Product Reviews

Apple's own range of flat-panel monitors are attractively designed and affordably priced, but there's a bit of a gap in the middle of the line-up. The 15in and 17in Studio displays are fairly small and both cost less than £1000. The larger Cinema displays provide 22in and 23in screens, but there's a huge price jump, with both above £2,000.

There's also the matter of the Apple Display Connector (ADC) interface, which won't work with non-Apple graphics cards, including the new Radeon 8500 (see Reviews, p30), which has a standard DVI interface. These factors mean there are occasions when a non-Apple monitor could be the best choice.

Viewsonic's new VX900 is a good example. Its main point of interest is its size. Measuring 19in diagonally, and costing £1000, it sits neatly in the gap between Apple's Studio and Cinema displays. The monitor's native resolution is 1280 x 1024 pixels, and provides a bright and sharp image, although it's worth noting this is the same as Apple's much cheaper 17in display. You can also scale down to 1024 x 768 pixels or 800 x 600 pixels and still maintain reasonable image quality.

Angle eyes

The brightness of the display gives it a nice wide viewing angle as well (quoted at 170 both horizontally and vertically), so it's a good choice for presentation work or for showrooms or reception areas, where it will be seen by passers-by.

The monitor's black case and silver trim may not be as stylish as that of Apple's monitors, but the VX900 still looks tidy and efficient. There's a set of stereo speakers built into the lower edge of the unit, and between these is a row of simple buttons that

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control the various on-screen menu settings.

First screening

It's good to see that Viewsonic has made the effort to provide a Mac version of its display software, which guides you through the initial setup. This is for Mac OS 9 only, but don't worry if you're using Mac OS X, as all the monitor's controls can still be accessed through the buttons on the front of the monitor.

These buttons provide access to the VX900's Touch AutoTune, which optimises the monitor settings at the push of a button, and to its on-screen display (OSD). The OSD provides access to the usual range of controls; brightness, contrast, colour temperature, horizontal and vertical size, and horizontal and vertical position. It has a useful lock function which allows you to fix the optimal settings so they can't be accidentally changed. The OSD also provides the ability to select between VGA and DVI input.

The VX900 has both VGA and DVI interfaces, but it doesn't support Apple's ADC connector. However you can buy an ADC-to-DVI adaptor for around £30, so you can still use it with Macs that have ADC graphics cards.

The monitor isn't too heavy, and only weighs about 17lbs so it can easily be picked up and set up by one person. It's a bit annoying, though, that the various connectors are tucked at the back of the unit and hidden behind two clumsy plastic flaps. You have to remove both of them when setting up the monitor for the first time. Then you have to turn either yourself or the monitor almost completely upside down to reach the cable connectors because they're awkwardly positioned on the underside of a panel at the back of the monitor.

There are two audio connectors in the same awkward spot, one for headphones and an Audio In connector for routing your Mac's sound to the built-in speakers. You're not likely to use the headphone socket, though, because it's so awkward to get at. It would also have been better if there was a USB built into the unit that would have allowed you to plug in your keyboard, mouse and other peripherals.

However, these are only small flaws and we can still recommend the VX900 to anyone that wants a large flat-panel monitor, but can't afford to pay for one of Apple's Cinema displays.