Viewsonic VX2025wm arrived! First impressions and pics

After buying another VX2025wm monitor for a relative whose computer I upgraded, I noticed that it (the anti-glare screen) looked alot better in their room. The room had alot of ambient light from a nearby but offset overhead cieling fan and a table lamp on the far side of the room. Oddly it seems to me that in some cases more lighting makes the anti-glare layer less obvious.
Additionally the monitor was out of the box, so wasn't tweaked and had a 'fresh start' on settings, and the desk, chair, and viewing perspective were alittle different.

I came home and put a small soft lamp on the 'phone table' that I use for my mouse alongside my desk.. (it matches my desk btw, and the lamp for that matter). I also reverted to windows XP's default theme to get back to the default fonts. I had been using tweak XP's panther theme. Next I ran the cleartype font configuration tool again. I also set the icons back to full size, since I had shrunken them. I also experimented more with the monitors distance from my eyes.

I basically went back to the drawing board. The default fonts help and the room lighting helps alot. I also found a great addon for my favorite game, WorldOfWarcraft (WoW). It is basically a cleartype font addon for WoW, which helps greatly.

ClearFont WoW addon(link)

I still can see the frost alittle over any text but the edges are cleaner now on very small fonts. I'm going to keep the monitor another day and see if I can jimmy it up enough to make it acceptable to me for long periods of usage. I may have to buy another lamp for my room. Perhaps between the tweaks and training my eyes, and repositioning the monitor distance it will end up being a keeper after all.
 
What would be the best way for hooking up a 360 to this monitor? I saw someone else say maybe the VD-Z3 Encoder that's about $50, anyone else have an opinion?
 
I just checked officemax and according to the web page and the local store the price went back up to $450, and they are out of stock at the store. Sale ended :(

CompUsa's website lists it for $399.99 and has a $50 mail in rebate available, but it is listed as a mail item only. This means there is no in-store pickup available. You have to order it to your house and the order system would only allow you turn return it via RMA and mailing the unit back. This is a big downside to getting the monitor from CompUsa in my opinion.

CircuitCity lists the monitor for $400 w/free shipping. Its not avail. in store their either.


Just passing the info along. I prefer to buy montors locallly. I hate RMA-shipping them back.
 
I use cleartype. It helped a little bit by using the cleartype tuner on Microsofts website.
 
You can also download the cleartype tuner as a powertoy from microsoft, so that it will appear as an icon in your control panel. That way you can run it whenever you would like.

ms cleartype tuner powertoy
 
I just got this monitor today. I really like it. I have a question. What exaclty does the cd do that comes with it. Is it really necessary to install the cd drivers. I have heard it conflicts with radeon drivers. I was just wondering if i should put in the cd or not. thanks.
 
you don't need it unless you're using an old OS that doesn't have the drivers in it already.
 
Just tested the vx2025xm and dell 2007 and the 2007 blows. Everyone get a vx2025 now. The banding tests looks so smooth on the vx2025.
 
what online retailer has the best monitor warrenty? I'm about to buy the vx2025wm but i can't stand neweggs 8 pixel warrenty. How is Buy.com's warrenty since they have the best price?
 
Got my VX2025wm from Buy.com today. I'd be pleased as punch, but I managed to draw the egg with one stuck pixel almost smack in the middle. Arg! Tried out the massage technique, but no go. Going to try the epilepsy movie therapy, but in the meantime I'm trying to prep for the worst.

The pixel doesn't show up in black or bright white, but does in a lot of tones in between. Anywhere else and I'd be able to live with it, but I'm a computer DVD-watcher and it's hyper distracting when Gandalf's got a bright speck on his nose.

I looked over Buy.com's return policies and it seems like they'll take it back if I eat shipping since one pixel doesn't fall under the definition of "defective" but it's a bit confusing. Has anybody actually had to return one of these to Buy.com?
 
CompUsa also has the monitor for delivery only (no store pickup available), with free shipping at $399.99 with a $50 mail in after. From what I read it can only be returned via RMA mail-back, but that would be the case with Buy.com also. Buy.com wouldn't have you waiting on a mail in rebate though, and might have a better return policy. I'd have to read up on both companies return policy to be sure what they are.

