Customer Reviews

ViewSonic OptiSync Vx910 19" LCD Monitor

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

 

 

I got this monitor for Christmas. I am pretty picky about my eyes because as an Application Developer, I spend 10+ hours infront of a computer screen. After exchaning this monitor for one that yielded the same results, I upgraded to the professional line VP191b (more on this in a bit).

If there is one thing I have learned about Viewsonic through the years, it is that there is a significant difference in each of its lines of monitors. This is to be expected for the most part, but you would think that the price point would be complementary to the product line. Not always the case. For example, when it comes to flat panels, the product lines offered consist of:

X Series - Consumer line
P Series - Professional line
G Series - Graphic line

This is not a comprehnsive list of all their product lines, but is what you will find in your average retail outlet.

The VX910 (notice the X in the model name) is a decent monitor. For $500 though, it is subpar, even for being a Consumer line product. The colors are good, but the quality of the display is substandard. Red hues in the upper left corners, noticeable pixelation during refresh and an overall grainy appearance make this monitor pretty average for the money.

Night and day difference between X series and P series!

The VP191b (Pro line) is a superb monitor. Beatutiful, crisp colors, smooth display. No pixelation. All for $550- thats just $50 more than the X series! Now, I understand that when this monitor first hit the market it was signifcantly more expensive, but today, I would strongly recommed it over any X series, the VX910 included.

I have been using the VX900-2 for over a year. It was excellent. Recently I replaced it with a VX910, assuming that the newer monitor would be as good as or better than the earlier one. I was wrong. The overall picture quality of the VX910 is a real disappointment, especially the colors. The VX910 has too much of a blueish overcast, making flesh tones look pallid and washed out. None of the colors look natural, rich, or vibrant. They look harsh and faded. The VX900 colors do not have this problem. Also, the VX910 pixels are visibly obtrusive, which they are not on the VX900. I tried to configure the VX910 in every possible way, but I was unable to make any satisfactory adjustment. After using the VX910 for two days, I returned it to the store and replaced it with a new VX900. It is excellent. I strongly urge any buyer to compare the VX900 to the VX910 before buying the latter.

I just bought this for the wife as a Valentines day present. She had a 19" Sony Trinitron monitor, and it left her no space to write on her desk. This monitor seemed like a good deal, and the rebates when I bought it were fantastic. NO pixels dead, as I have heard about for other monitors. The picture, especially at 1280X1024 is clear as a bell, and the bit of gaming that we've tried looked fantastic, most likely due to the 16ms response time. I also purchased a DVI cable to utilize the digital input, and for the $30 that it cost me, it was of slight value. I might recommend against that extra expense, unless you're a geek like moi. The monitor comes with a standard D plug cable, which works relatively fine.

It is NOT height adjustable, which is ok for us. It does have a tilt, however. The base looks very sturdy. The hookups are on the back, behind a plate that pops off. Not sure why this plate is even there, it seems like added cost that they could have done without.

The menu structure is very easy to understand, and we had the picture looking GREAT with a minute or two of contrast, brightness adjustments. The screen actually seems bigger than my Sony 19", by about 1/2" diagonally, and it makes a big difference.

THAT SAID, I get the feeling that if you're a HARDCORE gamer, and I mean really hardcore, a CRT is still the way to go, so I'll stick with mine, but the missus LOVES this monitor!!!!

Oh, and did I mention it's light? Looks like I'll be taking this puppy to the next lan party. Later.

The only professional review I was able to find for this monitor was on C|Net and they didn't give it very high marks. I checked it out at CompUSA and Best Buy and at both locations, it seemed more vibrant than other monitors. But, being a little boneheaded, I ordered a Viewsonic VP191B because it is supposed to be the professional quality display and because the Viewsonic website and the Gateway sales rep both reported that it had a response time of 16 milliseconds (same as VX910), which would render good video and gaming. The VP191 I received only had a response time of 25 MS and there was obvious ghosting - even on mere cursor movement. So, it went back. Then, I picked up the VX910 from CompUSA and am thoroughly pleased. Clear images, no ghosting on movement, easy set up and configuration and the understated but attractive design is excellent. I may not be as discriminating a reviewer as some of the hard-core gamers and videophiles, but I really like this display. The only drawbacks are the lack of height adjustment, swivel and rotation. But, then again, I've never needed those features before and I can't imagine missing them now.

