Planar 17.4" LCD Monitor for $593.10 Shipped at Dell Home

[JameyF]

Resist I must...Resist...Resist



Ahhhh....screw it. I'm in!

 

[laugh]

I own both planar 17.4 and RAD5. I like Planar better for normal work, and RAD5 for gaming. RAD5 is too bright and sharp. Planar is darker but more comfortable. RAD5 is very fast for gaming. Planar has some ghosting -- at least I am not able to play FPS on it.

 

[test99]

To the people that got Planar. What does it say on the receipt from dell?

Does it just say Planar PV174 or does it list the DELL's or Planar's porduct # too?

Does it also say whether its black or white on the receipt?

Thanks.

 

[VittoZ]

I called Planar prior to purchasing this monitor, to ask what their policy was regarding dead pixels. They will replace any monitor with 5 or more dead pixels. The tech told me that this was a common industry standard on 17" and above flat panels. This would be covered by their 48 express replacement.

I ordered my Planar from Dell Saturday, over the phone due to the ambiguous checkout screen for the free shipping. The unit arrived Tuesday via FedEx ... with no dead pixels.

I am a picky bastard when it comes to my monitor. This unit is beautiful in analog. I will be hooking it up via the digital connection this weekend after I install my $69.00 Radeon 7500 (I l?ve this site).

If you are in the market for a 17" to 18" screen do not hesitate to buy this monitor ... only the Samsung DVI units look as good ... at $780 plus shipping
.

 

[BullPucky]

test99 this is what is on my email confirmation.

PLANAR
Planar PV174 17.4" Black MM Pivot LCD, Digital/Analog, USB Hub and speakers

There is no model number listed but this is the email confirmation. The receipt may have more information.

I don't know whether that helps you or not.

 

[Tummy]

For those of you who are wondering about ghosting on the planar unit, I have to say my 2 cents worth here. I notice ghosting, and badly, too. Is it unbearable? no, but it does take some getting used to. For those of you who say the KDS rad5 has less ghosting, it might, but I personally think that it's 'cause it's a smaller monitor you don't see it as easily. I've used this planar and also an acer fp563 rated at 35ms, and the ghosting is not really noticeable on the acer but quite noticeable on the planar. Either that, or the planar really isn't a 25ms response time monitor, which is also possible.

If you're a hardcore fps player i'd have to say stay away from lcd's for awhile...

 

[Dimitri]

It seems like the MVA screens on LCD's with 25ms response tend to have more noticeable ghosting than TFT screens. I've yet to hear of anyone complain of ghosting on a Compaq7020 for example. Same response times. Maybe it's just a coincidence though. Sorry for continuing the OT discussion.

 

[test99]

Tummy: what kind of computer setup you have? video card., processor.
It might be because in games you are playing at like 70fps.
Do you have the PV174 newer sleak model or the older thicker CT model?

In what games you notice ghosting?

I emailed PLANAR and they did confirm that it's Fujitsu MVA LCD and its has 25ms typical time

Tn+Film LCD's are pretty good if they are 25ms in games but they are not as good for scrolling on webpages where MVA excel.
Tn+Film LCD's also have a lower viewing angle.

BullPucky: yeah that info is fine.. thanks.

It's just a shame that for all this money we are paying that we have to sacrifice ghosting and things like that.

Decisions. decisions.. why is always like this 9 people say its great 1 person says its not and that 1 persons unhappines seems to overwhelm the majority feeling that its fine?

 

[Auxano]

I been on the Planar for 3 months and would find it hard to go back to my old CRT.

No its not perfect when thing get moving on one game I have - so for some they are best with a CRT.

But the benefits I enjoy 99.9% of the time far outweigh the .1%

 

[BATCH71]

I got mine immediatley and I love it!!!! Looks fantastic at native but games are no where near as nice as the NOKIA 445pro CRT I secondhanded to my wife. If you are into MAME at all you will instantly sprout a chubber with this pivot feature. I am finally able to turn my lcd screen in about 10 seconds flat and MAME has rotational function in it already so VIOlA!! One click in MAME and 90 degrees clockwise. AWESOME ARCADE FUN. I feel 15 years younger now. MAMERS Get it you won't regret it.

