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ViewSonic VA702
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It is becoming increasingly common for new desktop systems to be supplied with a LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen rather than a hernia-inducing CRT monitor. Unfortunately this trend does not help those of us who give up a disproportionate amount of desk space to one of these 17 or 19-inch CRT display units. Luckily, recent price drops have seen LCD screens become a more viable economy option for those looking to replace an existing monitor. For example, ViewSonic, a company with an excellent reputation for producing high quality visual display products, has come up with its VA series of LCD screens.
Both 17 and 19-inch models are available in this series. I have been looking at the entry-level 17-inch VA702 unit which can be either wall-mounted or positioned on your work space. Due to the relative light weight of the unit (4.5kg), it can easily be repositioned whenever necessary and you can also make use of the adjustable viewing angle feature on the units stand.
Surrounding the full 17-inch viewing screen, with a native resolution of 1240 x 1024 @ 60Hz, is a stylist slim bezel that sports the ViewSonic name and logo of three birds. A series of five silver control buttons are conveniently positioned beneath the screen on the stand. These buttons are used to turn the power on/off plus navigate and select from the various settings available from the OSD (On-Screen Display). Along with the normal options of contrast, brightness, colour and adjustment of horizontal and vertical settings, ViewSonic lets you lock your settings to avoid accidental changes upsetting your viewing pleasure.
The 17-inch anti-glare, colour TFT active matrix SXGA screen has a contrast ratio of 500:1 with a viewing angle of 160 degrees for both horizontal and vertical aspects. The screen has a response time of 12ms which could well put off the hard-core gaming fraternity but then this LCD is not meant for such users. Instead it is for general purpose use and is excellent in this capacity. Working with different applications, playing various arcade games and watching DVD movies caused no problems and, in fact, gave a superior performance to my previous CRT monitor.
ViewSonic supplies power leads with two and three-pin plugs; a video cable; and a Wizard driven CD for installing drivers and the electronic user guide. The VA702 is PC and Mac compatible and comes with a three-year limited warranty on parts, labour and back-light. It has been priced at £169 and is ideally suitable for general purpose use whether in the home or office.
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