LG Electronics L1981Q

Reviewed by: RustyDragon

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: 8ms response time; three-year warranty; monitor can be flipped and adjusted in half a dozen ways and the picture automatically adjusts to portrait/landscape/upside-down; DVI & analog connectors

Weaknesses: default brightness nearly blinded me; one dead pixel found (after extensive inspection); slightly on the expensive end for a 19-inch LCD; bezel is sturdy but feels like it will wear out fast.

Overall Evaluation: I picked this bad boy up while searching for a monitor that would serve both my requirements of both computer artwork (Photoshop, Poser, Bryce, Inkscape, etc.), standard administrative work (MS Office, Quicken), and hardly least of all some serious gaming that wouldn't wear out my eyes the way my CRT did. This looked to be the perfect solution. So far, it mostly has been. The ability of this display to twist the screen and adjust the height and lean makes this monitor the closet thing a CG artist can get to an electronic easel when paired with a Wacom Graphire or Intuos tablet. This alone was reason enough for me to grab it, but when I started up Battlefield 2 I found that this monitor wasn't far in quality from the Dell 2405, which I would have purchased if I had an extra $500 to throw around. No noticable ghosting, and the image quality isn't far from what my CRT threw at me. Also a plus was the choice of inputs: both VGA and DVI-I (cables included) On the down side, I did notice one dead pixel in the lower left-hand corner, but I only noticed that after scouring the screen upon delivery, and it's barely noticeable. I still have to scour around the area to find it even now. Another concern is the bezel. It seems sturdy enough right now, but after some serious artwork use I get the feeling it will get worn out rather fast. You'll also need to adjust the brightness if you work in low light, as this screen is nearly blinding out of the box.