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

[Mecheater]

Great deal, but I'm with everybody else on the next gen LCD's. Tempting though.

 

[BanaricThespides]

OK - I caved! I spent the the better part of the week trying to talk myself out of the purchase. I kept asking 'friends' to help talk me out of it. Lousy friends... '

Anyways, ordered Friday morning. Hope it's as good as most say. I am a gamer too, but seeing as the one genre of game I don't play is the FPS, I should be OK with the ghosting issue (I HOPE!!!).

Anyways, thanks MUCH for bringing this deal to my attention... now for some revenge, let's see if I can talk my friends into buying one also...

 

[Dimitri]

You might have to talk extra hard then cuz it appears the monitor can't be ordered anymore. Only the $699 white one.

 

[test99]

Maybe they discountinued it..?

 

[test99]

The black Planar is still availale at the Small Business store.

 

[WalkingDead]

Received the one I ordered 2 days ago. So far I'm very happy with it. No dead pix. Yes, I see there's some motion blur when play back DVD movies. I guess the MVA technology is not that cracks up to be but the viewing angel is great. However, I got this this LCD for use with Dreamwaver, Photoshop, Lightwave and XSI. For that it's wonderful.

 

[douglassirk]

anyone compare this monitor to the 20inch dell 2000fp monitor???
i got one a little bit ago.... it is the most beautiful thing i have
ever seen...
puts my high end 22inch sony to shame..... felt like i was
going blind switching back and forth to the sony it looked so bad in
comparison...
with XP and cleartype on its totally UNREAL text wise.....

ALAS it does have 19 stuck or dead pixels...... only 3-4 can i see
without a black background... and only 1 of those is really bright
enough to show up on anything other that black or near black
background... and you sorta have to be looking for it to see it...

alas at $1700 or so after interest..... i hate the idea of having these
dead/stuck pixels..... i got a rather depressing response from dell (lots of talk about 5 dead in the space of a quarter talk) in a dell support
email (if anyone is interested and i can dig it up 'll email you a coipy or post it here, in the midst of a rebuild and think i might have lost that days email tho

anyways.... has anyone compared the plana 17+ with the 20+ inch dell??? (especially with cleartype... i ask as thats the most important thing to me and the 1024x768 lcds do no good with cleartype and my 1600x1200 ibm a21p and this dell 20inch lcd both look like PAPER to read on..... 2000$ sony crt's look like crap in comparison.... and i think its the large resolution that makes the cleartype soooo freakin good..... so i sorta wonder what the 12x10 planar would look like...)

for no dead pixels 1000$ and piece of mind i think i might return this and get a planar or equivelent at this point..... tho this damn thing IS beautiful bur for that one bright dead pixel i CAN see if i look.... i wouldnt even be thinking this way....

depressing thing is i came across like 10 people online who bought a fp2000 lcd from dell and claim NO DEAD or stuck pixels...... either they have bad eyesight or i have bad luck

 

[test99]

That's way too many dead pixels.

Return the monitor for sure.

 

[Dimitri]

The 17.4" planar I tried with cleartype was VERY nice looking for text. It put my PF790 to shame, and I paid over $400 for that less than a year ago. I can't believe they won't return a monitor that has that many dead pixels or sub-pixels. Lame.

 

[HeavyB]

Cleartype looking bad at 1024X768. Couldn't be farther from the truth in my opinion. Toggling it on and off on my RAD5 at work had the few people with laptops/LCDs for monitors scrambling to order XP. Guess it's not only my opinion.

HeavyB

 

[douglassirk]

well i do have the 30 days no questions asked return policy till like the 28th i think..... right?

i just HATE to give this sucker up... and the 20% off is long gone and i'll never get anything this nice again i just have a feeling......
and like i said my high end sony sitting for the moment to my right.... makes me feel like i'm going blind to look at text on it now

and dont get me wrong... i wish i had NO dead pixels.... but they arent all (the 19) DEAD.
all but 1 are stuck on red or blue etc...... and are very tiny......
i've had people sit here in my chair and they cant see ANY except on an all black clear background.... and then they ussually say they only see the ONE and even it they have to look for......
if i point them out then they can see some of the BLUE and RED ones..... but they are so dark they dont show up real well..... most of the 19 you have to stick your nose up against the screen to see.....

sigh.....

re cleartype.... and 1024x768..... it might just depend on the monitor... i just assumed cause the 2 1600 res lcds i have seen looked 10 times better with cleartype... that maybe it was a resolution thing (compared to the samsung 1024x768'2 i have seen with it enabled... which really just get a tad blurry with it enabled

 

[test99]

Don't worry about missing the 20% deal.

