Give your TV a new home from IKEA
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10 out of 10 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Displays 1280x768 in pc mode - Best out there"
Pros: PC widescreen resolution, Picture quality, sound, DVI input, remote, cables
Cons: No swivel or height adjustment
Summary: I researched EVERYTHING and even bought two other widescreen hd monitor/tvs to try -- I paid $100 more for this one but WORTH EVERY PENNY. I wanted a new widescreen monitor for my mac mini, so I figured I might as well pay a little extra to have tv capabilities instead of messing with EyeTV or something similar. Well, I definitely got an education on tv/monitor combos. Though every widescreen monitor I looked at advertised somewhere in the range of 1280x768 or 1366x768, not one of them could display that in pc mode. They all were 1024x768 (which is a 4:3 ratio). If you tried to display widescreen, it would stretch the image - no thanks. I also tried DisplayConfigX on the other monitors I bought and though I got decent results, the text was blurry and I detected a minute flicker. Most of the monitors I tried had internet low price of $399-450. I got the Sony for $539. But for that price I got a DVI input (which the others lacked), a DVI cable!, VGA cable, coax cable, and PC audio cable. Plus awesome sound. I thought the sound was good sitting in front of it -- then I left iTunes playing while I went upstairs and the sound was even better out of the room! I've read some reviews about regular tv not filling screen or dvd leaving bars - NOT TRUE. This monitor was also one of the few to have "wide zoom" which is similar to "panoramic" view on some hdtvs. It stretches the 4:3 image to fill the screen without distorting the image and most of the picture information is retained (you can still see network markers in the corner and digital cable info on bottom of screen). As for dvd - make sure your DVD SETUP MENU has a 16:9 monitor selected, then set your Sony to "Full". The other feature I like is the remote. It has separate buttons for each input -- want to jump from tv to pc1? just press the pc1 button. Most remotes only have one button where you have to cycle through to get the input you want. The only minor drawback I see (though it is SO outweighed by the positives) is pedastal is integrated so no swivel or height adjustment - tilt is awesome though.
