Planar PL1700 17 inch LCD Monitor review

A few years back, after tiring or my old monitor and all of the problems that came with it when I bought it used for thirty bucks off of a friend when my even crappier one died unexpectedly, I ended up purchasing the Planar PL1700 17 inch LCD Monitor. I admit, it was a bit of a splurge at the time, but at that point in my life, I was a full-time college student, and I needed a reliable monitor that wouldn’t shut itself off for no reason, go dark without warning, or else have pixels die at random intervals. No, I needed something good, something that hadn’t already been used for five years before I connected it for the first time to my tower. However, over the past few years, the Planar PL1700 17 inch LCD Monitor has proved to be completely worth the price, and I am certainly glad that I went with a brand-new product at the time rather than (again!) purchasing a used product on the cheap.

Initially, I planned to go with the 15 inch LCD Monitor, but after looking into my options a bit more thoroughly, I discovered that for the price, I may as well make the jump up to the 17 inch one. I liked the size more and for a rather insignificant jump in price, it was definitely worth the upsizing. However, the 19 inch LCD Monitor had a HUGE price leap up from what the 17 inch LCD cost, and there was no way that I planned to pay that much for something only two inches larger. Sometimes, size really doesn’t matter that much. ;)

When making the leap up to a 17 inch screen, I was a bit worried about resolution. It seems to me that most things look a bit better from further away, or show less imperfections on smaller screens. I thought that with the screen being larger, that the pixels would be bigger as well, but that was not the case. However, the pixels are nice and small, I’m sure that should individual pixels ever die on the Planar PL1700 17 inch LCD Monitor, I’d probably not even notice it. Of course, there are resolution settings for the monitor, the maximum of which being 1280 x 1024. That’s not too bad, and while I know some people, mostly serious computer gamers, who would require higher resolution, 1280 x 1024 isn’t bad at all for the majority of everyday users, and it most certainly isn’t bad for those of us simply looking for a screen on which to see the papers we type up.

It’s not as though I don’t ever use my computer for play though. While the main purpose of it has been and probably always will be writing, I do occasionally watch videos on it, and I’ve always got music playing. Because the resolution of the monitor is of sound (and moderately high) quality, all of my movies’, music videos’, and even computer games’ graphics come out on the screen looking clear and perfectly in sync with the sound. Sometimes on lower quality electronics, there is a lag between the audio and video, but not so with the Planar PL1700 17 inch LCD Monitor.

Stylistically, the Planar PL1700 17 inch LCD Monitor is grand. At first, I wasn’t sure that I would like it, especially because I truly do adore the Stainless Steel look, and prefer most of my electronics, especially the pricier, high-end stuff, to have some sort of Stainless Steel trim. However, the majority of monitors out there that DID have the Stainless Steel trim were not only vastly more expensive, they also had tons of other features that I did not want in my new monitor, such as built-in speakers, which I absolutely cannot stand. The frame is slender and is solid black, a color which goes with any décor. It takes up little desk-space, has sleek buttons and adjusts without difficulty. The mount that I have for it allows for complete movement and better adjustability than the standard, but I did have to pay more for that, though it wasn’t much.

After purchasing the Planar PL1700 17 inch LCD Monitor, I had to adjust the settings, which was simple for me, as there was an “auto-adjust” option. Many of the computer-geeks that I know would sooner die than not set each option up themselves, but I’m not them, and the “auto-adjust” worked just fine for me. I think that after that, I may have adjusted the brightness or contrast manually, but it was only that once. Using the “auto-adjust” made the already bright LCD screen just that much brighter, and turning it down a few notches saved me a few literal headaches, I’m sure.

When I purchased the product, I know that I had a three-year immediate placement warranty, though I never needed it. I’m not sure what the warranty is now that those three years are up, but most companies for electronics such as these will at least offer a sort of discount for buyers several years down the road should any problems with the product occur.

For being such a great monitor and comparably inexpensive when considering other monitors, I do recommend the Planar PL1700 17 inch LCD Monitor. This is definitely a great monitor for the average computer user. Naturally, I would recommend that for those looking for top-of-the-line equipment, they search elsewhere for their monitor needs, but for those of us who simply want a nice, large screen with clear images to work with, the Planar PL1700 17 inch LCD Monitor definitely fits the bill!

/ [Nioniel]

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