Dell has these deals once every month or two.

These deals are making them money so they will use them again since people buying computers is way down anyway and they have no chice but to have these specials.

 

[mrVW]

Dell Home seems to no longer carry the black one.

I could only find this deal by going through "Small Business" (which I am) .... there is a 15% coupon on Techbargains that I used - so I got it for $601. with tax I think.

Just ordered one.

 

[JameyF]

I just received mine...just shy of $600 shipped next day air. Overall, I am pleased with the monitor after very short, limited use. It really beats the pants off of my hitachi Super Scan Elite 751 as far as colors, geometry (lots of factors here in favor of the planar), and just general looks. The screen size is slightly smaller (~.5") than 19" CRT's, but that should be known by anyone familiar with the way they're measured. Digital connection is the way to go to simplify the adjustments (there really aren't any in digital). Ghosting is noticable, but only slightly and doing certain things like scrolling text faster than you can read or moving the mouse faster than you can follow it anyway (as said before). Mine had one stuck pixel (colored blue) that I've noticed so far in 30 minutes of use. I barely touched the screen (anticipating having to message), and it went back to normal. I haven't used the speakers (no way they can touch my home theater speakers). There are only 2 USB ports out (unlike the 4 that was stated on Dell's website). All of the inputs/outputs are hard to get to. Fortunately, this shouldn't be a common occurance.

I agree with both of those who have said ghosting is unbearable, and those who have said it's hardly noticable. I've had both feelings come and go quickly. What is left is the realization that this isn't a CRT, and it will not perform like one. Don't get this monitor thinking it is the best thing since sliced bread. You won't get the best of both worlds in an flat panel for this kind of dough yet. Do get it if you have the extra cash and want a good/fairly large display without lots of depth, and you don't mind the slight imperfections that occompany an LCD display.

Strong points vs. my monitor:
Color
Geometry
Crisp clear display
Digital connection
Short depth
USB ports built in (albeit hard to get to)

Weaknesses:
Slight ghosting
limited use of resolutions
possiblility of dead or stuck pixels
slightly less screen size vs. a 19" crt


Feel free to PM me with questions, and I hope my short and informal review has helped those on the fence one way or the other. One last thing. For some strange reason, I don't get the bootup post information to come through onto the LCD. The first screen I get to post is the windows log on screen. I'm sure this isn't the fault of the monitor, but the user. When I have both monitors (LCD and CRT) hooked up to my ATI 7500, the CRT displays the info, but still not the LCD. If anyone has ideas, I'd love to hear them.


EDIT: After looking more closly at the screen during different screen colors, I have a stuck White pixel in the top right. Since I mainly use interent explorer this one isn't bothersome. It would be slightly annoying in games that have dark backgrounds though (Diablo 2). I've played D2 now with this LCD and there is more ghosting than would be acceptable in fast action games. I wouldn't recommend this monitor for a primarily gaming rig. Also, it took a bit of searching ot find out how to turn on the cleartype font system in win XP, but mana does it make a difference. Teext is much easier to read at the 1280x1024 resolution.

 

[Dimitri]

I had the same problem on bootup. My guess was the LCD was incapable of displaying that particular resolution, even in a scaled fashion. I highly agree with your review in my experience with the LCD. It was good enough to consider keeping but not good enough to consider 'replacing' my current CRT since I am into 3D gaming and rely on fast movements and pinpoint accuracy in some games which the 'blur' definitely made more difficult.

