NEC FE791SB Monitor

[dilsburger]

I'm looking for a new 17" monitor and have always thought NEC to be one of the quality leaders. This model reviewed well in PCWorld last month. I use my PC for office apps, internet, and 3D games primarily. I store scanned photos to pass around to family also.

Does anybody have one of these and would like to share thoughts, comments? My price range is $200-$225. Thanks.

[BigBlue66]

Many of the programmers where I work have used NEC monitors. Yes, they are top quality and you could certainly do worse.

For my home computers, I use ViewSonic. These are very good monitors at reasonable prices.

[dilsburger]

I've been eyeing the Viewsonic G75F recently. Price isn't much different but I could save a few $$ by going the VS route. Just another decision. I won the check pool lottery at work last week so this is a freebie! :D My current monitor is 5-6 yrs old and I could stand a change here, heheh,, thanks Bud.

[Paleo Pete]

I'll second the ViewSonic vote, I'm using a 17" viewsonic at the shop for our server, it's nice, gets a great picture at 1024x768, plenty desktop real estate at that resolution...wish I had two of 'em for my dual monitor win98 machine...NEC monitors are usually very good too, I've used a couple of them here and there and like them quite well.

Check the specs on any monitor you find, if it has the Sony Trinitron tube chances are it will look very nice. Several brands use them, including some Dells I've seen lately. The one issue I have with Dells is that they tend to be undersize. A 15" Dell will actually be a 14", measures 13.5" same as any 14" monitor I've seen, and the 17" actually measures 15" viewable. Most other 17" monitors are 16" viewable.

[dilsburger]

Thanks Pete. In reading the latest PCWorld 17" monitor reviews they rank the NEC model I mentioned over the Viewsonic citing better text and grapic resolutions. But they reviewed the Viewsonic as a worthy monitor as well.

Of course seeing is believing and I'm not sure if I can get a look at either of these two models in person. Given that, how much weight do you guys give these kind of reviews when you want to buy a product that you can't actually see or test?

Just curious. Personally I use the reviews but would rather get info from personal experiences which is why I asked in the first place. :)

[Whyzman]

Finding the ideal situation to compare side by side would be most difficult. By ideal, I mean being able to really compare apples to apples. What are the chances you'll have two identical computers differing only in monitors set to default values?

Unless you're hearing there are "heavy casualties" with one particular product, I think you're on the right track with the reviews. They have the ability to compare using an apples to apples approach.

There was a recent comparison (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16206) where the leader was severly challenged and actually brought down by the competitor. When I read a review like this where it appears there's no axe to grind and it appears the reviewer is putting all the cards on the table, it certainly lends credence to their objectivity. I like what I've seen from TomsHardware!

In the end, though, after the customer service, actual viewing area, and warranty smoke clears, I would say the beauty is ultimately in the eye of the beholder when it comes to monitors!

[dilsburger]

Yeah gotcha WhyZ.... thanks! I'm leaning towards the Viewsonic as is seems there may be a little more bang for the buck coupled with the opinions I got here. All points well taken. Thanks again y'all.

[Budfred]

Just to muddy the waters a little more. I use an Envision 17" LCD monitor and they are priced not much more than the range you are talking about. I don't do action gaming and I hear that is a drawback with LCD monitors. With that caveat: this thing is great! I get a full 17" of screen which seems much bigger than my CRT 17" that I used to use. The native resolution is 1380x1024 and that increases real estate even more with clarity. The prices are dropping on LCDs and I paid only $400 for this one about a year ago. Envision was well reviewed at the time and I have found it to be problem free. I also have a 15" that I use for other computers.

My 2 cents,
Budfred