Hi there.. I'm sure this has been talked about to lengths end, And i know there was a very extensive thread about the 2141's that i have read probably 30 times now
(located here 2141 Problem Thread (muse)) For some reason i was unable to reply to that thread, i guess its so old they dont want people touching it anymore
Let me get on with it.. I went over and over and over which 22 inch monitor to get, after finding out even SONY (style) is out of stock of the G520 and according to 3 of their sales reps have NO orders in to restock it, i can only come to the conclusion that the sony cease on CRT's has began... Secondly only being able to find the g520 for around 750 dollars online, drove me to just give up on it.. So it was down to pretty much the mits/NEC and.. well thats it!.. I did consider a Viewsonic p225f.. but i had a pf815 and it died just 1 year outta warranty and viewsonic was absolutely unwilling to lend me any hands in even getting it repaired, so they lost my business for good, and the business of all my computer friends, Either way its too bad for them. I really liked the contrast of their monitor, (i tried the p225) but it was BLURRIER than NEC 2141 (yes i had them side by side for a time)..
My intent in this post is to shed a little bit of light as to if there are any real 'hidden' differences between these monitors, obviously they are COMPLETELY identical except for some silkscreening on the outside.. But none of us are completely sure if they are 100% on the inside, even the tech's at NEC said they couldn't garuentee they used the same parts.. I ordered 1 of the 2141's from dell... HEre's what i experienced.
1. It had a bad pixel in the lower left hand corner, yes it wasn't very big, and it was right on the line of the start bar so i mostly didnt see it most of the time, but damnit, if i pay 600 dollars for a CRT this is un-acceptable. CRT's are NOT LCD's they should NOT have bad pixels.. (yes i realize its really a spec of dirt or something, cuz its not a pixel, but thats the term everyone uses so lets just stick to it!)
2. other than that, the monitor was pretty good but i was pretty hugely dissapointed at the contrast the thing had.. like i said, viewsonic is the KING of contrast, they hvae BLACKER than blacks right next to SUPER bright blind you whites, while the NEC 2141 had blacks, but colors weren't as dark and whites were not as white as i'd like.. If you max the colors out in the control panel for the monitor, the colors get better and if i turn down my video cards own brightness controll i can get a better contrast out of it, but why cant it just have better contrast itself like viewsonics???
3. The text was DEFINATELY clearer than the viewsonics p225f, the viewsonics had REALLY Great white text tho, like the text of the icons on the desktop was a little more clear than the NEC 2141's i wana say, but black text was no contest, the viewsonics was just blurry, couldn't get it that clean even in the center of the screen, yet on the 2141, it was pretty crisp throughout, yes it was slightly blurry towards the edges, just a BIT tho, the viewsonics had this too, BUT also had one corner that overly blurry.
The funny thing about the NEC is that when i upped the refresh rate, the text got blurrier.. i mean ALL text at 60hz 1600x1200 is FANTASTIC awsometly sharp.. couldn't ask for better, but the minute i up it to their recommended 85hz it gets NOTICBLY blurrier.. dont get me wrong, its not BLURRY, you can still read it just FINE and black text on white seems almost as clear as 60hz, its just the white stuff gets a TINY TINY bit fuzzier, I can still read it from 15 feet back no problem, so dont get the wrong idea, I wish it could look as 100% crisp as 60hz.. It was almost LCD quality i swear! (these are all just normal windows XP fonts for IE and desktop)
On with my thorough explination... After i found that dead pixel I immediately knew i wasn't keepin that one! so i called up dell (they are WONDERFUL for replacing stuff! love ya dell!) and they had a new one out to me in 2 days (their shipping facility is like 10 minutes from my house, if they'd let me go and pick out one i would! but you know policies).. So i had two in my house cuz i missed the mail guy and couldn't ship back the other one..