 

[Eviscerate]

<< One last thing. For some strange reason, I don't get the bootup post information to come through onto the LCD. The first screen I get to post is the windows log on screen. I'm sure this isn't the fault of the monitor, but the user. When I have both monitors (LCD and CRT) hooked up to my ATI 7500, the CRT displays the info, but still not the LCD. If anyone has ideas, I'd love to hear them. >>



I think I read in a previous post that a digital connection only functions inside of Windows and does not display boot up screens. Don't take this as fact, just something that someone thinks they may have read in another users post, lol. Try hooking up the LCD via analog and see if it displays the POST screen. If you have a dual output card, you could hook up both the analog and digital outputs to the Planar, so you don't have to use analog inside windows.

 

[JameyF]

<< I had the same problem on bootup. My guess was the LCD was incapable of displaying that particular resolution, even in a scaled fashion. >>




Hhhmmm...not good if this is the case. How would one change bios information without being able to see it? I'm sure there is a way to display it somehow. There are some resolutions only supported in analog format. I wonder if this is the case. Those of you who have purchased this and have the answer please chime in or PM me please.

 

[CirekL]

For those who think that it's no longer available on Dell's Home/Home Office site, it still is. My gf just ordered one for me...
Since I'm here, maybe I'll do a little ranting... Fry's has a 17" GEM flat panel LCD for $499 after rebates on sale this week.
The rebate expired 1/29/02. Be ware....

 

[JameyF]

It's not listed on the home side. You may be able to link directly to it frmo an old link, but I only see it on the business side. I ordered it there anyway with the 15% off coupon. I was getting charged tax on both the home and business section, and it only was about $10 more than on the home side if tax wouldn't have beenm charged.

 

[Laughalot]

<< I think I read in a previous post that a digital connection only functions inside of Windows and does not display boot up screens. Don't take this as fact, just something that someone thinks they may have read in another users post, lol. Try hooking up the LCD via analog and see if it displays the POST screen. If you have a dual output card, you could hook up both the analog and digital outputs to the Planar, so you don't have to use analog inside windows. >>



I actually do get the POST message on the PV174 and I am using the DVI port on my PNY Geforce 3 TI 200 card. Perhaps it might have something to do with your video card? I am thinking it is booting up in analog and then switching to digital when windows starts up.

 

[Zeiss]

I assure you that the LCD is perfectly capable of displaying POST screens, since they show up on my machine. I would guess it's more of a function of the video card than the monitor. In my case, I have an MSI Geforce3 Ti 200, and I have ONLY the LCD plugged in (in the DVI port) - the analog port has no connection.

Could your card be detecting a connection on the analog VGA port and automatically makeing the DVI port the secondary port (thus it wouldn't display anything until windows finished booting)?

 

[JameyF]

I removed my CRT monitor and tried booting with only the digital connection and no go. I haven't tinkered too long on it. Like I said in my review, the ports on the monitor are hard to get to, so I haven't been in a hurry to hook it up analog and try it. It does look like it is trying to do something, but just can't display the info. When the resolution changes, I do see screen information in the wrong location clearly, but very briefly. It's glad to here that it should be possible. I'll have to check my settings and tinker a bit.

 

[rosco6912]

is this still good? could someone PM me the code?
THANKS!!!

---I always catch these after they are dead =/

 

[jaggrey]

<<

<< I think I read in a previous post that a digital connection only functions inside of Windows and does not display boot up screens. Don't take this as fact, just something that someone thinks they may have read in another users post, lol. Try hooking up the LCD via analog and see if it displays the POST screen. If you have a dual output card, you could hook up both the analog and digital outputs to the Planar, so you don't have to use analog inside windows. >>



I actually do get the POST message on the PV174 and I am using the DVI port on my PNY Geforce 3 TI 200 card. Perhaps it might have something to do with your video card? I am thinking it is booting up in analog and then switching to digital when windows starts up. >>

If you have the monitor hooked up using digital then it's only receiving digital signals from the card. My Planar monitor displays every single screen when booting up, BIOS and all. The only resolution I haven't been able to use with this monitor is the one between 1024x768 and 1280x1024 -- i think it's 11?? x 864.

 

[Dimitri]

Perhaps the r8500 card I have is only throwing the BIOS and windows loading screens through the analog port. I had both the analog and DVI going to the LCD. When the LCD was switched to DVI input the bios and startup screens didn't show but for a split second. When the LCD was switched to analog all the screens showed. I have no idea how you would change that in the video card, though.