 

[jaggrey]

I notice very minimal ghosting on my Planar 17.4. Everything from Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed to Doom II exhibits almost no ghosting, including DVDs.

I'll bet it may partially depend on the video card and how you have it hooked up. I have mine hooked up via DVI to an ATI Radeon 7500.

 

[cos]

Bump to dell.

Well when I placed first order on wed around 2 PM EST time..
I though there were some problem with order system..
I used to get confirmation# right after order placed.
I tried to call c/s and to make sure my order went through..
But c/s cound't find my order.

I try to enter 2nd order around 7PM because I want this monitor badly.. and
it looks good deal at less then $600..

I carefully check out and see anything like order# on screen but as soon as I check out
all I got is "We're gonna send you order confirmation"..

I've wait and no confirmation came. I tried to track my order but it's not in dell system anywhere.
I finally give up and shop someother time.

Today I received 2 order confirmation which I placed wed.
I checked the order status and both orders were shipped, one on wed and other on following day..
what a surprise.. They don't even give a time to call to cancel one of order.

What an impressive super-fast-shipping system they have.. which is not welcome at this time.
Now I have call them to return one with my own shipping expense.

 

[Laughalot]

I got on this last Friday when it was first posted... Here is my story

I placed my order on Friday at the Dell home site. I went ahead and chose next day shipping as it was free. I received a monitor on Tuesday and what I had received was Planar lower end 15" model! What was funny was the packing slip stated PV174 17.4" monitor but along with the packing list there was a letter stating the 15" LCD I had ordered was out of stock so they had sent me another 15" to take its place! I called the CSR up and explained the situation. She set up an exchange and was going to send me out another monitor next day. Well, Thursday rolls along and I still don't have my monitor. I check the status of the order and it says it is scheduled to ship by Feb. 9! I call on the phone to their automated order status and it states the there is a possible backorder on this monitor. I then called another CSR which basically told me that have no control over what it says on their website and that he couldn't do anything to get the monitor to me any faster. (BTW, all the CSRs I talked to were very courteous) 3 hours later, I have a box outside my door. It is the correct monitor! What is funny is that the order status still says pending to ship on Feb. 9.

I will call Dell to make sure they don't send me another monitor. I really don't want to go through the hassle of sending it back. It appears that their computer database system might have gotten screwed up Wednesday and that is why people are having problems with their status.

I am still waiting for labels to ship my 15" monitor back, but this hardly leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The CSRs were very understanding and did their best to see that I was satisfied. Besides, after plugging in the PV174, how could I stay mad at anyone?

 

[Tummy]

hey test, sorry for the slow reply. I pm'ed you as well.

i have it running on a leadtek geforce 3 ti-500 via dvi, amd xp1800+@2000+ w/512mb ddr. it is the newer PV174 model (pivot).

I notice ghosting in just about every application. Moving desktop windows around I can even see it when compared to my crt. The ghosting in the desktop isn't bad, though, and the improved image quality here easily makes up for the difference. In anything fast moving (dvd's included), I'm very disappointed with the ghosting effects. That doesn't mean I can't get used to it, though.

As for 9 people saying it's great and 1 not, well, I have pretty sensitive eyes. I can see the difference between 72hz and 75hz even, so maybe I am unlucky in that sense. A lot of people here at work run their monitors @60hz and are pretty clueless but it bugs the hell out of me. So if you're like me, I'd have to say you'll probably see ghosting. LMK if you have any other questions.

 

[jaggrey]

I'm sensitive to that type of stuff too, but I don't notice any ghosting on my monitor. I grabbed mine a while back, in late October or November, so maybe other things have changed with this version (I have the non-pivot version).

 

[test99]

Tummy. thanks for the info.

The thing is that people got used to have the latest and fastest video cards but with the LCD's this is not a great idea as more fps will yeild more ghosting.

