Dell FP2001 & Viewsonic VP201B

[tranceport]

I have both 20" LCD's on my desk right now. If you have any questions that you would like answered between concerning these 2 screens please ask.


I also might be typing up a short review.

 

[CraigRT]

which is better?

 

[tranceport]

Well. I'm leaning towards the Viewsonic.

It took me a bit to adjust all of the settings on each monitor to try to get them looking great. I also have a Dell P992 which I am using for a crt comparision. From here on out I'll just say that both LCD's blow that 19" crt away. Why did I even mention this....

In counter-strike source the graphics look very close. The in game text appears sharper on the viewsonic. In quake 3 I've noticed a slight line of clipping when shooting the machine gun. This appears to be slightly less noticable on the Dell.


I've tested out some of the utilities on this website http://www.benchmarkhq.ru/english.html?/be_monitor.html. So far I think I am going to base everything off of the NEC utility. This utility seems to do all of the functions of testing an lcd screen that I can think of. http://www.benchmarkhq.ru/fclick/fclick.php?fid=170.

While using this NEC test pattern generator I've noticed that the Dell seems prone to having pixels getting stuck. 3 times I had to touch the screen to get a pixel to unstick..

The stands are both very nice. The dell has a silver base ring where the viewsonic has 2 black feet. Both screens can rotate 90*. The Dell screen has a larger bottom bezel. Dell also put their name in large letters. The 3 other edges of the bezel look to be about the same. Over all the viewsonic has more writing on the bezel, Model number top right, viewsonic name bottom left, and penguins top left.

 

[Pete]

How's the black level and backlight leakage on each? I'm thinking mainly of widesceen movies. TIA.

 

[tranceport]

Ahh very good question. The dell is the loser with the backlight.. There are focused strong white spots about 2 inches up on the left side from bottom, 2 inches down on the left side from top. The dell also has a large splotch top left and to the right about 2 inches. These are just the noticeably bright sections. Then it has a softer but still white light outline all the way around.


The viewsonic isn't perfect. But it doesn't have any noticeable splotches. It just has a softer than the dell white glow all the way around.

I'm using windows XP blank screensaver to test this.. When I bring back into notepad or solid white screen the 2 lcd's are equal in brightness, If the viewsonic isn't brighter....

Let me see if I can get a picture... http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/t...tpleft-vp201bright.jpg

My Canon SD100 for some reason made 4 crazy pixels... These are not really there. The red dot on the dell which is on the left. The red dot above the dell and then white dot on the viewsonic which is on the right and the red dot bottom and slightliy center.

The dell has 2 bright green LED's and the viewsonic only has 1 dim green led and is very small. The dell LED's are large and what I consider to be a normal size LED.


In the picture the viewsonic appears to have some backlight issues as well. It doesn't look any where near that bad in real life...err.. out of the picture.

 

[Pete]

Blech! Thanks for the info. If you mean a snapshot of both monitors side by side, I'd appreciate one. The Windows XP screensaver sounds like a good test.

 

[tranceport]

Pic posted... Would you like a lights on picture of both?

 

[Pete]

No, the pic you posted and your description are great. Thanks!

 

[tranceport]

The Dell does have 2 USB ports on the left side of the bezel. This is kind of nice.. The other 2 are in the same place as the input ports.. The viewsonic has all 4 USB ports in the same place as the inputs.

Also the PIP only works with svideo and composite. You cannot use PIP for your VGA or DVI-A or DVI-D. You can independtly, adjust the brightness, contrast, hue/tint saturation and the PIP Horz and Vert Postion.

The viewsonic doesn't have PIP. My Sony BigScreen TV has PIP.... I Never use it.

 

[James3shin]

very nice info, i thought the 2001 was gonna be a future purchase but now i may lean to the 201b

 

[tranceport]

Dell sells both LCD's.. You can get similar deals on the viewsonic that were all the craze in the hot deals forum.. Actually the viewsonic was cheaper last I looked..

 

[nitromullet]

I tried using a Dellf coupon (25%) on a non-Dell branded monitor on the Dell website, and it wouldn't let me.

 

[Leon]

Both based on the same LG-Philips panel.

 

[tranceport]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
I tried using a Dellf coupon (25%) on a non-Dell branded monitor on the Dell website, and it wouldn't let me.

Ahh that sucks.

 

[tranceport]

Originally posted by: Leon
Both based on the same LG-Philips panel.

I never could find any proof that the Viewsonic was based on the LG.

Can you provide a link?

 

[Demo24]

actually sounds like you have a somewhat defective Dell panel. I never get random stuck pixels and my backlight seems better than that. Ill check in a few min and update you.

 

[tranceport]

The sticking is common on the Dell panels.. They rub right out just barely touch them.

But yes you're right. I suppose this panel may be defective. Although there is nothing wrong with it at the current moment. I doubt dell would take it back as I have no proof.

 

[Demo24]

jsut checked mine and the backlight is nowhere near as bad as yours. I mean theres a small amount of lighter area coming from the 4 corners but its hardly noticeable.

 

[blackcatak]

This review came at the perfect time for me. I was looking to buy tyhe 201B but I just noticed that the Dell's are selling for $599. Seems like a great price. Is anyone offering a deal on the Viewsonic? If not, is the $200ish price differance worth the perforance differance?

 

[imported_k00k]

So what's the cheapest that everyone is seeing either of these for?

 

[blackcatak]

Looks like Dell is back up around 675 or so. I think I'm sold on the View Sonic also. Havn't seen one yet but I Love the reviews I'm reading on it. I was going to get the ViewSonic VP912B for the 12Ms but after comparing a 19" to a 20" side by side......well. I think 16Ms is going to work just fine. Just looking for a good deal on it now.