Xerox XL-572DB

CNET editors' review

Xerox recently entered the crowded monitor market with several new lines of LCDs for the home and the office. The 17-inch XL-572DB, from the midrange Xerox 5 series, offers better image quality than the 3 series' XL-350B that we looked at, but the XL-572DB offers fewer features and lesser image quality than other lower-price 17-inch LCDs, such as Planar's PE170.

The XL-572DB comes in black or silver, with all the sober styling of a nice suit. Where most LCDs have flimsy plastic bodies, the XL-572DB's curved neck and ring-shaped base are made of solid metal. It's not the most adjustable display, however. You can tilt the panel about 35 degrees backward and attach it to a VESA arm or wall mount, but it won't swivel, pivot, raise, or lower. Also missing is a cable-feed system, so signal and audio cords dangle off the back of the display.

The XL-572DB has one analog and one digital input, though only an analog cable comes included. There's also an audio input, which is split into right and left channels so that you can adjust the balance, but the XL-572DB's speakers aren't worth much. They sound fine for incidental Web and operating system sounds, but they're simply not good enough for serious music appreciation.

Unlike the supersensitive buttons on Xerox's lower-end sibling, the slim, chrome buttons on the XL-572DB's front panel require a concerted press to engage the onscreen menu; we wonder why Xerox has bestowed such sensitivity to its lower end, leaving the grunt work to the higher-paying customers. In any event, both displays have unique, colorful, graphically driven onscreen menus that are easy to navigate.

The XL-572DB performed acceptably in CNET Labs' tests--impressive for an introductory product. The monitor has a maximum resolution of 1,280x1,024, and images were sharp and crisp. Colors looked bold, and there was less hue shifting--which is when a color's tint changes when its intensity increases or decreases--than with the XL-350B. Still, both Xerox displays suffered from uneven backlighting and were much brighter along the bottom than the top.

Xerox backs the XL-572DB with an industry-standard three-year warranty; however, the backlight is covered for only two years--a bit chintzy in our opinion. Lifetime toll-free phone support is available Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT. Xerox's Web site offers driver downloads, FAQs, and an online support-request feature.

CNET Labs DisplayMate tests   CNET score

Plannar PE170 77  Samsung SyncMaster 173P 75  Dell 1703FP 74  Xerox XL-572D 71  NEC AccuSync LCD7V 66

Brightness in nits  (Longer bars indicate better performance) Measured with the Sencore CP500 / Minolta CA-210

Planar PE170 285  Dell 1703FP 240  Samsung SyncMaster 173P 223  NEC AccuSync LCD7V 218  Xerox XL-572D 196