ViewSonic Optiquest Q9B-2 19 inch LCD Monitor

I bought this monitor for my wife who wanted to free up some desk space and get something that was easier on the eyes than her old CRT display. Having owned two trouble free Viewsonic CRT's previously, I thought I'd stick with a brand that's reliable.

From what I've read, the Optiquest models are the value line of Viewsonic. That being said, this model does offer excellent quality at a very affordable price, for those wanting to make the quantum leap from CRT to LCD.

There is no CD with drivers provided, it's plug and play for Win 2K and XP and uses Microsoft’s drivers. For those still using 98, or ME, drivers are available at the Viewsonic site for easy download.

Setup was quick and easy, the monitor completely adjusts itself as soon as you turn it on, and does a great job, I might add. This is a great feature since the setup buttons are almost impossible to see because they blend in with the black frame.

For my wife, that's not a problem since she has no intentions of changing anything. I did enter the menu once only to lower the brightness to 75%. The default is 100. Some may want to go lower as a personal preference. I've tried several different resolutions and they all look good to me, the manual does suggest you keep it at 1080 x 1024.

The monitor does have built in speakers, however, they would be considered by most users to be tinny or cheap sounding compared to desktop speakers, which she continues to use as her preference. Don’t buy this monitor for the speakers; buy it for its comparative market price and its quality. A big bang for your buck!

As most LCD monitors go, the pedestal or stand that it mounts on is a bit on the chintzy side…as are most of the others I have seen at the stores. Personally, I’d rather see them put their efforts into the monitor rather than the stand, and they did.

Folks, for the money, this is the monitor to go with. It’s affordable, the picture is gorgeous, and best of all, it sets itself up when you first install it on your computer, which makes it VERY user friendly.