispose of. Since this is a big and heavy monitor, I would suggest that at least one person should handle with caution for your own safety. I have come to know from experience that you can seriously hurt your back if you lift anything heavy the wrong way.
QUALITY
The horizontal dot pitch for this monitor is 0.23mm and the diagonal dot pitch is 0.27mm which is very good (in my opinion) for its type, size, and age. It is not that old, but it is big and heavy. I have watched movies, edited music in picture files, and browse the Internet, and played high-resolution gains with this monitor, and I have never had a hard time seeing whatever was on the screen. The image quality is excellent and is never extra blurry or extra sharp; it is always just right.
WARRANTY INFORMATION
ViewSonic provides a three (3) year warranty for all parts, labor, and CRT of this monitor. You can visit ViewSonic’s website (viewsonic.com) for warranty repairs or call them on their toll-free phone number 1-800-888-8583.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This is an old monitor (not too old though) but still is a very good quality product. One thing I have come to know is that brand names like Samsung, Viewsonic, and Sony will never disappoint you with their products, will also provide great quality and reliability. I have used all three of these brand names for a long time now and will recommend them to anyone who wants a reliable and long-lasting monitor for either their home or office. Nowadays with the newer LCD monitors, the good old CRT is going cheaper and cheaper.