Customer Reviews

BenQ FP731 17" LCD Monitor (Black)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this monitor in Hong Kong from a local merchant (...). I was actually planning on purchasing a Samsung but it was a good (...). After using it for a while (2 months) I have the following comments:

PROS:
1. Good price for a 17" monitor with a known brand name.
2. Current design, looks just like a lot of the other new monitors out there.
3. Bright, really bright. See comments below about this one.
4. Decent text display. It's by no means fuzzy but I can't give it the sharp rather either. My two laptops (Thinkpad 1400x1050, Vpr Matrix 1024x768) actually have what I call sharp displays but I will give the BenQ the benefit of the doubt since my laptops contain only 15" displays.

CONS:
1. Bright! If you like really bright monitors then you'll love this. I like bright monitors but I also like to adjust the brightness. The controls for adjusting it really don't seem to work. It changes the brightness just minimally. The difference for me for a setting between 0 - 100 should be very noticable but it barely changes the brightness.
2. The vewing angle to make the entire screen evenly lit is narrow. If the monitor is angled to face me directly, like a laptop montior, the top portion of the BenQ monitor is darker than the lower part. 3 years ago this would have been acceptable but not today.
3. If you want to use the monitor outside of 1280x1024 then be prepared for a degradation in clarity.

Conclusion:
If you need a budget monitor and are just happy to get a 17" LCD then this is a decent choice. It is well constructed, looks nice, and functions well enough.

If you need a higher quality monitor then look to brands like Samsung or Sony. Personally I would go for one of those two for my next purchase but that won't be for a while. Good luck!

I bought this LCD very skeptical that it would not match up to my CRT (I'm using both), but I have no complaints. They look different (relatively, the LCD is crazy sharp and the CRT is sorta fuzzy), but I have not had a problem with ghosting or any other problems I feared I would have playing Warcraft III. I still prefer a CRT for those games (the sharpness can get to you), but the LCD is worth it to me because of its size and weight. In short, I wouldn't feel bad about taking this monitor to a LAN party instead of my CRT.

I was looking for a good LCD monitor to replace my old 17" CRT and spotted this BenQ model. It stood out as having one of the better pictures of the models on display. The price was right, but I had never heard of this brand and was concerned about the warranty. After a little research, I found out that BenQ is now the old Acer company and they have a 3 year warranty on this product. I always liked the Acer monitors and that was enough to convince me to try it out. My neighbor bought a Samsung 17" the same week and after seeing his, I feel that the BenQ has a better picture. I know the Samsung has a little better specs on the contrast ratio and refresh speed, but when you look at the real thing, the BenQ looks better. Like all LCD's it works best at native mode of 1280x1024 but I like to run it at 1024x768. You might find a cheaper LCD monitor, but it would be hard to find a better one in this price range.

The resolution and usefulness of BenQ FP731 is the same quality I see in the Sony LCD monitor. It exhibits excellent brightness and color and I would recommend it to others.

This monitor is blindingly bright. I spent several hours today working on a newsletter - my eyes hurt - my head hurts! I usually spend several hours a day on the computer & I need a monitor that does not 'kill' my eyes.

The brightness adjustment is virtually useless. I have it turned down to 0 and it's still too bright except for just the top inch or two of the monitor.

I will be returning this monitor & will get out my old crt until I can find an lcd monitor that is easier on my eyes.

The monitor had no bad pixels, and has a good display. It is a little bright on white pages but not offensive.

Documenttion is weak. Did have a slight problem getting it to be recognized by Windows 98 but did not need any special help to put it into service.

Works very well, I have not seen the brightness issue some reviews have mentioned, perhaps they have not installed the updated plug & play driver that comes with the device?? The instuctions for installing did not exactly match my PC but was able to work through it without a problem and the driver did make a difference.

I've had a BenQ FP731 for about six months with no problems. I bought it at about $300 and it had the best specs for the price at the time and that still seems to be the case. It is only 9 Lbs, which is good if you're travelling and it has a clean appearance and feels solid.

It works well pivoting to portrait view--if you change your video card settings or install Pivot Pro software.

There is essentially no manual, but the default settings are pretty good. I recommend it if you need to save money. IMO, high-end Sony monitors are the best, regardless of specifications, but you would spend 3 times as much as for this decent low-end monitor.

With the purchase of this monitor, I finally joined the LCD monitor club. I think it is time for everyone to join the club and what better way than with this monitor ! Great price. Great quality. Takes only a couple of minutes to set up. After the computer is switched on, it does an auto adjust and that is it.

I didn't give it 5 stars only because I didn't want to make it look like this is the best among the best. I have seen better LCD monitors than this. The images are a weeny little distorted - like letters typed using a type writer on a bad sheet of paper. This may not be the choice for someone who works on a computer 8 hrs a day. But this is the perfect choice for a home computer.

I just received my new BenQ monitor. It is awesome. I have the standard Dell computer, and the monitor was very small.
Now, I can sit back in my chair and see the screen with no problems. It is very crisp, and clear. It is exactly what I wanted. I would recommend Amazon, and the BenQ monitor to all my closest friends.