So when the GeForce4 comes out the LCD users should probably hold off.

 

[cleek]

I have used the 17.4 for around 8 months. Very pleased with the performance and glad to have the desktop real estate available for other purposes.

some notes on expected ship dates as experienced by a group of friends, outlaws, etc.

The monitors that are ordered through dell are drop-shipped directly from Planar.

Dell will notify you through email that the monitor lacks a ship date.

Planar will ship you the monitor within 5 days.

You will r'cve the monitor on the same day as an email from dell, telling you the monitor will
ship within two weeks. ;-)

 

[IshmaelLeaver]

I'm sensitive to that type of stuff too, but I don't notice any ghosting on my monitor. I grabbed mine a while back, in late October or November, so maybe other things have changed with this version (I have the non-pivot version).

You must not be sensitive enough. I also have the non-pivot version, and have had connected it via analog and DVI on my Radeon AIW (and some other video cards from when I have had other people's PCs hooked up to my monitor), have played DVDs via every software player, and played just about every popular 3d game out there on it, and there is some light ghosting. It's not enough for anyone but the elitist FPS players to really complain about, though.

I'm totally happy with it, but like I said, I'd rather have 2 KDSs. My girlfriend, on the other hand, would rather have 1 or 2 Planars for the pivot feature (desktop publishing). You really can't got wrong with either.

 

[Tummy]

Heh. I guess you're lucky, jaggrey, that you don't see it. Like Ishmael, I see it in dvd's as well. Don't know if I'd say it's only for the elitiest fps player though. I personally hate fps's (they make me OH so sick) but I'm trying to struggle through RTCW 'cause it's a neat game. But anyway, the ghosting in that I'm finding really bad. At least to my eyes, anyway... it was pretty annoying at first but I'm getting used to it.

there's no real substitute for seeing one for yourself, though.

 

[Dimitri]

I don't consider myself an elitist FPS gamer but it was pretty hard trying to play HL at the constant 100fps I get on the PV174. Lots of blur/ghosting. Yes, it does exist and if you don't see it you're either getting crappy frame rates or are ignorant to what ghosting looks like. However, I'm sure most people could live with it. I got a headache playing it for a half hour, but perhaps I'm just more into the look since I rely highly on quick moves and precision shots, many times simultaneously. For a picky 3d gamer, look elsewhere.

 

[test99]

How's the PLANAR when scrolling text on webpages? Is it readable or blurry?

Thanks.

 

[Eviscerate]

<< It was pretty hard trying to play HL at the constant 100fps I get on the PV174. Lots of blur/ghosting. Yes, it does exist and if you don't see it you're either getting crappy frame rates or are ignorant to what ghosting looks like. >>



Try turning Vsync on, that should limit your FPS to the speed of your vertical refresh rate (60) and will eliminate tearing. Keep in mind that turning Vsync on in the drivers and in the game does not always seem to work. I don't think I ever did get it to work with Quake 3. You will know it worked if your FPS don't climb above 60. It may also help with ghosting and blurring a little. I would be interested to see if that helps any. I am in the market for an LCD, but the conflicting reports I have been reading about ghosting while FPS gaming is the main thing holding me back from making a purchase. I am looking at buying the PV150, so if anyone has seen one, I would love to hear comments.

 

[MustPost]

too bad I don't have 600 to spend

 

[Tummy]

Eviscerate, I have vsync always on for both direct3d and opengl. I also used console command max_fps 30 to limit the # of frames per second to 30 but still see ghosting.

Test, scrolling is usually fine. If you scroll fast, you can't read it anyway but you can tell that the scrolling is words. It doesn't take anytime at all for the text to come into focus so you can read to what you just scrolled to. Occasionally, on certain pages (i think the pag was white on black but I can't remember). Scrolling it around you could actually see the words fade in and out, but it was fast enough when you stopped.

 

[unsped]

look at that logo, yuk .. might as well say tron, or welcome to the 80's arcade system.