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

adamlee21 said:
i just got my VP201s today from Staples (i'm a canadian, so dunno if there's the same store in the US). Unfortunately, after using it for 2 days, i found 3 dead pixels: one at top right-hand corner, one in the middle, and one down at bottom right-hand corner. I can't really see these dead pixels unless i turn off my bedroom light and look VERY closely .... coz these dead pixels are SOOOOO damn small. however, since all of u guys seem to have no-to-one dead pixel, i wonder if u guys suggest that i should go exchange for a new one?
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Well... that's more up to you. For 3 total, I'd probably not go thru the hassle. It is easier in your case, because of you purchasing it from a local store, which makes it much better than having to package it up..ship...wait...etc.. I can almost guarantee that I wouldn't go thru the return/replace process if I had ordered the monitor online. I found a dead pixel on mine (only visible under a few colors) about a month ago, and I haven't noticed it one time since, and I have lived with more than 3 on various laptops in the past.
 
Can someone help me, maybe it's a driver setting but I dubt it... This monitor really blurs alot in games and its very anoying. Would stepping down to a 12ms 19" Viewsonic be better for teh blur problem or a waste of time and money since there would be no difference vs the 16ms the 201 has?
 
I just ran the MD calibrator and found two dead pixels in the mid-right area of the screen. The strange thing is, they're only viewable at certain angles. I think I can live with that :p
 
Well I just got my VP201B. All I can say is WOW! It looks really quite awesome. I ran the dead pixel finder at monitorsdirect.com and I couldn't find any and I really scoured the screen pretty good. So either I just can't see them or there aren't any.

Is there any way to make the ATI drivers auto-rotate the screen when you rotate the monitor?
 
Just got off the phone with Viewsonic Technical Support and they stated to me that 20% of all LCD monitors they ship have various degrees of dead pixels with some in rare instances having upward to 15 dead pixels at purchase, they also claim the problem won't get worse over time because its caused in the maunfacturing process. So basically its a crap shoot.
 
First of all great review sandman78, after reading this thread a few times I decided to buy a VP201B. :D
I should get it next week, hopefully it will have very few or no defects.
 
After much hesitation (I was thinking about getting a 22" CRT, but it's way too big), I just bought a VP201b today. Really nice.
At first I plugged it with the D-SUB (since I have a kvm), and there was something wrong about text (kind of blurry) at 1600x1200. After plugging it with DVI every thing is fine now.
Just finished DOOM3 on it (ok I was just at the last boss before buying the monitor), and it looked good.
Must find a DVI KVM now...
 
To be complete after a few days of use :
- the screen door effect is noticeable (even with DVI) but I'm getting used to it.
- no dead pixels
The blurriness I was talking about was more due to gnome/gtk handles fonts than (even though DVI improves the image quality).
 
stavroguine said:
To be complete after a few days of use :
- the screen door effect is noticeable (even with DVI) but I'm getting used to it.
- no dead pixels
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I have also been using my monitor now for a few days and Im happy with it. :D

I have 1 dead pixel but no screen door effect I have seen so far.
 
I was one of the few that was very unhappy with my VP201. The sceren door effect was so bad it almost made the monitor hard to use. Everything seemed to have lines in it. Like the gray color around this message box looked like it had a lot of lines through it. And the backlight bled through the screen in a number of places. Mostly the corners, but spread towards the center of the screen.
 
swinchen said:
I was one of the few that was very unhappy with my VP201. The sceren door effect was so bad it almost made the monitor hard to use. Everything seemed to have lines in it. Like the gray color around this message box looked like it had a lot of lines through it. And the backlight bled through the screen in a number of places. Mostly the corners, but spread towards the center of the screen.
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Ive noticed those same issues.
 
I just bought the VP201S over the weekend from Costco for $799.00 :). I love the monitor and your review hits it right on the money. I couldn't be happy. Also, I live in Phoenix and I went to the Costco at Arrowhead Ranch in Glendale but they didn't have the monitor there, I found it at the Costco off of 27th Ave & 1-17 in North Phoenix. Not sure why one Costco had it in stock and the other didn't, I was suprised to find this monitor at Costco. So if you are planning on getting this and have a Costco membership, I would call them before you go up to your local Costco to see if they have any in stock, this item isn't available on ww.costco.com either. Just so you know, I have the Silver Bezel instead of the Black. Later, Shramj
 
Just received my VP201B...

liferulez.jpg


No dead pixels! :)
And yes I understand what people mean by SD but at least I need to sit uncomfortable close to be bothered by it. A very nice screen overall, and playing in 1600*1200 is something that everyone should be able to experience :D

Thanks to everyone who has given their opinion on this monitor, both good and bad, it's great to know what you're buying.
 
