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Kevin Montgomery · Guest

Princeton VL1916 and VL1716 review by Kevin Montgomery
Date: January 20, 2004

I decided to do a review on these Princeton LCD monitor models
since they deserve a good review being that nothing comes up
on Google about them since they are brand new just released
models.

I have to say that I'm very impressed with these models. I
purchased two Princeton VL1916 models from Costco for $569.99
plus a $50.00 coupon off on each, bringing the price to $519.99
You cannot get a better monitor for this price, quality, and
performance. It is a 19" TFT Active Matrix LCD, 170°Super Wide
viewing angle, 700:1 high contrast ratio, analog and digital input,
25ms response time, 1280x1024 native resolution, very nice menu
system, nice case design with easy access buttons. For more info
on this model:

http://www.prgr.com/product_vl1916.htm

I had no problems setting up the monitors, it was quick and easy,
plug and play worked flawless, no drivers to install... it's
built-in the monitor and WindowsXP didn't ask for any driver and saw
it in the monitor and installed it correctly.

These monitors get very bright! I had to turn mine down from the
50% default for both brightness and contrast to 12% bright and 30%
contrast. You know how some LCD monitors when you adjust the
brightness or contrast..... you hardly see any difference! This
is not the case with These Princeton VL1916 and VL1716 monitors,
adjusting the bright/contrast settings you see it get very bright
or very dark, much like a CRT monitor. The monitors did an
excellent job auto adjusting everything.

I was very amazed with the picture quality! I saw this before
purchasing them when I compared it side by side with the same
specs Sony LCD and saw right away that it was better than the Sony.
The Sony was very over-priced too. After looking at many LCD from
different stores, I went back to Costco and purchased the two
Princeton VL1916 monitors. I have been very happy and pleased
with them. The picture quality is very crisp, sharp, and the colors
are very accurate, beautiful, vivid, and great contrast. If you
hear that a LCD just can't do what a CRT can..... don't believe
it anymore! This model comes darn close! It looks better than my
expensive professional 19" Viewsonic PF790 CRT. It is very nice to
see text this clear that CRT just cannot do! The graphics are just
as good, if not better! I also would not worry about hooking
these models up to digital if you don't have a digital input on your
graphics card. I hooked mine up to analog and digital and this
monitor is so good.... it shows no difference between digital or
analog. It is very clear. I have mine on analog for the other
two models since I see no need for the added expense to get a
graphics card with a digital input since there is no difference.
I am using ATI cards and it works well with the Princeton Monitors.

After being so pleased with these monitors..... I went back to
Costco and purchased the Princeton 17" VL1716 to replace another
monitor in my office that is used for our sales people to access
our inventory stock. The Princeton VL1716 is very much the same
as the VL1916 in looks and design, and has a very sharp clear
picture, and colors and graphics look as good but the VL1916 has
a little bit better picture quality. The VL1716 can be had for
$389.99 at costco, it's a 17" TFT Active Matrix LCD, 150°Super Wide
viewing angle, 400:1 high contrast ratio, analog and digital input,
25ms response time, 1280x1024 native resolution, very nice menu
system, nice case design with easy access buttons. For more info
on this model:

http://www.prgr.com/product_vl1716.htm

You cannot go wrong with these models. They offer alot of quality
and performance for the price, and honestly.... I didn't see any
other LCD on the market that beat it's picture quality when I looked
and searched out of many, many different models and makes during my
search. Princeton is also a name you can trust, they've been around
a long time, have a well known reputation for quality and reliability,
as well as excellent customer support, even under the affiliation of
Mag Innovision/Princeton/Sylvania.

All analog and digital cables are included with these monitors!!
None of the monitors had any dead pixels!!

I am very pleased and just wanted to let others know who may be
interested in these models when they come across them at Costco and
wonder if they are any good! Enjoy!

Kevin Montgomery email: kevinmontgomery@nospam.wowmail.com

Any questions, please feel free to email me but remove the
nospam. out of my email to reply back.

