WinBook Display C1900

WHAT'S HOT: A price tag of $699 (at the time of our evaluation) is very low for a 19-inch LCD; and WinBook provides more than a bare-bones monitor at this price. This good-looking, black-bezeled C1900 is fully adjustable, providing smooth tilt, swivel, and height control. It also pivots from wide landscape to tall portrait mode--a handy orientation for reading long documents. The monitor includes integrated speakers that sound unusually full and powerful compared to those on other LCDs, especially considering their odd location behind the panel.

WHAT'S NOT: While it still looked pretty good, the C1900 earned the lowest performance numbers from our panel of judges for all the 19-inch LCDs we evaluated. Those scores may have come, in part, from testing the monitor using an analog video signal; we tested all other 19-inch models using digital signals. The C1900, however, provides only an analog input--this despite the presence of a nonfunctioning DVI port that hangs on the back of the monitor like a vestigial organ. While the port is present, WinBook does not provide the electronics to activate it (and the documentation does not explain that the port does not function). This will limit your PC upgrade options in the future, as many new graphics cards now provide a DVI output (in addition to analog).

The low price is explained by some omissions. WinBook's one-year warranty on the C1900 gave us pause; most vendors provide a three-year warranty. Another decision that seemed skimpy: Although the monitor pivots to portrait mode, WinBook does not provide the software to reorient the screen. (Other vendors with pivoting screens include the software.) You'll have to spend about $50 to get the required application from Portrait Displays.

When we first reviewed the C1900 in our January 2003 New Products section, we awarded it four stars. But after surveying the field of 19-inch models for our February roundup, we decided to lower the rating to three stars.