Haribo said:
Just received my VP201B...

liferulez.jpg


No dead pixels! :)
And yes I understand what people mean by SD but at least I need to sit uncomfortable close to be bothered by it. A very nice screen overall, and playing in 1600*1200 is something that everyone should be able to experience :D

Thanks to everyone who has given their opinion on this monitor, both good and bad, it's great to know what you're buying.
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what keyboard is that in the picture?
 
Gosh, that looks so good I'm wondering if it's photochopped :p

Awesome set up. I like the desk a lot. What's the little box to the right of the monitor with the X design on it and all the wires sticking out from the bottom?
 
Gascogne said:
First of all great review sandman78, after reading this thread a few times I decided to buy a VP201B. :D
I should get it next week, hopefully it will have very few or no defects.
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I'm glad you found the review & thread helpful. Enjoy your new monitor!

shramj said:
I just bought the VP201S over the weekend from Costco for $799.00 . I love the monitor and your review hits it right on the money. I couldn't be happy. ...
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That's a great price, especially considering I got mine back when they were still $999.99. Glad you're happy with your VP201.

Haribo said:
Just received my VP201B...
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Nice PIC & Nice workstation! If you haven't, make sure and post that in the "2004 Post Your Workstation" thread.
[OFF TOPIC] Is that silver component some type of headphone amp? Just curious because I'm wanting to get one soon. If you would, PM me.[/OFF TOPIC]
 
Jerry said:
Gosh, that looks so good I'm wondering if it's photochopped :p

Awesome set up. I like the desk a lot. What's the little box to the right of the monitor with the X design on it and all the wires sticking out from the bottom?
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It's an Adaptec USB 2.0 Hub, and no it's not photochopped :)

sandman78 said:
[OFF TOPIC] Is that silver component some type of headphone amp? Just curious because I'm wanting to get one soon. If you would, PM me.[/OFF TOPIC]
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Yes it is a Headphone Amplifier. More info about it here

I just posted in the "2004 Post Your Workstation" thread so I guess any questions can be asked there instead.
 
I just ordered this monitor this week.... came in the mail on Friday. This monitor simply blows me away. I got it from newegg, even though their dead pixel policy wasn't the best, I figured I would go for it.

I was stunned when I opened the box, I guess I wasn't expecting it to be that big, I had it setup in a matter of minutes and switched my R9800 to use the different DVI frequency. Looks amazing, as far as I can tell I only have 1 dead pixel up in the upper right that is black on light colors.

The lower right corner is a tad darker then the rest of the screen, but even on totally black screen, its very hard to see the back light.

Now, I know what people mean by screen door affect. It doesn't bother me, but reminds me of having a bit of dust on the screen. I only notice it when there are brighter colors.. mainly, white and light grey. When I am playing a game or just surfing normally, I don't even see it it.

Color looks great to me and clarity at 1600x1200 is awesome. I only had about an hour before I passed out from working 16 hours yesterday to play with it, but I am going to try some games in non-native to see how it looks. I know CoH was a little taxing at 16x12 for my current setup. Prolly gonna have to upgrade to a faster vid card so I can run WoW at that res =P.

So, really the screen door effect is the only thing that slightly bothers me, but I am definitely going to get used to it and live with it. Its really nothing more then when Flat CRTs had those thicker guide lines going across the screens back in the day.

Also, having dead pixels shouldn't bother most people. They are extremely small. Its not like when your used to seeing 15" screens with 1024x768 native and having a dead pixel. It took me like 2 minutes before I could find my one dead one. I just kept looking past it because it was so small.

Two-Thumbs from me, to me this was worth every penny, even the 2 day shipping =P
 
Hahaha Haribo, sorry, that was meant to be a compliment =) Very vivid picture!
 
clarkkent333 said:
I don't know if anyone has mentioned this but Costco is selling a rebranded 201. Its the Viewsonic VP2000. Goes for $899. Its missing the usb hub and only has a 1 year warranty but the specs are exactly the same. Might be worth a shot given Costco's fantastic return policy.
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Long time lurker, first time poster.

I have read this post front to back and scene more than one reference to the VP201 being sold at Costco under the VP2000 product ID. Can anyone confirm that this is true?

I wish I had written down the product number when I was at Costco last night. It looks to be the same and the return policy seems golden. The USB hub is not something that makes it or breaks it for my uses.

Thanks!
 
Dekar12 said:
I just ordered this monitor this week.... came in the mail on Friday. This monitor simply blows me away....
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Dekar12, I'm glad you're happy with you're new monitor, and thanks for posting your review.
 
