Budget Flatness (LG 570LS)

Member Name: andycharger

Product:	LG 570LS
Date:	21/01/02 (453 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good monitor for the money, Good guarantee

Disadvantages: Seperate power supply, Menu system

You know me by now and my love for flatties. Yes, the new breed of monitor that is sweeping the world into a 2D Frenzy. No one knows what to fill their desk with now that the CRTs and being removed in favour of the TFTs.
Well like all things in life, Monitors come in either Cheap or expensive form.
Like most things in life, you can normally get as good a cheap one as an expensive one!
That applies to the excellent LG range of monitors.
LG have been around for about 2 or 3 years pumping out cheap PC extras under the PC World/Comet/Currys/Dixons umbrella. This includes other components such as CR Writers and DVD ROM Drives. I owned a CD Writer and I was really pleased with it. Jsut because it is cheap does not mean it is cheerful. I have had great performance from it and it has never let me down (reaching for a big piece of wood to touch).
I needed a new monitor for home and decided I would take the TFT route.
Reason being?
I have converted an alcovic-type Wardrobe in the wall at home into a Computer workstation/office. I like to call it the Study. Space was limited and there was not enough recessed room to take my large, space hungry Dell ES-17 anymore. It was just too large.
I need my big display/work area to run my development tools on screen and could not use less than 1024 X 768 display settings. I needed the 17 Inch performance from a smaller monitor.
Enter the solution.
At 15.1 inch Visible Screen, this LG monitor gives you the same display as a 17 inch conventional monitor could offer you. That is absolutely superb for me. It is only just over 2 inches deep so sits nicely at the back of my alcove. It is also much lighter than a CRT.
I have heard people complaining about the weight of TFTs but you must remember they still operate and contain a heavy screen. It actually tips the scales at just over 5Kg. The lack of Tube saves some weight and less casing but it still pack a fair bit.
Saying all of this,
the LG monitors are somewhate heavier than the Lighter Dell and Sony models. Perhaps this is why you pay twice the price for them?
The performace at 1024 X 768 only gives you a refresh rate of 75Hz. This means you will not get really high performance on graphic intensive games.
Its ok for general use but not as a hig powered Games Machine. Saying this, I never have a problem from it.

Unlike most of its competitors, the onscreen menus for setting up the display how you like it are restrained to about 6 buttons on the front. Rather than giving you the options on screen, the extra buttons give it an ugly feel. Too many options on the base of the monitor may scare some people off.
The seperate power supply is not really on a long enough lead so it too normall sits on the desk. This spoils the entire look of the Monitor and clutters up my desk further.
Being a LG, you can expect to pay bottom dollar for this.
At £229 for this monitor, you really are making a sound investment. a 2 year guarantee is enough to put most minds at rest and means you are guarded against the normal poor quality/cheap brand senario.

I would say this is a great Monitor for the money if you are after a TFT. It seems silly paying twice the price for very little extra quality.

Summary: