NEC MultiSync FE2111SB 21" CRT Monitor

Rating:
Summary: not a good monitor
Review: having previously owned a gateway monitor with a diamondtron tube which was very good, i bought this one. the unit i got had horrible vertical convergence (NEC-Mitsubishi has a sofware utility with test patterns for you to try to adjust everything) and a 10% dim spot on the right side of the screen. this was not due to some local magnetic field, as moving the monitor changed nothing. The vertical grid wires were loose near the dead spot. NEC-mitsubishi tech support kept telling me to "whack" the monitor to get the wires unstuck, but the problem is that the wires move *too much* and aren't aligned (you can see the wires on that part of the screen vibrate upon whacking). after much wrangling with tech support they very very reluctantly agreed to ship me a new one. the new one had good convergence but had the same exact dim spot on the right side. so i give up. if it takes more than 2 tries to get a nondefective monitor, it's not worth buying.

Rating:
Summary: Overall fuzziness ruins an otherwise good monitor.
Review: I decided to purchase this monitor after owning the 17" version (which I would give 5 stars). The 17" was clear, sharp and has a nice cabinet design. I was expecting the 21" to simply be a larger version of the 17", well I was wrong. They are identical in all ways except for one major flaw. The main complaint is an overall fuzziness. This is especially noticeable with text. I tried everything, different video card, playing with every adjustment, different refresh rates and resolutions, moving the monitor to different locations in the house, running from my laptop, and NEC tech support. Nothing helped. As I write this review I am on the third monitor from NEC. I sent the other two back to NEC because I had hoped it was a problem with the monitor. I can say that NEC tech support was responsive and agreed to pay shipping both ways,twice. Unfortunately I must concede that the fuzzy text is an inherent attribute of this monitor(at least the three I have used).

Rating:
Summary: Get one before CRTs are gone
Review: I usually prefer CRTs over LCDs because I don't like being locked into one native resolution. LCD kinda turn me off because they look so mushy in non native resolution and thier colors are not accurate so I did some research and got the FE2111SB. I usually prefer Sony but they want 1700 for thier 20" so this is my first NEC monitor. Physically this monitor is somewhat deep but not as heavy as I thought it would be. The model I recieved was cream colored with a silver face plate and looks terrific. The screen is almost horizontally flat only about a 1 milimeter taper toward the edges and is vertically flat. The picture is pretty sweet at 1600x1200, and not bad on sharpness. It takes some time to get the convergence correct from the extreme corner to the opposite corner but the unit required some compromise to get the sharpest picture overall. The edges are just slightly fuzzy around an 3/4 of an inch from the corners at 1600x1200 but no big deal just slightly. I backed off to 1280x1024 @ 85 Hz and the picture is sharper all around. Another little detail is the contrast control, it just doesn't go far enough text look greyish on white. However most graphics cards let you adjust the signal with software so pratically this is no issue. I was amazed at how straight the picture was with no horizontal wavering distorting vertical lines. Colors look rich and deep and the monitor adjustments remember the settings in each resolution. The software really helps you adjust the monitor quickly and provides some test patters for you but you need to download this from the web site. The weakness of this monitor is the horizontal convergence the strong point would be its straight and colorful picture. Screen real estate is impressive per dollar and overall its a good value for under $600. All in all I would recommend this monitor to anyone that doesn't mind a big foot print on thier desk.

Rating:
Summary: I have a pair of these monitors and they're crisp.
Review: Owned a pair of the fe2111sb monitors since Oct 2002 and am quite pleased with thier performance, consistency and clarity. I use them side by side and haven't a complaint.

Rating:
Summary: Works for me
Review: We're currently using a dozen of these monitors at my office for CAD and Presentation drawing. While I can see that text viewed in this monitor is not photographic, it's not a problem unless you use extremely fine fonts. We're using the monitors at high resolution in order to fit all our program icons and drawings on the screen, and to picture is clear and relatively steady for a CRT. This NEC is a great value for what you pay.