Once you go flat, you won't go back...

Free computer hardware is always good computer hardware, in my opinion. All of my friends work in Oregon's prolific tech industry and this means that I can gleen some pretty clutch cast-offs from time to time.

Case in point: my best friend works at Planar, the industry leader in flat LCD monitors. They make everything from military-grade displays to hospital displays, to home/office displays, in a variety of sizes. Their product is well-respected and you should be aware of the fact that they are the main supplier of Dell's flat LCD's. Yep, the same freebie 15" LCD that you get with your new Dell, is most likely a re-marked Planar monitor.

Some background: I live in a loft and prefer minimalism. I also have a small desk in my bedroom where I do my work and gaming. I have a respectably accessorized P4 system with a 64mb GeForce card, as well as a TV-tuner card. I had been using a 19" Sony Trinitron (the GS series) which I also got for free. It was a great monitor, but the CRT tube mandated that the bloody thing took up all of my valuable desk-space. It also weighed about fifty pounds and sat so close to the edge of the desk, that eye strain was becoming a problem. A few nights ago, my buddy offered to give me a 17" Planar LCD. It has almost the same viewable area as the Sony, without the hassles I mentioned.

Needless to say, I jumped at the chance for this freebie.

INSTALL:
Idiot-proof. You have three included cables: 1) A power cord (yep, put the three-prong rabbit in the hole); 2) An analog input (hook this into your video card) which is labelled with the monitor icon; 3) a digital input cable which you can use for things like DVD players. For a standard system you'll only need cables 1 and 2.

Since this thing only weighs about 11lbs and has very little volume you will have no fear of some fifty-lb CRT monstrosity crashing down on your head as you fumble under the desk with cables. In fact, I was stunned to see how much space this thing freed up, and how easy it was to move around on the desktop.

DESIGN:
Boxy, but durable. You have to remember that this company is known for its tough, durable, and practical monitors. There are no froo-froo cutesy touches on this baby--it's a tough plastic box with the Planar logo atop. There are five buttons at the bottom aspect; two toggle for adjustments, two toggles for function select, and a central standby power switch. The main power switch is on the rear of the monitor.

It only comes in one color...black. Kind of a bummer, but beggars can't be choosers.

It has a swivel-mount that allows you to pitch up and down. Rotational mounts are irrelevant in a lightweight monitor and its easy to just turn the thing in whatever direction is needed.

DURABILITY:

It ain't sexy, but it's tough. I met my friend at the bar and it sat in the kitchen for a couple hours. I was stone-drunk when I lugged the thing into a cab and brought it home last night. I wasn't as careful as I should have been through the transport and install phases, but it held up well. If you have a toddler or drink a lot, I wouldn't worry much about damaging this thing unless you drop on the floor or in a bucket of water.

The LCD screen is very tough, but not scratch-proof. Even so, small scracthes are tough to see when the monitor is running.

Planar offers a three-year warranty on the product.

DISPLAY:
The native mode is 1280 x 1024 which is a bit small for some users. However, since the viewable area is only about 5% smaller than my Sony 19", making the transition was pretty easy.

There are big differences between an LCD and a CRT monitor. First, its easier on the eyes since there is less harshness to the image. There is also none of the "pin cushioning" effect seen on CRT's (even the Trinitron had this) which takes some getting used to. Making the adjustment from the CRT to the LCD is just plain difficult, to be honest. It's sort of like when I went from watching VHS movies to DVDs.

The Planar monitor has an "auto-adjust" function and will center itself and set display controls on its own. You can also manually adjust the display properties by using the buttons on the front panel, but the controls are not very intuitive and a bit difficult to master. Of course, the auto-adjust does a great job and you probably won't need to dink around with your settings.

The refresh rate is very good and will go from around 50-75--mine automatically set itself at 72.

I tried out some pretty graphics intensive games last night and today: Star Wars Galaxies (an MMORPG) and Homeworld 2 (RTS). It handled both applications with ease and I didn't notice any lag or artifact. I also had a chance to run Internet Explorer and Word simultaneously, while I had the TV card running in the background. Again, excellent response.

I ran Adobe Photoshop and reviewed some hi-res photographs as well and noticed no problems. I did not have any first-person shooter games, but I suspect that the response and clarity of the display will be acceptable.

If you're a serious LCD user, then you should know that their third generation fabrication plants are coming on-line so you'll only see bigger and better displays coming from Planar. However, the second-gen LCD's like this one will work very nicely for just about every user. I'd avoid anything using plasma technology. The 3rd-gen LCD's will surpass plasma in all aspects, have a longer usable lifespan, and have a more palatable pricepoint.

I ran my TV card at full-screen resolution and was very happy with the picture. The LCD produces a lot less glare, and is also less-susceptible to the glare from external sources, so picture quality is fairly consistent.

I plan to get a second monitor and place it alongside this one; the second monitor will be a dedicated TV display.

INTANGIBLES:
Boxy design. It's the Volvo of LCD's.

There are no speakers on this model, either. Some people prefer built-in audio, but I prefer to use my Bose Mediamates since I do like a higher degree of sound quality.

A bit spendy (well, not for me), but worth it. There are tons of 17" LCD's on the market, but few of them are as tough or have equal display specs as Planar products when you look at the fine print.

It's a great space-saver and if you have a secondary video or tv card, you can get two of them into the space of one monitor. In fact, if you get a 19" LCD, which is barely much larger than the 17" LCD, the same can be said.

Planar also offers a wall-mount kit for just about all of its LCDs.

MAC users may require special adaptors, but apple makes beautiful flat monitors, so if you use a MAC, just use the Apple displays and save yourself a hassle.

BOTTOM LINE:
I like to stick with industry-leaders when I invest in computer gear. Planar is the LCD industry leader (with Samsung close behind) and their experience shows. This is a well-made monitor and easily justifies the slight premium you will pay versus other LCDs on the market.

I got mine for free, but I would not hesitate to buy another Planar product, based on my experiences with this entry-level model. Samsung offers very nice LCDs as well, and those may be worth a look, but I have no in-home experience with them...yet.