While computer prices have plunged to unheard-of levels, monitor prices remain high. Only the introduction of expensive liquid-crystal display (LCD) monitors have forced what little downward price pressure there is. Flat-panel displays are still expensive, but they have so many advantages over cathode ray tube-based monitors that I think they're worth the extra cost.
At under $1,000, the AcerView F51 LCD monitor, pictured at right, is one of the best.
AcerView monitors are compatible with both Windows and Mac OS computers, and the F51 ships with a cable adapter that allows it to connect to either PC or Macintosh models using Apple's old, proprietary connector. Newer Macs have long since switched to the same kind of SVGA connector used by every Windows computer. Users can plug the monitor directly into either kind of computer with no need to change the graphics card.
The AcerView F51 is a 15-inch monitor whose usable screen area is only slightly smaller than the 17-inch monitor that it replaced. The monitor itself measures 13.3 inches by 14.4 inches by 6.7 inches and weighs just 11.4 pounds.
The biggest difference is in the cubic capacity of the monitor. The F51 occupies one-fourth of the space of the CRT (cathode-ray tube) it replaced, offering more usable desktop space-an important consideration for home-office workers. The LCD screen also generates a fraction of the heat the 17-inch CRT did, and my home-office temperature is several degrees cooler.
"Specks": Another of the inherent problems with LCD monitors is that chances are good that one or more of the cells that make up the screen will have a bright or dark defect that shows up on the screen as a tiny spot that you just can't rub off. This problem is most noticeable when Web-surfing or viewing images with large areas of dark or light colors. But in all the time I used the F51, I never saw such a problem, which speaks well of Acer's quality control.
Power: The screen is powered by a candy bar-sized transformer and consumes only 36 watts.
Setting up: Setup took less than five minutes and when I started the computer and installed the standard plug-and-play driver from the Windows CD-ROM, the screen looked good but not great. After I ran Acer's setup program, the software optimized the monitor based on the hardware that was installed in my computer. At that point, the screen provided a picture better than that on almost every CRT monitor that I've owned or tested.
Color and contrast: The monitor will display 16.7 million colors and photographs viewed using Adobe Photoshop 5.5 and JPEG and GIF images on my Internet browser looked great. Colors are bright and sharp in contrast, and the text--always a sticking point with LCD monitors--is surprisingly sharp.
Controls: The F51's front panel contains the expected controls that work with an on-screen menu. The controls allow you to customize the monitor's on-screen attributes to suit your work habits or taste. You'll also find Acer's iKey button on the front. Pushing it lets the monitor optimize pixel frequency, horizontal position, vertical position and color temperature after the display mode is changed in any way. The F51 also has an auto-scaling function, which adjusts the display to full-screen images no matter where the resolution is set.
Like all Acer monitors, the AcerView F51 offers ISO-9000 quality certification and has a three-year limited warranty, making it a best buy for computer users.
--ComputerUser Magazine Contributing Editor Joe Farace is a Colorado writer/photographer and author of 20 books about computing, graphics and digital imaging. Copyright 1999 by ComputerUser.com Inc. Used by permission.
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