CNET editors' review
-
CNET editors' rating:
stars
Mediocre
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 11/20/2003
- Released on: 05/01/2003
The F-417's appearance is spartan. It has a gray-and-black bezel, the bottom of which sits a meager 2 inches off of the desktop. Too low for you? Too bad: you can't raise, lower, pivot, or swivel the display. The panel does tilt 15 degrees forward and approximately 30 degrees backward, however. Should you desire additional flexibility, the F-417 connects to a VESA-standard arm and a wall-mounted bracket, both sold separately. Although AG Neovo says that the F-417 has fairly wide viewing angles--160 degrees horizontal and 130 degrees vertical--we found that the contrast and brightness levels changed dramatically at even 30 degrees from the side.
The F-417 has no digital input or audio connections; there's just one analog input (cable included) and a power port on the back panel. Six buttons on the lower-right bezel control the power and the onscreen menus. The F-417 offers a decent range of image-adjustment options, but we found that altering the brightness level had only a slight effect on the image. Still, the rest of the image-adjustment controls work as stated, although closing the menu is challenging: no one button automatically closes it, and only one of the 16 function screens offers an exit option.
We could look beyond these flaws if the F-417 delivered good image quality, but no such luck. In CNET's tests, we found sudden shifts in color intensity instead of a smooth, linear progression. We also detected distortions in adjacent blocks of color. Our grayscale test screens displayed prominent ripples and hot spots; darker grays had a green hue and lighter grays looked bluish. The F-417 couldn't even manage basic tasks: text displayed on colored backgrounds and smaller fonts were barely legible because of a lack of sharpness.
AG Neovo's service warranty is average: three years on parts, labor, and the backlight. For one year after purchase, the company will replace a monitor that has seven or more dead pixels. Toll-free tech support is available 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, and representatives are friendly and knowledgeable.
|
CNET Labs DisplayMate tests (Longer bars indicate better performance) |
||||||||||
|
|
Brightness in nits |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Note: Measured with the Sencore CP500 |
Find out more about how we test LCDs.
Most helpful user reviews
- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 9 reviews
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
-
Showing 3 of 9 user reviews
- See all 9 user reviews Write review
Submit your review
GREAT DEALS ON SAMSUNG LCD MONITORS