Buy.com Viewsonic Monitor (link)

CompUSA viewsonic monitor (link)
 
Leighgion said:
I looked over Buy.com's return policies and it seems like they'll take it back if I eat shipping since one pixel doesn't fall under the definition of "defective" but it's a bit confusing. Has anybody actually had to return one of these to Buy.com?
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If you're looking at one stuck pixel it'll be hard to find any company that'll take it back. You're better off complaining about excessive light leakage from a particular corner or such. Then say you've read ton's of reviews and know it's not normal. Certainly sounds defective to me.

On a side note mine just arrived from buy.com today and I've checked it with deadpixel buddy and fortunately I am good to go. Time to buy a vid card so I can get to gaming...
 
I mentioned that I would update my ongoing impressions of this monitor (especially after I wrote up a negative review), so here is an update:

The more I use this monitor the more I realize it is in fact a good monitor. The anti-glare screen layer is far less noticible when there is adequate room lighting cast on it to somewhat balance the light coming out of the screen.

Another thing I just learned was having a far greater negative impact than I had realized is that I had been using custom themes whose fonts were not sypathetic to the anti-glare screen's texture at the monitor's native resolution. The windows XP default fonts work great after enabling cleartype and using the cleartype config tool. I will have to experiment with other fonts to find which ones work best, but for now I am just happy to have clear text. Difficult text was a major reason I was considering returning the monitor. I can live with having some fonts that don't get along with the screen when they are at their smallest. Its a small concession.
Furthermore the broken/frosted field effect on flat plains in high detail photos is much subdued when the room lighting is adequate.

:D
 
WarlordOne said:
If you're looking at one stuck pixel it'll be hard to find any company that'll take it back.
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Right, I wasn't thinking to cite the one pixel as the reason for return. I meant just basic "decided I don't want it" return. Buy.com has a base 30-day return policy with the caveat that if it's a non-defective return, the customer is responsible for return shipping. I can live with that, but it's not clear to me if any special policies apply to the monitors or not. There's no note about it on the VX2025wm's specific page, but there's an implication on their return policy page that at least some Viewsonic products can't be returned to them and you need to deal directly with Viewsonic. It's vague. Just wondered if anyone had concrete experience with this exact situation or not.

It's amazing how attention-grabbing one measly stuck pixel can be when it's in the wrong spot... I'd rather not have the monitor than be driven insane by that pixel mocking me.
 
is it worth it to buy the 12 or 24 month extended warrenty from buy.com on the monitor?
 
I am really liking my new viewsonic monitor. HD clips really look great on it. I have another question, which color adjust number should you use for it. The default is set for the middle number. Should i increase this number or leave it at it's factory defaults? thanks alot.
 
$30 for shipping ? That comes to be the same as the buy.com deal with 10% off.
 
When watching anime (cartoons), would a gfx card make a difference on this monitor? Dark scenes aren't doing well for me..it's driving me nuts.

I have a 6800GT and the files I watch are Avi, but looked way better on my CRT.
 
Ripped85 said:
When watching anime (cartoons), would a gfx card make a difference on this monitor? Dark scenes aren't doing well for me..it's driving me nuts.

I have a 6800GT and the files I watch are Avi, but looked way better on my CRT.
Click to expand...

LCD's will never have "true" blacks due to the nature of the backlighting and crystals of LCD. They have gotten better over the years, however LCD's are unable to create dark blacks due to the lighting from the backlight bleeding through the crystals making it a more "gray" then black image.

You can edit and tweak the LCD and the graphic cards driver settings to make the blacks better, but they won't make it perfect. ATI cards have been known to have more accurate color reproduction, but thats a whole nother topic itself.

There are currently no LCD's that create perfect blacks, though some come close. CRT's are still the only current technology that reproduces blacks accurately. SED technology will allow for true blacks in LCD size, but it will not come full swing until 2007-2008
 
Things seem to run darker and richer when matched per pixel. DVD resolution is 720 x 480, which unless run in a window would be scaled/stretched across the 1680 x 1050 pixels of the monitor to fill the screen. Compare the native dvd size in a window to full screen stretched and see if you can see a big difference. CRT TV's also have had 'inherint anti-aliasing' by nature of the technology, which helps with smoothness of edges vs stretching images across an LCD's crisp resolution.

You can upconvert the signal using an addon called FFDshow that may help maintain the pixel density when playback is scaled larger.