As luck would have it, the replacement had a BAD PIXEL on the bottom RIGHT hand side of the screen, around where the CLOCK is on the status bar.. YICK! not again!!! damnit! Also tho, this one had a seriously wierd problem where in the upper middle right area of the screen, it was slightly BROWNER than everything else, this was NOT a color purity issue, the far corner was okay, just a wide area of the screen, when i ran a WHITE note pad behind it, the white looke browner white, when i dragged it down to the left hand side of the screen, it was much bluer white.. it was a very slight effect, but still there non the less.. almost like the glass was slightly stained brown or something.... DEFINATELY GOING BACK!! this time, i decided to take a chance, i got a refund, and spend 20 bucks more and orderd the DP2070sb... YES I KNOW they are supposed to be the same monitor, but all the threads i read on faulty 2141's and hadn't seen hardly any on a 2070 made me think WHAT IF, what if that extra money goes towards getting better QC? what if mitsubishi actually picks out the good ones and sells them as 2070's and sends the ones that fail or have a bad pixel, and sells them as NEc's? You can argue with me if ya want, but two of these puppies had this problem, and others in this exact forum had it too, i just wonder what kind of monkey's they got doin QC at NEC? Well maybe they do it for MITS too, but either way i'm about to find out..
the 2070 should be here tomorrow.. Here's what I expect either 1. i'll get the exact same problems and end up in a never ending loop of trying to get a perfect one. 2. I'll get a perfect one and it will be PURE luck and they really ARE the same exact monitor 3. I'll get a perfect one, and the extra money spend is worth it becuase the 2070's dont turn out to be duds so much.
Either way i thought i'd post this becuase there might just be a few other people out there who have a hard time believing websites wanting 50-100 dollars MORE for the MITS just becuase of the name.. I only ended up paying 20 more, so if it is just the name, then oh well, i learn a lesson, but i know for SURE then.. alot of people review the 2070 and recommend it for gamers (sharkyextreme has recommended it for nearly a year now!)..
If i get one that has good text, no discoloration, and no black pixels, i guess i can force myself to get used to the very shallow contrast level it has (i wish the brightness just went up +10 more, and the contrast went down about -15/20 more and i'd probably be in HEAVEN!) I like the windows kyte hill background, and usually the little area in the left hand corner that you can see the area where they spliced the pictures together, well on my viewsonic it would be pretty dark black so you couldn't make out tooo much detail there, yet the clouds and whites would still be NICE and white, but alas with the 2141 it was pretty washed out, just cant get that FULL brightness that i like..but i think i can live with it, cuz i allways thought to myself when i'm reading webpage text "This text is nice and clearn! dang!" and that and i notice now that window edges are NICE and crisp and clean looking..the veiwsonic was just a bit blurrier on everything! not to mention viewsonic doesnt like ya using their focus knobs! they put some kind of paint on them or something.. they are located in the same place place as the mits/nec.. In case you didnt know, thats on the left hand side of the monitor towarsd the back (past the hub) you'll see two holes, play with these if you have REALLY blurry text, but watch out they are super sensitive! let me pass along information, i read someone said you need a #0 phillips screwdrive with a 5 inch shaft.. I couldn't find one in my area becuase radioshack only restocks once every 3 years, and every hardware store has 3 inch shafts, so i carved one out of a plastic paintbrush crude but effective
Okay i've put alot of information here and i'm sure not many people are going to give a RATS @$$ but i put it anyways in case someone else was wondering the things i was wondering and am about to find out tomorrow.. I will post back regardless of my findings (good or bad) but i'm crossin my fingers that maybe my hunch is right and you actually DO get what you pay for
Please feel free if you read this to just post whatever comments you have, or if you just read through the whole thing and feel like presenting that becuase its so long do that too I just like to give alot of information for people to be informed about their buying decisions..
Oh and am i the only one who thinks having the hub loose its power when the monitor is shut off is STUPID? I guess thats how it had to be done, but its kind of weak.. I understand most devices you wont be using without the monitor, sometimes i like to use my webcam's microphone to chat, and i turn off my monitor cuz i dont need to see anything while i'm talking, well without power the webcam dont like that! I am under the impression ALL hubs built into monitors do this tho, so i dont fault them neccessarily.. just the idea in general.