J. Clarke · Guest

Kevin Montgomery wrote:

CSPWL Systems · Guest

Actually, the two models that he speaks of in his review is made
(the real maker of the LCD monitors) by a manufacturer that is very
highly respected LCD maker and actually makes and supplies to many
of the top name brands as well as commerical touch LCD panels for
banks, restaurants, and airports. Princeton did have a couple of
CRT models that were problematic but not their fault but by "***"
that supplied those models for them under the Princeton name but
these LCD models are NOT made by "***". But with any brand, you will
find that they all will have very good models and a few
lemons/problematic models.

I've never had any problems with Princeton models we have sold,
they've been really good with a very low failure rate than most,
however Princeton also has a very good reputation for excellent
customer support if there is any problem.

Costco is the only one that carries the Princeton VL1916 and VL1716
LCD models but it's also called the Princeton LCD19D and LCD17D for
non-Costco stores... but the same thing. They are very nice LCD
monitors and he's review is
accurate about them. We just got some in our store about a week ago
and
I really like them, the 19" is my favorite. Happy computing.

"J. Clarke" <jclarke@nospam.invalid> wrote in message >

mdelrossi · Member Joined: 09 Feb 2004 Posts: 1

where did you get the $50 off cupon???
thanks

ddsyes · Member Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 2

looks like the lcd19d has speakers, while the vl1916 does not. can anyone confirm?

Home@Desk · Guest

Both models have speakers. Both models are identicle but the
VL1916 can only be had at Costco while other non-Costco
vendors will go by model LCD9D. I have the Princeton VL1916
and it's an excellent LCD monitor! I'm very happy with it.

The Princeton web site (www.prgr.com) forgot to mention the VL1916 has
speakers. The speakers are ok for business apps but
are a little tiny sounding if you like great sound for
music are games. For music or games.... use your better
desktop speakers.

Costco's web site has an incorrect picture for the Princeton
VL1916, so you will have to check out the Princeton web site
for the correct picture. This Princeton LCD monitor is one
of the best 19" monitors out there. I really think it's
great and got one after reading some great reviews on it.

Happy LCDing.

In article <40300924_1@news.athenanews.com>, dstein4@cox-dot-net.no-
spam.invalid says...

Home@Desk · Guest

Oops, typo LCD9D = LCD19D

In article <MPG.1a99f44bb5661f9e9896bc@news.xprt.net>, Home@Desk says...

AlpineMan · Member Joined: 11 Mar 2004 Posts: 2

Main difference between the VL1916 (Costco) and the LCD19D (other stores) is that the LCD19D comes w/ a 3 year warranty while the VL1916 only comes with 1 year.

See for yourself:

VL1916: http://www.princetongraphics.com/product_vl1916.htm

LCD19D: http://www.princetongraphics.com/product_lcd19d.htm

So if you see both models priced identically, go with the LCD19D. I bought mine from ecost.com

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=372518

ddsyes · Member Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 2

yep, i got one two weeks ago (lcd19d) from ecost and love it.

Daryl · Guest

I just got the VL1916 yesterday for my birthday present. Costco has a
$50 off coupon this week (at least in the Phoenix area), so $569 - $50
= $519 (if I remember right).

I love this monitor! I'm coming from a 17" Sony CRT, which had an
excellent picture, but this new one blows it away. The size is over
3" larger, of course, but also the brightness and sharpness are
noticeably better.

I was set at 1024x768 on the old monitor. I've set this one to
1280x1024. Even at the higher resolution, objects and text are larger
than before, and I have much more space on the screen to fit more
windows.

Daryl

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 20:34:24 -0800, Kevin Montgomery
<kevinmontgomery@nospam.wowmail.com> wrote:

Robert · Guest

If you buy the VL1916, by all means buy it at Costco. Costco has a great
return policy. I may be one of the few that tried it out, and I give it a
thumbs down. I've returned mine to Costco. Beauty is in the eye of the
beholder although it looks like a lot of people really like this monitor.
Just buy it someplace that has a good return policy so you can return it
*if* you aren't happy. At first I thought this was a great lcd too.
However, after using it a while, ghosting is evident. In some games it's
nearly not noticeable. Call of Duty is the worst, especially if there is a
dark object on a light background. Some digital images and captured video
display poorly with increased digital noise/graininess. Positives include
no bad pixels, and you preserve a lot of desk space with the monitors small
footprint. Personally, I'm not paying a premium over a crt and *not* have a
perfect display.

