NEC MultiSync LCD1970VX

The good: Front-desk-friendly design; reasonable price; optional warranty upgrades.

The bad: Preset modes for brightness, contrast, and temperature are buried in the onscreen menu; not appropriate for precision color work.

The bottom line: The NEC MultiSync LCD1970VX is a reasonably priced, well-designed LCD that will fit most users' needs for flexibility and image quality.

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Description: The NEC MultiSync LCD1970VX is a 19 in, flat panel computer monitor. Compared to other flat panel monitors on the market, it is midpriced at around $330. This display features a 1280x1024 native resolution. Weighs 15.4 lbs.

Pros: Accepts DVI input, which allows for greater signal clarity than traditional VGA.

Cons: Has only 1280x1024 resolution, which is lower than some similarly priced monitors. For example, the ASUS PW191 , a 19 in monitor at around $360, has 1440x900 resolution. Also, this monitor has 0.294 mm dot pitch, which is less favorable than some similarly priced monitors.

Suitability: Made for those who want a spacious screen that will not hog their entire desk.

Value: In general, this monitor's features are as expected for this price.

Suggestions: (1) Before purchasing an LCD monitor, consider visiting your local store for a live demo to ensure that its overall image quality, color, and sharpness meets your expectation. (2) Since this monitor is DVI-capable, you might want a DVI-enabled graphics card in your PC to connect with it -- this will pass the digital video signal directly without converting it to analog, making for better performance.