-Electricview out!
(located here 2141 Problem Thread (muse)) For some reason i was unable to reply to that thread, i guess its so old they dont want people touching it anymore
Let me get on with it.. I went over and over and over which 22 inch monitor to get, after finding out even SONY (style) is out of stock of the G520 and according to 3 of their sales reps have NO orders in to restock it, i can only come to the conclusion that the sony cease on CRT's has began... Secondly only being able to find the g520 for around 750 dollars online, drove me to just give up on it.. So it was down to pretty much the mits/NEC and.. well thats it!.. I did consider a Viewsonic p225f.. but i had a pf815 and it died just 1 year outta warranty and viewsonic was absolutely unwilling to lend me any hands in even getting it repaired, so they lost my business for good, and the business of all my computer friends, Either way its too bad for them. I really liked the contrast of their monitor, (i tried the p225) but it was BLURRIER than NEC 2141 (yes i had them side by side for a time)..
My intent in this post is to shed a little bit of light as to if there are any real 'hidden' differences between these monitors, obviously they are COMPLETELY identical except for some silkscreening on the outside.. But none of us are completely sure if they are 100% on the inside, even the tech's at NEC said they couldn't garuentee they used the same parts.. I ordered 1 of the 2141's from dell... HEre's what i experienced.
1. It had a bad pixel in the lower left hand corner, yes it wasn't very big, and it was right on the line of the start bar so i mostly didnt see it most of the time, but damnit, if i pay 600 dollars for a CRT this is un-acceptable. CRT's are NOT LCD's they should NOT have bad pixels.. (yes i realize its really a spec of dirt or something, cuz its not a pixel, but thats the term everyone uses so lets just stick to it!)
2. other than that, the monitor was pretty good but i was pretty hugely dissapointed at the contrast the thing had.. like i said, viewsonic is the KING of contrast, they hvae BLACKER than blacks right next to SUPER bright blind you whites, while the NEC 2141 had blacks, but colors weren't as dark and whites were not as white as i'd like.. If you max the colors out in the control panel for the monitor, the colors get better and if i turn down my video cards own brightness controll i can get a better contrast out of it, but why cant it just have better contrast itself like viewsonics???
3. The text was DEFINATELY clearer than the viewsonics p225f, the viewsonics had REALLY Great white text tho, like the text of the icons on the desktop was a little more clear than the NEC 2141's i wana say, but black text was no contest, the viewsonics was just blurry, couldn't get it that clean even in the center of the screen, yet on the 2141, it was pretty crisp throughout, yes it was slightly blurry towards the edges, just a BIT tho, the viewsonics had this too, BUT also had one corner that overly blurry.
The funny thing about the NEC is that when i upped the refresh rate, the text got blurrier.. i mean ALL text at 60hz 1600x1200 is FANTASTIC awsometly sharp.. couldn't ask for better, but the minute i up it to their recommended 85hz it gets NOTICBLY blurrier.. dont get me wrong, its not BLURRY, you can still read it just FINE and black text on white seems almost as clear as 60hz, its just the white stuff gets a TINY TINY bit fuzzier, I can still read it from 15 feet back no problem, so dont get the wrong idea, I wish it could look as 100% crisp as 60hz.. It was almost LCD quality i swear! (these are all just normal windows XP fonts for IE and desktop)
On with my thorough explination... After i found that dead pixel I immediately knew i wasn't keepin that one! so i called up dell (they are WONDERFUL for replacing stuff! love ya dell!) and they had a new one out to me in 2 days (their shipping facility is like 10 minutes from my house, if they'd let me go and pick out one i would! but you know policies).. So i had two in my house cuz i missed the mail guy and couldn't ship back the other one..
