beautiful LCD
Written: Apr 05 '02 (Updated Apr 07 '02)
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Pros: Excellent image quality, dual analog/digital input, slim profile
Cons: price, no dvi cable included
The Bottom Line: An exceptional LCD with a price that is not unreasonable for its class.
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| dixu's Full Review: Sony SDM-M81 18 inch LCD Monitor |
I have been using this LCD for about 4 months now. I took the plunge when the big price drop on LCDs occurred in late 2001. Over estimating market demand led to over-production of LCD panels, which then caused a massive inventory hold-up after the tech bubble busted. Suddenly these 18.1 inch LCDs can be had for 900+ dollars. I couldn't resist it. I also wasn't sure how long the prices were going to stay that low. I will not go into the advantages of LCDs over CRTs, if you are looking for an LCD, you should know most of them.
The sony was certainly not the cheapest 18.1 LCD. Not by far. Even name brands like NEC had 18 inch models in the 700-800 dollar range. But most of those models were analog input only. I purposely wanted a dual input, as my Radeon 7500 card already comes with DVI support. Except that I'm still using the analog feed, I'll get to that later.
Second of all, it was the monitor that called out to me. When it comes to monitor selections, believe what your eyes tell you. All the technical specifications are important, such as resolutions, dot pitches etc, but the ultimate test is to go straight to CompUSA, look at a row of 15 LCDs and see which one draws your eye. Of course, first of all you need to make sure that they are all properly adjusted. For me, there were more expensive models, there were technically more advanced models, but my eyes kept falling back onto the Sony. On a side note, aren't those apple Cinema Displays beautiful! I only wish I had a mac!
The setup was a breeze. The m81 has a well designed menu that makes it very easy to calibrate. My PC also recognized the Plug and Play device instantly.
Image quality is exceptional (only applies to analog image as I haven't tried digital). I notice no geometry or intensity problems. Colors are deep and vibrant which is what sony monitors are known for. At a resolution of 1240x1024, the images are crisp and sharp. By the way, if you are going to use analog feed, make sure that you have a graphics card that outputs a clean analog signal, such as an ATI or a Matrox, not an NVIDIA.
The m81 comes with built-in speakers, which are very weak. Everyone knows not to expect much from built-in speakers though. For me, who is not a gamer and does not even own a single set of computer speakers, these speakers come in handy sometimes. Most of the time I rely on my Sehnheiser 580 earphones for music.
Now comes the part that I thought Sony should have reconsidered. At this price range, they should have shipped the m81 with a dvi cable for digital input. Well, they don't. I have to admit though that the analog images are excellent (see above). And because of that, I still have not purchased a dvi cable on my own (they are NOT cheap). but I probably will one of these days.
Overall, the m81 is a great LCD monitor as long as you don't plan to play a lot of action movies or first person shooter games on it. The LCD technology still has not solved the problem of displaying fast moving images.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 950
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
dixu
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Location: Philadelphia, PA
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
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