If you think that Viewsonic's 19 inch flat panel LCD (VP920B) is "cheaply made", then you are crazy. Yes it has some weak points (the built in speakers suck and the "auto adjust" is not even close to correct, hard to see buttons on the front, and text on gray/silver backgrounds is not as clear as I would like it) but it also has some good points (vertical height adjustment, great full motion video, a $230 price after $30 rebate, DVI inputs with cable included). Do you have any idea how hard it was to find an AFFORDABLE 19 inch monitor that raises and lowers, not just tilts?
The reviews I read seemed fair. Most of the complaints were about the poor speaker quality, but who uses speakers built in to their monitor anyway? The text on silver/light gray backgrounds can be a bit of a pain (it appears washed out and fuzzy at times,) but if you avoid those colors the picture is great. It tends to be a bit bright, but a lot of video I watch is dark so it balances out. The button so on the front are almost impossible to read, but the layout is pretty normal with the power on the right and the option button on the right and adjustment in the middle.
A couple of reviewers said they though the fit and finish was low quality. I do not agree at all. It looks as nice and the fit and finish is just as good as many monitors I have seen that have cost a couple of hundred more.
I was disappointed that Win XP did not detect it and I had to use Viewsonic's unsigned drivers, but that was not a big deal. I get nervous installing manufacturer drivers because of all the extra crap you are usually forced to install with it. However the drivers were all that was installed (after unchecking a few options during setup) when the Macromedia powered CD was ran.
Dollar for dollar I would have to give this a 7.5 out of 10. If you need a good, low cost 19 inch monitor that adjusts up and down a few inches, and you can live with a bit of haziness with text on silver/light gray backgrounds, this is one is for you.
BtW, default Linux drivers seemed to work just fine.
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