Customer Reviews

Alaska L7EH 17" LCD Monitor with Speakers

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

My main goal in buying an LCD monitor was to reclaim all the desk space my CRT was taking up. After looking at a number of models, I decided that value was more important to me than anything else. The GVision is among the cheapest, if not the most cost-effective 17" LCD on the market. The price point of this model is lower than many 15" LCDs, and it offers additional features like built-in speakers.

Sure, you can get a better monitor, for example a Sony or a Viewsonic, but it will cost you 1 1/2 to 2 times more. And despite the price, this unit doesn't compromise quality. No dead pixels, good viewing angles all around, and a crisp, bright screen at the native 1280x1024 resolution.

This monitor also has a superbly small desktop footprint. Sure, all LCD monitors will save space over a CRT, but the GVision's oval base gains a couple inches of footprint savings over comparable monitors.

The built-in speakers don't produce a lot of sound, and they are a bit tinny. But if computer sound is important to you, you'll probably want to invest in a separate amplified speaker system anyway. For me, I just wanted to get rid of my ugly accessory speakers and clear some desk space. These built-in speakers did the trick.

I made this purchase thinking "I'll pay less, but I'll get less quality.."
However, I was proved wrong when I actually used it!

Praises:
(1) The actual viewable area is 17" (and not 16" like CRT monitors)
(2) Colors are accurate. (My Dell LCD in comparasin doesn't have enough color saturation)
(3) RGB/Power cords were seperate, and NOT built into the unit (as other manufacturers may do, which I detest)
(4) No drivers/CD/software required!
(5) Built-in speakers
(6) Very bright (almost too bright, but adjustable if necessary)
(7) crisp display/text (WinXP ClearType looks great)
(8) Looks great at 1280 x 1024
(9) Includes all necessary cables
(10)Tilting screen for optimized viewing angle
(11) NO dead pixels! (I specifically checked)

Complaints:
(1) Pixel Clock needed some adjustment to stabilize the edges of screen text/lines/images (see below)
(2) Built-in speakers were a bit 'muffled', but otherwise okay

In regards to the review by 'paul' on Feb 10, 2003:
Use the adjustments below to fix the "electrified" look on everything. The Pixel Clock was the only thing I needed to adjust (to about 70 on the scale)

||| Pixel Clock
=== Phase

Overall, I think I've made a great purchase for an excellent price! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this GVision (KOGi) to family/friends/co-workers/etc

- rp

Just received my first LCD screen and for [money](after rebates) this IS the BEST DEAL AROUND !
I was a little worried, not having made much shopping around,(Very little info available on the Screen on teh WEB) but decided to go with this one after having checked a "LIVE" one at my local COMPUSA Store (Which by the way had it for [money] plus Tax after rebates (I was just attracted going for the No Tax advantage of Amazon and Free shipping) I got my screen after only 7 days after my order ! GREAT !
And the good thing...No dead pixel, working great at 1280x1024 (native resolution) very sharp screen (amazing at that price, but remember that a few month ago this was priced 700$ and over ! Not a cheap screen like other companies !)
With the expection of the look (not as slim as near competitors) THIS IS THE SCREEN FOR ALL OF YOU !
I WOULD DO IT AGAIN !

A LAST THING: If you think the weakness it it's response time (mentioned ~40ms in teh user manual compared to 30ms on-line) don't worry for fast computer games...NO trace of blur there (one of my other worries)

SO AGAIN, IF YOUR LOOKING TO UPGRADE YOUR BULKY, ENERGY CONSUMMING MONITOR, DON'T GO FURTHER. YOU FOUND WHAT YOU WANTED.

(I also even got a answer within 2 hours from their sales office about some unclarity of teh scanning frequencies 60Hz-85Hz which by the way is irrevelant for a LCD versus a Monitor)

I have owned this monitor for about 4 months now and love it. It has given me a large increase in viewable screen size and much more room on my desk. It is sharp and quick - I even game with it! It interpolates to lower resolutions than the native 1280x1024 very well, has good contrast and is nice and bright.

Don't accept the manufactures specs on it. It does not have an 85hz refresh in any mode and few useable modes work in anything other than 60hz. But that shouldn't be a problem, as LCD monitors don't have the flicker of a standard CRT. Installation was a breeze in Windows, as it is a plug and play monitor.

