Get a FREE fully-working copy of Steganos Security Suite 7 (worth £49.99) when you sign up to the Practical PC Newsletter. Review: AOC LM700 17" LCD Monitor
Iain Laskey looks at all those lovely LCD pixels
| Product | LM700 |
|---|---|
| Company | AOC |
| Web | www.aoc-europe.com |
| Price | £440 |
| We like | Image quality, price |
| We don't like | External PSU, basic features |
| Rating | 9/10 |
| Requirements |
Not so long ago you'd have paid this sort of price for a 15inch LCD monitor but here we are in 2002 and you can get a 17inch for the same price. That said, the AOC is one of the very cheapest ones around with other 17inch units typically costing well over £500. It is also available as a rebadged unit from various sources but usually with the LM700 name. Has it suffered from the reduced price point?
Hardware
The LM700 is obviously lighter than a tube based 17inch screen but still feels solid. It comes with a basic stand which allows it to be angled but not rotated. It also lacks either USB ports or speakers which is reasonable given the price.
Due to the differences between LCD and tube monitors, a 17inch LCD actually has a visible screen area more akin to a 19inch tube with the LM700 boasting just over 43cms. The default resolution is 1280x1024 at 60hz. It also supports lower resolutions although these produce slightly blurry results due to the scaling that is involved. This is common to all LCD monitors, not just this one. That said, it managed 1024x768 very well and the DOS mode of 640x480 works particular well as 640 is exactly half of 1280 and scales easily.
The PSU is an external box which is a shame as it means another box cluttering things up behind the PC. Some LCDs manage to have a built in PSU which is a far better arrangement. The input is the standard analogue with no option for a digital input which is a pity but, again, to be expected at this price.
The monitor's backlight is rated at 10,000 hours which is about a year and a half of being on 24/7 so it's best to enable power management to power down the monitor when not in use. On the plus side, the lamp is replaceable when it does finally go.
In Use
The monitor comes with a setup CD but as it is plug and play, most computers should get by fine without it. You may want to install the driver anyway just to be sure. It adjusts its settings automatically whenever there is a resolution change but there is a full set of on screen menus for configuring and adjusting the monitor if needed. These include two DOS modes, different colour temperatures and so on.
The image is very clear and sharp and surprisingly good for a budget unit. As far as the basic image goes there is little to complain about. People who need precise colour matching for photo or DTP work may have a different view but everything I threw at it looked very good to my eyes. The back lighting is also very even for such a large screen even though the manual warns this may be an issue depending on what you are viewing. I certainly had no problems. Large screens also run the risk of one or two dead pixels as it is extremely hard to manufacture such panels with a 100% success rate. I was happy to note that despite settings the screen to all black and all white, there wasn't a single dead pixel to be seen.
The high native resolution is a boon especially for Windows XP which thrives on higher resolutions to get its chunky user interface looking its best. For day to day duties such as word processing or web browsing, the LM700 is truly a pleasure to use.
Conclusion
For a 'budget' priced 17inch LCD, the AOC LM700 put in a very creditable performance. It would have been nice to have had a digital input but for £440 it is difficult to quibble about such an omission. As a final guide to how good I thought this monitor was, I bought one!