The non-HD channels (analog) on my LCD HD tv look very inferior for the same reason. When they are scaled down to a window while I have the channel menu up, they look great. I found a mod for my tv on an audio-video forum , which incorporates a high-end photographic filter for cameras which filters darker parts of the spectrum darker. This allows the screen's contrast and brightness controlls to be adjusted much better, making the blacks much blacker and colors richer, without crushing or blaring the whites. The tv is much improved now on all video content.

Unfortunately there isn't a big projector housing and lens you can slap a filter in front of on desktop LCD monitors. I would think the only way you could filter one easily would be to build a filter screen overlay in front of the LCD screen, on a stand or snap-on. In this regard the integrated glare-type screen of the NEC 20WMGX2 20.1" LCD might be more to your liking, other than the steep price. :eek:
The glare type coating tends to make the blacks richer. The NEC also has different contrast modes for viewing the integrated television tuner and DVDs, etc. which have extreme contrast supposedly. I have no personal exp with the NEC by the way, I'm just going by what I've read about it. I have used a 1920 x 1200 glare -type screen on a laptop though so I would think the effect is similar.
 
Varmint said:
This is back in stock at J&R, at $270 after rebate.
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I just ordered it through Amazon a few minutes ago so i could use my $25 reward certificate. It will work out to be around $277 shipped after $100 rebate. I've got a Dell 2005fpw now but i thought i would give this LCD a try. I like my new 2005fpw for the most part cause the backlight bleed is alright and no dead pixels and colors are good enough for me but the stupid thing keeps giving me a DVI: Cannot Display this Mode on warm boots. It usually boots on past the screen in a few seconds but its annoying cause sometimes it freezes on it. I dont know if its the DVI port and my 2005fpw or if its this X1900 XTX. Its one of the two for sure.
 
The one issue holding me back from jumping on this monitor is its ability to properly display 4:3 aspect ratio content. I still play alot of games that don't support widescreen even with tweaks. I'm sitting on the fence..opinions?
 
Spiff1333 said:
The one issue holding me back from jumping on this monitor is its ability to properly display 4:3 aspect ratio content. I still play alot of games that don't support widescreen even with tweaks. I'm sitting on the fence..opinions?
Click to expand...

Its pretty much, take it or leave it.
 
Can anyone tell me how this LCD compares to the 2005fpw? Anyone had both and care to elaborate on your opinions of them?
 
burningrave101 said:
Can anyone tell me how this LCD compares to the 2005fpw? Anyone had both and care to elaborate on your opinions of them?
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This monitor totally owns the 2005fpw....IMO
 
KingPing said:
This monitor totally owns the 2005fpw....IMO
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I think the one thing i'm concerned about is whether or not i will like the looks of the LCD compared to the 2005fpw and the fact that i can't rotate the screen horizontally or adjust the height.
 
I ordered this monitor from NewEgg for $349.00. I just tracked it and it's coming tomorrow! I'll be sure to post after I get it set up. Has anyone figured out what is causing the image scaling problem with nvidia 7xxx cards yet?
 
Dan3290 said:
where can i get this 10% off coupon?
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I found my coupon doing a google search; looks like right now they're doing a -$15 coupon. Maybe when that expires there'll be a % off coupon...
 
I need to return one, but I can't see anything about a restocking fee on Buy.com? Anyone know?
 
noobtech said:
I need to return one, but I can't see anything about a restocking fee on Buy.com? Anyone know?
Click to expand...

I'm in the same position. Still conflicted here with one, very irritatingly placed stuck pixel. No restock fee I can find, but it seems the customer is probably responsible for return shipping.
 
Pulled the trigger on it today, got it from the egg shipped for 349......just worried about the pixels.
 
can everyone in this thread try the "keep/fix aspect ratio" under their display properties, or video controls, whatever? I think that will be the only solution to playing 4:3 games with black bars on the sides, and I want to know if any, NVIDIA or ATI card can successfully do it. I read the entire thread a while ago and I thought I saw some pics of a 4:3 game running using that "fix aspect ratio" feature, maybe I remembered wrong. I specifically want to know if a recent ATI card can do it, since I plan to pair this monitor with an X1800XT.
 
You can turn this monitor into portrait mode if you buy one of those expensive armatures to replace the stand that comes with it. Your video card properties applet allows you to turn the display mode to portrait mode.
 
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