My only complaint is every once in a while it will flash white across the screen for a brief second. I'm not sure whether that is inherent with the monitor (I tried 2 with the same results) or a combination of the monitor with my GForce 4 TI4400 video card.

I haven't tried the built in speakers so can't comment on their performance. I recommend it to any one wanting additional desk space and a larger monitor.

I gave it 5 stars because it does one thing very well. That is, it is the best LCD as far as text display I have seen. The root of this strengh is also the root its weakness. The monitor does poorly on color scale and has a tendency of displaying most intermediate colors as the extreme. For instance, gray shades tend to be displayed as black, white as bright white, red as vivid red, etc. Although this is bad for movies, it is the secret for the excellent text display of this LCD. Text is crisp pure dark black and white is bright white.

The movie issue can be improved in two ways:
1. use the monitor bright mode for movies and regular mode for text
2. use the bright feature in your movie software.

Option 2 works the best as I have experienced, especially for widescreen movies.

The monitor also performs well for games despite its 40ms rating for latency. No ghosting whatsoever.

I also bought a VPR matrix LCD which had a digital input and did perform better on movies and games. It also had a better viewing angle. Yet, the KOGI was far better for text so much that I return the vpr matrix and kept the KOGI.

The vpr matrix had 5 dead white pixel while the KOGI had none.
I got the black version of the KOGI, which goes well with my other black computer equipment.

One last advice is to get a dual display setup: LCD + CRT. That way, you get the best of both world.

I bought this monitor in June. Within two weeks, the screen would go black after a few seconds of use. I decided to pursue the warranty route, instead of simply returning it to Amazon. The warranty card had invalid contact information. After some Googling, I was able to get what I needed from a web site. The warranty, which is only 90 DAYS, instructed me to repackage the monitor box within another box. $30 in shipping and 2-3 weeks later, I got my repaired monitor.

So after all that, I was left with a working monitor. For the price and quality, I'm still happy with my purchase. Every so often I get some flickering in the corner, but it doesn't last. As other reviewers say, it is not a movie quality monitor, but it is fine for general use. Considering the price and size and the fact that they did honor the warranty, it still gets three stars.

I ordered this monitor because the other reviews said it was a good deal. Big mistake. The first monitor they sent me didn't work, so i had to send it back. Then then sent me another monitor, and this second one is barely usable, as the screen flickers almost all the time. Because I didn't want to go through the bother of sending this one back again and possibly getting an even worse monitor, I am learning to live with it.

I wonder if all these other reviewers are actually real people who bought the monitor or whether they work for the company that sells it. Do not trust them. This product is terrible. Spend an extra 150 bucks and buy a real monitor from dell or another reputable company.

I needed a monitor quick and decided on a LCD to save desk top space. After looking at various LCD sizes, I decided I could live with a 17" LCD. My buying criteria was for a 17" LCD to drop below[...]. I pounced on it. The monitor was easy to set up and had no dead pixels. The size is great, and the speakers were an added bonus though they are fairly puny sounding. So why would I give this LCD only 3 stars? Quite frankly, the resolution is fairly coarse. Small fine text is difficult to read and pictures as well as video look coarse. So my buying advice is as follows:

DON'T BUY THIS LCD IF you are paranoid about display fidelity or if you demand high quality sound from the speakers.

DO BUY THIS LCD IF you are looking for an inexpensive and reliable (3 year warranty) 17" LCD and speaker sound quality is not a high priority.

Based on my time and budget constraints, I would purchase this LCD again.

My title pretty sums up this 17-inch LCD monitor by Kogi, a small company with offices in California and Taiwan. While not a namebrand, the monitor's quality is commendable, with a bright screen and no dead pixels on the three units I received. (Dead pixels are dots that display only one color all the time, usually red. You can see them when you set your screen saver to blank so against the dark background you'll see these red or blue dots. Very rarely they can be white.) You get true 17 inches of viewable area (measured diagonally) and a high contrast ratio, which makes text and pictures look sharp. Sold at a very attrative price, the Kogi is a stand-out.

When I first plugged in the LCD, I noticed that there were 3 non workable pixels. The screen was very bright and it took me awhile to get used to it after I adjusted to the right color. Once again, if you just want a LCD for text and surf the net, this is the way to go for a 350:1. But for graphic and video editing...don't bother with this..go with Viewsonic or Samsung.....