I love this monitor. I went from a 17" CRT to this 19" LCD. The colors are vibrant. Digital photos look really sharp on it. Gaming (e.g. Unreal Tournament 2004 and Painkiller) look great and nearly as good as a CRT. Fast action scenes in DVD's look very sharp.

If you want 1600 x 1200 resolution, look at a 20" monitor and not this one. This maxxes out at 1280 x 1024 but if that's ok with you (and it is for me), then check this one out.

For connections, it supports both analog and DVI so you're set with either one.

Only drawbacks: monitor isn't that adjustable in terms of raising / lowering it. Warranty is only 1 year.

All in all, I love this monitor. I've made the switch from CRT to LCD and won't be going back!

I bought this monitor to replace 7 year old CRT and so far
I am happy with my decision.
Pros:
* This is a decent 19" LCD monitor for a decent price.
* I mainly use PC at home to surf web and watch movies. This monitor is good enough for that.
* It is made by viewsonic and did not have any dead pixels.
Cons:
* only 1 year warranty.
* cable for digital input not provided.

For consumers: As it is claimed by Viewsonic, this monitor is targeting at regular consumers. I give it 4.5 star as a consumer product. It gives reasonal brightness and reasonal color depth. Also, the focus for text is good for word processing. When looking from several meters away (say, watching TV program or movies), it really gives vivid movies. I play games on it, and find there is no ghost, etc.

For professionals: I have using professional monitors (from Trinitons, Diamontrons, and Viewsonitrons to current top line LCD) for graphic applications (photoshop, Coreldraw, AutoCAD, etc.), I am able to tell that the very minor color uniformity problem. This monitor is not good for any professional graphic purpose: the color is not uniform,especially the left-bottom corner. Also, the focus is not uniform. I belive that it is a design problem, because I found the exact problem on several monitors: exact the same locations, exact the same depth. The left-bottom cornor is brighter than the other part, also, the color has less depth there. The focus on the left-bottom corner is worse than the up-right corner. For me, this is more like a circuit design problem (say, the location of power supply, etc) rather than a LCD quailty. I will give less than 3 stars if you use for professional graphic purpose.

The final thing: The manufacture notes on the box: there is no digital cable inside. I know for LCDs, if it comes with a Digital port (DVI), the manufacture will spend less efforts on the analog-digital-analog coversion, and it is usually not perfect. If it does not have a digital port, it will have a close-to-ideal analog-digital-analog coversion. So, do not buy this monitor if you donot have digital port (DVI) at your video card; if you do have DVI on your video card, find a DVI cable somewhere.

...I saw this one at Best Buy, after rebate and taxes it still came out to be almost five hundred which is a joke considering that you can get the much better professional quality VP191 for just twenty bucks more here on Amazon. If this monitor were going for closer to three hundred bucks then that would make sense, because yes its picture quality is not nearly as good as the VP191 and it does not offer the ability to swivel ninety degrees to a vertical screen.

As another reviewer noted, the VX is Viewsonic's consumer line, and in this case it means "clueless and gullible lemmings who buy things at national box chains like Best Buy without shopping around the Internet first."

It still stands out next to the other 19-inch LCDs they had at BB, its brightness makes up for the relatively low contrast ratio and the sleek silver casing and especially the handsome silver base does give it a much higher end feel. [...] I got the best of both worlds: great pricing and easy return capability.

I have owned this monitor for about 2 years and have been very happy with its trouble free, consistent performance. Having had many monitors die early, deteriorate with quality and dead pixels, this was a pleasant surprise. 2 years later and it looks as good as new. I used this monitor for 3D gaming, video and photo editing and normal word processing, presentations etc...

Text was always crisp and clear, eye strain was low even with extended use and 3D graphics were smooth and realistic. I was using the regular VGA cord for a while with decent performance. When I plugged in the digital input it made a huge difference.

This may sound obvious, but this is not a wide screen so not the best for viewing movies. I personally hate wide screens as a computer monitor because you waste a lot of horizontal space not needed by most content.

The exterior look of the monitor was simple but stylish. It had to be since my computer monitor is the first thing people see when they walk into my home office. It has a matte black plastic frame with matte silver trim and base. The buttons and controls are easy to use, but I rarely needed them.

Buy this if you want something that is a good reliable monitor with very good graphics and a stylish look.