As luck would have it, the replacement had a BAD PIXEL on the bottom RIGHT hand side of the screen, around where the CLOCK is on the status bar.. YICK! not again!!! damnit! Also tho, this one had a seriously wierd problem where in the upper middle right area of the screen, it was slightly BROWNER than everything else, this was NOT a color purity issue, the far corner was okay, just a wide area of the screen, when i ran a WHITE note pad behind it, the white looke browner white, when i dragged it down to the left hand side of the screen, it was much bluer white.. it was a very slight effect, but still there non the less.. almost like the glass was slightly stained brown or something.... DEFINATELY GOING BACK!! this time, i decided to take a chance, i got a refund, and spend 20 bucks more and orderd the DP2070sb... YES I KNOW they are supposed to be the same monitor, but all the threads i read on faulty 2141's and hadn't seen hardly any on a 2070 made me think WHAT IF, what if that extra money goes towards getting better QC? what if mitsubishi actually picks out the good ones and sells them as 2070's and sends the ones that fail or have a bad pixel, and sells them as NEc's? You can argue with me if ya want, but two of these puppies had this problem, and others in this exact forum had it too, i just wonder what kind of monkey's they got doin QC at NEC? Well maybe they do it for MITS too, but either way i'm about to find out..
the 2070 should be here tomorrow.. Here's what I expect either 1. i'll get the exact same problems and end up in a never ending loop of trying to get a perfect one. 2. I'll get a perfect one and it will be PURE luck and they really ARE the same exact monitor 3. I'll get a perfect one, and the extra money spend is worth it becuase the 2070's dont turn out to be duds so much.
Either way i thought i'd post this becuase there might just be a few other people out there who have a hard time believing websites wanting 50-100 dollars MORE for the MITS just becuase of the name.. I only ended up paying 20 more, so if it is just the name, then oh well, i learn a lesson, but i know for SURE then.. alot of people review the 2070 and recommend it for gamers (sharkyextreme has recommended it for nearly a year now!)..
If i get one that has good text, no discoloration, and no black pixels, i guess i can force myself to get used to the very shallow contrast level it has (i wish the brightness just went up +10 more, and the contrast went down about -15/20 more and i'd probably be in HEAVEN!) I like the windows kyte hill background, and usually the little area in the left hand corner that you can see the area where they spliced the pictures together, well on my viewsonic it would be pretty dark black so you couldn't make out tooo much detail there, yet the clouds and whites would still be NICE and white, but alas with the 2141 it was pretty washed out, just cant get that FULL brightness that i like..but i think i can live with it, cuz i allways thought to myself when i'm reading webpage text "This text is nice and clearn! dang!" and that and i notice now that window edges are NICE and crisp and clean looking..the veiwsonic was just a bit blurrier on everything! not to mention viewsonic doesnt like ya using their focus knobs! they put some kind of paint on them or something.. they are located in the same place place as the mits/nec.. In case you didnt know, thats on the left hand side of the monitor towarsd the back (past the hub) you'll see two holes, play with these if you have REALLY blurry text, but watch out they are super sensitive! let me pass along information, i read someone said you need a #0 phillips screwdrive with a 5 inch shaft.. I couldn't find one in my area becuase radioshack only restocks once every 3 years, and every hardware store has 3 inch shafts, so i carved one out of a plastic paintbrush crude but effective
Okay i've put alot of information here and i'm sure not many people are going to give a RATS @$$ but i put it anyways in case someone else was wondering the things i was wondering and am about to find out tomorrow.. I will post back regardless of my findings (good or bad) but i'm crossin my fingers that maybe my hunch is right and you actually DO get what you pay for
Please feel free if you read this to just post whatever comments you have, or if you just read through the whole thing and feel like presenting that becuase its so long do that too I just like to give alot of information for people to be informed about their buying decisions..
Oh and am i the only one who thinks having the hub loose its power when the monitor is shut off is STUPID? I guess thats how it had to be done, but its kind of weak.. I understand most devices you wont be using without the monitor, sometimes i like to use my webcam's microphone to chat, and i turn off my monitor cuz i dont need to see anything while i'm talking, well without power the webcam dont like that! I am under the impression ALL hubs built into monitors do this tho, so i dont fault them neccessarily.. just the idea in general.
-Electricview out!