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Top 10 Monitors

Five new 19-inchers enter the chart this month--one of them a Best Buy.

Laura Blackwell

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Ultrasharp 1901FP PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: July 07, 2003

1. Dell Ultrasharp 1901FP

19-inch screen, 1280 by 1024 native resolution, Analog and digital video input; dual video interface, 16.2 pounds, Three-year warranty (Including backlight), Price when ranked: $719

Bottom Line: Thoughtfully designed monitor offers a plethora of useful features and fine image quality to suit nearly any office or home user.

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SyncMaster 193P Silver 19 PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: November 22, 2004

2. Samsung SyncMaster 193P Silver 19

19-inch screen, 1280 by 1024 native resolution, Analog and digital video input; dual video interface, 15.6 pounds, Three-year warranty (Including backlight), Price when ranked: $779

Bottom Line: This model, which displayed especially sharp text on our spreadsheets test, is highly adjustable and allows a variety of personalized preference profiles.

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LCD1980 PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: June 29, 2004

3. NEC LCD1980

19-inch screen, 1280 by 1024 native resolution, Analog and digital video input; dual video interface, 19.5 pounds, Three-year warranty (Including backlight), Price when ranked: $849

Bottom Line: Realistic flesh tones contributed to a high graphics score for this monitor, which is from the vendor's high-end line.

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19 LCD MON 1280x1024 0.294MM 300NITS 700/1 50000HR BKLIT SRGB (Sharp-LLT19D1H) PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: February 02, 2004

4. Sharp 19 LCD MON 1280x1024 0.294MM 300NITS 700/1 50000HR BKLIT SRGB (Sharp-LLT19D1H)

19-inch screen, 1280 by 1024 native resolution, Analog and digital video input; dual video interface, 15.2 pounds, Three-year warranty (Including backlight), Price when ranked: $749

Bottom Line: Physical adjustments could use some improvement, and controls could be beefed up, but this display offers crisp text and excellent graphics detail at a fair price.

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19.0 LCD 1280x1024 VP191B 600:1 DVD-I Black TCO 99 (ViewSonic-VP191B) PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: June 26, 2003

5. ViewSonic 19.0 LCD 1280x1024 VP191B 600:1 DVD-I Black TCO 99 (ViewSonic-VP191B)

19-inch screen, 1280 by 1024 native resolution, Analog and digital video input; dual video interface, 16.5 pounds, Three-year warranty (Including backlight), Price when ranked: $789

Bottom Line: Highly adjustable, thin-bezel unit garnered the top image-quality scores on the chart after retesting under our new protocol; user settings and an attractive on-screen display make it painless to share.

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L1902 PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: June 29, 2004

6. Kemco L1902

19-inch screen, 1280 by 1024 native resolution, Analog video input; analog interface, 14.4 pounds, Three-year warranty (Including backlight), Price when ranked: $599

Bottom Line: Low price is the main attraction of this analog-only corporate model, which prsents well-organized and easy-to-understand controls but lacks physical adjustability and other desirable extras.

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SDM-X93B LCD Monitor (Sony-SDMX93B) PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: February 02, 2004

7. Sony SDM-X93B LCD Monitor (Sony-SDMX93B)

19-inch screen, 1280 by 1024 native resolution, Analog and digital video input; dual video interface, 16.5 pounds, Three-year warranty (Including backlight), Price when ranked: $799

Bottom Line: Fine color, intuitive controls, and above-average sound quality--even at loud volume--from built-in stereo speakers distinguish this multiple-input (two analog, one digital) monitor.

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190P5EB 19IN LCD .294MM 12X10 ALOG DIGTL SPK BLK PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: November 22, 2004

8. Philips 190P5EB 19IN LCD .294MM 12X10 ALOG DIGTL SPK BLK

19-inch screen, 1280 by 1024 native resolution, Analog and digital video input; dual video interface, 18.3 pounds, Three-year warranty (Including backlight), Price when ranked: $899

Bottom Line: Good all-around performer includes software for sharpening photos and video--but it's the most expensive monitor on the chart.

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ThinkVision L190P PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: June 29, 2004

9. IBM ThinkVision L190P

19-inch screen, 1280 by 1024 native resolution, Analog and digital video input; dual video interface, 16.1 pounds, Three-year warranty (Including backlight), Price when ranked: $779

Bottom Line: Competent business-oriented monitor has dual video inputs but few frills beyond a nicely adjustable stand and long, comfortably curved control buttons that accommodate larger hands.

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SENergy 914 PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: February 02, 2004

10. Princeton SENergy 914

19-inch screen, 1280 by 1024 native resolution, Analog and digital video input; interface, 17.5 pounds, Three-year warranty (Including backlight), Price when ranked: $649

Bottom Line: Midrange device displays very good text and acceptable graphics, but vendor's weekday support hours are on the skimpy side--and its weekend support hours are nonexistent.

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Twelve judges rate a monitor's text and graphics quality at the native resolution of 1024 by 768. We evaluate each unit on how well it displays typical business letters, spreadsheets, Web pages, and scanned photos. The overall rating is based on text and graphics quality (25 percent each), price (20 percent), features and ease of use (20 percent), and service and support (10 percent). The best possible overall rating is 100. Data based on tests designed and conducted by the PC World Test Center. All rights reserved.

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