Home > Consumer Reviews > ViewSonic VP-151 15" LCD Monitor

I bought this because I wanted the best I could buy in a 15" inch. Although there are many things I like very much about it, I have to say that I expected more for the price. Perhaps it is simply a reflection of the state of the technology. I assume that you've read the specs so I won't go into all the neat stuff this LCD is capable of. I thought I'd share some of the things that don't come across on the spec sheets and which I am less than thrilled about:

- The speakers are simply awful. They are like having an AM only radio in your new BMW.

- The controls for the monitor consist of four buttons on the monitor and seven button on the base. The legend is beige on beige. After fumbling with them for a few days I pretty much settled on the on/off button. I mean, turning on the picture in picture display (which you can use to watch video) takes FIFTEEN button clicks. And that's if you hit the right button each and every time.

- There was no attempt made to manage the cables. By the time you have the monitor hooked up to your computer, you'll have at least six cables running out of the back. The power cord is black, the USB cable is beige with a black connector, the VGA cable is beige with a blue connector. There are also three thick cables running between the LCD and the base. This isn't the monitor to put with the back facing the visitors in your office.

- The manual is almost 300 pages. It's also in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Polish, and a dozen-odd other languages. Which means you really only get 19 pages in English. Make that 8 pages. The other pages are useless stuff like Safety Precautions (don't mount in your bathtub), FCC info (not tested for use in a bathtub), warranty (thinking of using in the bathtub voids the warranty), troubleshooting (if your screen has condenstation on it, you are using it in an improper room). Anyway, you get the idea. A small manual is no bid deal as far as I am concerned. But the cramped instructions and tiny cabling diagrams (the box comes with no fewer than 11 cables) reminded me of the badly printed and barely comprehensible instructions I received with the barbeque I recently bought.

- No drivers for NT that I can find. Which is a shame since that means you can't use the monitor in portrait mode under NT.

I realize I am being picky but hey, for the price I have a right to be. So why did I keep it. Simple. I need a monitor with rock steady signals that can go up to 1280x1024 and nothing else comes close (most monitors on the market top out at 1024x768). Like I said, this monitor is probably a product of its generation. It feels and works like it was put together by an engineer with no sense of design.

So, if you can wait for the next generation, do. If you need an LCD monitor now, this is probably the one. Unless you can spend $3,000 for a large display in which case you may want to look at Silicon Graphics.

I bought this for its 1280x1024 resolution, but in fact its native resolution is only 1024x768 (XGA) -- at least, that's what it says on the carton. The manual says nothing (in 14 different languages) except that the recommended resolution is 1024x768 and the maximum is 1280x1024 (on a PC). It is possible to run it at 1280x1024, but then text looks fuzzy. The monitor works very well at 1024x768, but there are much cheaper alternatives that also work well at that resolution.

I recently purchased my 2nd LCD monitor and it was the Viewsonic VP151 and I absolutely love it! It has by far the best picture in its 15-inch class and I haven't even run it in digital mode yet, but plan to very soon! It has pretty much everything you need in an LCD, it has USB hubs, analog and digital inputs, and also a very useful S-video connection that I have been using to see videos and pictures from my digital camera! And what's really cool is that you have the picture in picture capability with this LCD. Viewsonic by far makes a far superior product than any other monitor company out there, and I have seen many in my personal and business life. I can honestly say Viewsonic has an arsenal of extraordinary technology at its disposal and I am very happy that I found their technology.

Hello,

I just got this LCD display as a gift from my parents for my 17th birthday. I wanted the best 15'inch display money could buy, and let me tell you my parents delivered.

I love watching TV in the Picture & Picture Mode while I blow-away all my friends playing Quake 2, I couldn't possibly ask for more.

Thanks ViewSonic,

Ryan

I was familiar with the ViewSonic brand so when I went out to purchase an LCD flat panel I figured I needed to do some exploring due to the pricing. I checked out several other brands & came back to the ViewSonic for numerous reasons. This was the most impressive display I have found. It fit all my needs along with price. It has super wide viewing angles & the picture in picture is a fabulous feature. It allows composite video input from your DVD to run live while working real time on other PC applications with a resize and relocate feature. The monitor pivots to landscape and portrait modes. This unit can be wall mountable. It is lightweight and very attractive to look at. I could go on and on about all the advanced technical features but seeing is believing.

When looking for a viewpanel I highly recommend the VP151. You won't be disappointed and ViewSonic remains on Top.