I now have a Samsung 955DF. IMO opinion the display of this Samsung crt is
superior in every way to the Princeton lcd with a savings of nearly $400 US.
Again, just my opinion. I would definitely buy any lcd someplace with a
good return policy, just in case...

"Home@Desk" <Home@Desk.noemail> wrote in message
news:MPG.1ac59583a5a436d59896cc@news.xprt.net...

Home@Desk · Guest

Robert, there is no way that your Samsung 955DF can compete
with the digital sharpness of this beauty. The colors are
awesome. I will never go back to a CRT. It's BAD ON THE
EYES compared to a LCD. You cannot please every one but
I think you fail to appreciate the technology that went into
this monitor or appreciate how this monitor does very well
with little ghosting than any I have seen.

The Princeton 17" VL1716 is a newer model out than that of the
19" VL1916 and it has virually NO tracing effects while scrolling.
It's seems the LCD screen in that model changed something to
perform just like a CRT while scrolling. I still give the
Princeton VL1916 two thumbs UP. It's a beauty and it
performs so well with beautiful colors. That scroll
ghosting is so minimal compared to all the awesome greatness
this monitors has, I can't believe one short coming for you
would make your final judgement against this monitor. Very
Sad. However, it is your money and you are right, a CRT
is alot cheaper than a LCD so for cost savings a CRT will
beat that hands down. I love mine and I will stand by
the greatness that this monitor has to offer and my eyes love
not getting strained by a CRT monitor anymore. Now even
my Sony CRT looks fuzzy compared to this LCD. But like you
said, it's all in the eyes of the beholder, one strike and
you are out.

In article <4065d989$1_1@corp.newsgroups.com>, bob@aol.com says...

Robert · Guest

There are lots of discussion about current lcds, ghosting, display quality,
etc. The bottom line is it's subjective. Your just going to have to see
and judge for yourself. I've seen many opinions differing on ghosting being
real or not with the same model lcd monitor, for example. If you are happy
with your lcd, I think that's great. It sounds like there are a lot of
others out there that like the Princeton too. I've made it clear this is my
individual experience and opinion. For me personally, at this time, I'll
take a decent quality crt like the Samsung 955DF any day over the Princeton
lcd. The text is clear edge to edge, and it doesn't blur if I scroll text
or move a window like the lcd did. At first I didn't notice the ghosting
with the Princeton, but once I did, I felt it totally unacceptible. I just
couldn't see spending an extra $400 for ghosting in games, graininess in
some video playback and photos, etc. A lot of folks won't be bothered by
the lcds potential flaws. Maybe I'm just being too picky. I think lcds are
great for business applications where space and power consumption are
important, and you're not playing 3d games and the like. Perhaps the lcds
with very fast refresh rates do better. The next generation lcds have
promise to solve these display issues.

My personal advice for potential lcd buyers, or crt purchases for that
matter: Either be sure of exactly what you want, or buy locally someplace
where you can easily return and exchange. Just because something gets good
reviews does not mean it will be best for you.

"Home@Desk" <Home@Desk.noemail> wrote in message
news:MPG.1acff53d828949149896cf@news.xprt.net...

Home@Desk · Guest

Not any product will be best for all, too many different people
who will like and not like any number of things, that is true.
I don't have any video playback graininess, nor in photos. I
see much more detail and sharpness in photos and video than I've
even seen before. I have a very good video card too, so maybe
that plays some part in what experience you have than I have too.

I'm glad you found the CRT more acceptable for your needs. That's
what counts the most. Your happy with your CRT and I'm very happy
with my LCD and that's really what counts.... right! smile

Happy Monitoring! smile

Thanks for your feedback on it though for
the newsgroups as it is helpful to others here.

In article <406661d8$1_1@corp.newsgroups.com>, bob@aol.com says...

Guest

"Robert" <bob@aol.com> wrote in news:406661d8$1_1@corp.newsgroups.com: