Viewsonic VP201B 20.1" 16ms LCD "Mini-Review"

Spent some time deciding which LCD to buy and finally bought a VP201s from SCAN (today only) yesterday for £590 delivered including VAT. I was pleased with the price and happy with the purchase but listen to this tale of woe.

My 3rd 22" IIyama 514 Pro, in just over a year, was on the blink again and I bit the bullet and bought the ViewSonic 201s LCD. The IIyama was set to 1600x1200 - refresh rate of 85 when it went on the blink and when I installed the new ViewSonic 201 a message appeared on the screen Out Of Range. I guess that was the IIyama refresh rate of 85 causing the problem and tried a reset to safe mode to alter the settings. The screen display was excellent in safe mode but I could not access my Radeon X800 Pro card refresh rate settings from safe mode.

I used the two buttons on the front of the monitor - the 2 and the up arrow held in together and a message popped up saying 1600x1200x60hz so reboot thinking all would be fine but the Out of Range message was all I got. I rang SCAN first and was told to check the guide on the CD as the guy I spoke to had no idea how to fix it. No mention of the Out of Range message in the manual so I rang the ViewSonic main help number found in the manual. That was an absolute joke. The lady I spoke to at great length spent 10 minutes collecting all my details and the Monitor details before putting me on hold to check with somebody else. The fix it method I was told - if I didn't have another Monitor to use to change the refresh rate borrow one from a friend. I asked to speak to the techie dept and she told me to use the VS web page and send an email.

I did find the 'fix' myself and it turned out to be simple. Hit F8 during boot and instead of using safe mode use VGA mode and then I was able to access my video card display settings and set the refresh rate to 60 - all OK now.

The VP201s so far - superb - can't fault it in any way - just a shame I had no techie support.

Ray
 
Ray Sheppard said:
The VP201s so far - superb - can't fault it in any way - just a shame I had no techie support.

Ray
Click to expand...

I spoke too soon....


After 3 or 4 hours of use a very audible double crack, similar to the noise from a Monitor when booting up or changing resolution is heard followed two minutes or so later by another double crack and so on through the day.

I rang SCAN (the retailer) and the Techi said it was only a couple of days old and to ring ViewSonic helpdesk to get it replaced. On Tuesday 19th I rang VS and explained the problem and was told to check the LCD Monitor on another PC.

I did that and it was the same....so I tried the following on the original PC

Changed the LCD Power cable
Updated to the latest VP201 LCD drivers
Updated my ASUS (A7V880) BIOS
Reinstalled my ATI X800 Pro drivers and then DirectX9.0c
Tried running in safe mode but it still cracks the same

VS then told me to FAX my receipt to them and issued me with a returns number. I rang Thursday to find out about the delay and was told they had none of that model in stock and were unsure when they would have. (This, the main ViewSonic help desk and my Monitor not yet 1 week old)

I blew a fuse and asked to speak to a director and eventually I did get to speak to one and gave him my problem and was given the same reason - they could not issue a replacement because they were out of stock and he didn't know when they would be in. After voicing my opinion of the company's totally unsatisfactory customer approach I
then asked him to ring SCAN and authorise another LCD VP201 to be sent to me.

I knew SCAN had plenty - they were on Special offer (Today only) and so he said he would try a different approach to speed the replacement up. He did ring back later and confirm a new Monitor would be with me early next week. (not from SCAN)

The picture quality of the VP201s is superb but the ViewSonic customer support in this instance is deplorable. I'm not sure if my very unsatisfactory dealings with ViewSonic are unusual but one week ago today my new LCD Monitor arrived and so far I am not very impressed with the ViewSonic customer support.
 
I got my VP201b about 2 weeks ago. It doesn't crack at all. I use it for about 8 hours a day, sometimes more.
 
obs said:
Got my 2 days ago. Works great so far.
Click to expand...

Don't notice SDE (screen door effect), eh? When I first got my VP201b, it was ever so slightly annoying. All I did was adjust colors and the tilt, and it virtually went away. Nowadays, I don't even notice it.
 
Hmm, a little bit I think. What did you do? I also have a single dead pixel but I never notice it.
 
Ray Sheppard said:
....I rang Thursday to find out about the delay and was told they had none of that model in stock and were unsure when they would have. (This, the main ViewSonic help desk and my Monitor not yet 1 week old)

I blew a fuse and asked to speak to a director and eventually I did get to speak to one and gave him my problem and was given the same reason - they could not issue a replacement because they were out of stock and he didn't know when they would be in. ....
Click to expand...


Could be a sign that this model is being phased out, and will be replaced by something else soon :D
 
You could be right about the VP201 being phased out. I am not as worried about that as I am about the VS service and although the picture quality is superb I have lost confidence in any future dealings with the European side of ViewSonic and will probably return the Monitor today for a refund.

I did ring SCAN and as soon as I told them about the lack of replacement they sent me an RMA and will refund my cash.

Just have to sort out a new 20/21" LCD Monitor to buy now.
 
I'm preparing to write another mini-review on this monitor. Before I do I'd like to know if anyone else using this monitor has notice barely visible vertical streaks in their screen when veiwing a completely black background?
 
Let me expound a bit. Barely visible "white" vertical streaks on the monitor screen when viewing a black background. Would also like opinions on back light bleeding.
 
Ray Sheppard,

I've got a similar problem to the one you described. After about two weeks of use my VP201B started making a very audible single "pop" noise about every five minutes. Sounds like it is coming from the bottom control panel. Did you ever get your issue resolved? Did you end up replacing the monitor?

Anyone else with a similar issue?
 
I just sent mine back to Dell. USB problems on mine one stuck pixel almost dead center in the middle of the monitor did'nt help me wanting to keep it either.

As far as gaming goes I did not see any problems with it a little color dull but that was it.
 
My VP201s has been in use for a couple of months and I am quite happy with it. Good color, no dead pixels, no screendoor, etc. The only problem is that the USB hub just crapped out. I am debating returning the monitor (I bought an extended warranty from Fry's, which should make the return easy) but don't want to risk getting another with a dead pixel or two.
 
I've had my vp201b for a few weeks now and am happy in general however on certain backgrounds I notice a 'sparkle' effect which I find quite annoying. I only see it on light colours (e.g when browsing a while-coloured web page or looking at the grey/blue skys in photos). This effect tends to give the impression of slightly grainy image. I don't think that this is the screen door effect that people have spoken about in this forum. I think it might be the anti-glare coating as it seems to be part of the front glass panel itself. I don't see the effect at all on darker colours (which look great).

Has anyone experienced this effect on this monitor (I don't see it on my 19" Dell LCD)?
 
PokerAlice, I tried pulling up pages and images that resembled what you described, and I don't notice anything. Could lighting in the room cause it? (keep in mind I don't know what it looks like) On another note (off topic)... I see you mentioned you have a 19" dell lcd. Any particular reason you went with the VP201 instead of going with another dell? Just curious.
 
Thanks for the response - actually since posting I've tried dropping the brightness on the display from full to around 50% and dropping the constrast to around 70% of max. The effect is still there but seems less noticeable so its possible that brightness/contrast adjustment is all thats required. How do you have your settings set?

Regarding the Dell - sorry should have clarified - the Dell is the LCD I use at work. I did look at a couple of Dell 20" monitors (2001FP, 2005FPW etc) but it seems that everyone was impressed with the VP201s scaling to non-native resolutions. This was a important factor for me as I like playing games sometimes but don't have the most powerful graphics card (6600GT).
 
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