inch and over

Right out of the box, the ViewSonic VP211b required only one brightness/contrast adjustment to calibrate its output for print, which is a remarkable change from my experience with a high end, problematic and short-lived CRT with integrated calibrator. It takes just a few minutes to understand the on screen controls and to know the buttons by feel. The monitor base is solidly constructed and can be positioned to make the two "legs" less obtrusive, which is important for my use with a rather large graphics tablet. The display's height, pivot and rotation adjustments are precise and virtually effortless. In portrait mode, the amount of vertical real estate is surprising and has become increasingly preferable to landscape mode for a number of tasks.

After two hundred-plus hours of use, I have yet to find a single bright or dead pixel, but there is one major caveat: a "No Signal" error occured on screen with the DVI cable installed. ViewSonic's Customer Support rep would only say that my ATI Fire GL 8800 accelerator card must be incompatable, but my question about a compatable cards list drew a non-response.

The monitor operates perfectly well in analog, but to avoid startup errors in Windows 2000, it's important that the "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display" box in the Display Properties/Settings/Advanced/Monitor window is checked (make sure that all changes are made while the display is in landscape mode!).

Overall, the VP211b's large screen presence, highly flexible positioning, easy USB port access and neutral color balance are qualities that were either lacking or altogether missing with prior monitors. Although I cannot comment on its digital-input performance at this time, the VP211b nontheless provides a comfort level that exceeded my expectations.

I previously had a 21" CRT/17" LCD dual monitor configuration, and replaced the 21" CRT with this monitor. The first thing I noticed was how bad it made my older 17" LCD look. Colors are sharp, contrast is extremely good, and there are no color or brightness variations across the surface that I can spot. The unit I have has absolutely no dead or stuck pixels, but I don't know what the ViewSonic policy is on that, so I may just be lucky.

It is an expensive monitor, but I wanted the combination of (relatively) small footprint and 1600x1200 resolution, and have been very happy with it.

The USB 2.0 hub is a bonus, as very few LCDs seem to offer one. The box supplied both VGA and DVI cables. If you have not priced them out, DVI cables tend to run in the $50 to $70 range, so having a DVI cable included is a significant feature.