I've just received my VP201s and it's stunning. I'm quite pleased with the purchase. Only thing that is niggling me is that I've got a stuck pixel already (wasn't there when I first switched it on!).
 
Hello HardForum :).

I bought this monitor 2 days ago and I'm quite pleased with it, however I have two major problems:

1. Backlight is very bright (using d-sub, dvi-a & dvi-d); the black looks like dark gray when the room is dark, and the room does not even have to be completely dark as the black still looks like gray. There is also quite much backlight leakage on the upper portion of the panel. Adjusting the monitor settings does not help.

2. I see mostly horizontal thin red lines on the black when using dvi-d. D-sub works fine. The overclocking of my 6800GT has no effect on this. There is a solution for this problem in Ati video card settings but how about nvidia? What should I do? I haven't found a setting in driver settings that could help..

Should I RMA this monitor because of the first problem? Please advise me and sorry for my bad finnish english :)..
 
I'm trying to decide between the VP201 and the VP912. I currently have a Sony G500 and I'm afraid I may be too spoiled to drop down to a 19", as insignificant as that may be for some. However, I like the fact that the 912 ia 12ms.
 
Sakkeus said:
Hello HardForum :).

I bought this monitor 2 days ago and I'm quite pleased with it, however I have two major problems:....
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Sakkeus, seems I remember at least one other person having those exact same problems. Look back on previous pages of this thread, and you should find it. I'd look back, but it's late and I'm lazy :D.
 
sandman78 said:
Sakkeus, seems I remember at least one other person having those exact same problems. Look back on previous pages of this thread, and you should find it. I'd look back, but it's late and I'm lazy :D.
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I rma'd my monitor. Took a day for the new one to arrive. This new one has better backlight and almost none backlight leak. Bet there are 3 dead pixels, two red and one white on the black background but I don't see those from 90-100cm from where we use this monitor so I don't mind those so much and I'll keep this one. Costed only 870$ because an error was on the store's webpage ;). Normally these cost here in Finland and Europe 1100-1300$ (~900€).
 
I've run into a couple of issues with this monitor, which I picked up this morning. First, when I turned it on, didn't come on, had to flip the switch a few times before the green light came on. Second, if I have the contrast beyond 3/4 of the way up, my light grays turn mauve (pinkish). Third, I have a dead pixel on the far left side centre, only shows on a blue screen, no big deal.

I paid $799cdn for it, so I'm not anxious to return it as they won't likely have anything to replace it with. Anyone else run into problems with it not coming on and odd colours?
 
Just got this monitor as well....

My 2 pennies:

Greatest lcd on the market for gamers. No ghosting, unbelievable colors, and 1600x1200. What more could you want?

I couldn't really imagine a hardcore gamer wanting another monitor. Yes, you could go to 12ms, but you wouldln't be able to tell a difference and you'd wouldn't have 1600x1200 (at least I think that there aren't any 20"+ lcd's w/below 16ms).
 
Okay, I just got this thing replaced, and it does the same thing, but not quite as much. Can someone here who has this monitor try something out for me? Go to this website:

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/index.php?

And turn your contrast all the way up, then start backing down. Do the gray and white colours change as you do this? Mine do, various shades of pink and gray. I just want to rule out the video card. Thanks.
 
hagbard said:
Okay, I just got this thing replaced, and it does the same thing, but not quite as much. Can someone here who has this monitor try something out for me? Go to this website:

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/index.php?

And turn your contrast all the way up, then start backing down. Do the gray and white colours change as you do this? Mine do, various shades of pink and gray. I just want to rule out the video card. Thanks.
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Is it possible it has something to do with your graphics card as i have read this thread and can't see anyone who has that pinkish problem.
 
Has anyone tried going to that site and then adjusting their contrast? Maybe I"ll head to the store where I bought it and see if their display model does it.
 
is there backlight and gamma adjustment/settings for viewsonic vp201?
looks like Sony HS94P has them.
 
firey-eyez said:
er did you just say that the VP201B has better picture quality than the 213T?? every review ive read has said that the 213T delivers better picture quality. interesting news..welcome btw
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lol....Okay, I have both. I've been using the 213T for about a year now and I've been pretty happy with it, but I couldn't stand the ghosting in games. So I took the plung and forked over another $800 and got the VP201b, and let me say that it is a much better monitor. The colors are more vibrant and true, and the 16ms response can't be beat. I've used Pantone's colorvision Spyder on both monitors to calibrate/test and the VP201 comes away with better colors hands down. I couldn't recommend this monitor more. :)

BTW - anyone want to buy a 1 yr old 213T? (no, I'm not joking--it's you guys or ebay)
 
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