Philips 170P6EB

A button simplifies switching between the three most commonly used LightFrame Digital Reality modes. Though I appreciated the convenience, I'd have liked more choices than the three modes available. The graphics mode looked all right, but I thought the Internet mode made our Web page screen appear oversaturated and over-softened. The text mode, on the other hand, made our text screens look excessively sharpened. When you open the program itself, you'll find additional modes: TV/video, SRDB, games, and photo (which did make our group photo look much better). The niftiest thing about LightFrame DR is its ability to segment windows; you can select an area on which to apply a mode. This is handy for things like surfing the Web or viewing documents without changing the normal appearance of your toolbar. A large speaker bar resides at the bottom of the bezel. I detected quavering and a slight hiss in music played through the speakers. If you find this monitor on your desk--due to an IT department decision, most likely--you'll probably want to listen to music through the headphone jack instead.

Upshot: Though many of the Philips 170P6EB 's features are appealing, substandard image quality makes it a poor choice.

Laura Blackwell