ACER V173B ET.BV3RP.001 17-Inch LCD Monitor Reviews

• Great bang for the buck

  
  By AU5U16YWAIYZP on 2008-10-17
  I rated this monitor 5 stars because of the bang for the buck.
  
  Pros:
  
  Sharp
  Great price
  Very bright
  Great refresh rate
  
  Cons:
  
  Does seem a little small if you have been on a 24inch iMac but what doesn't?
  
  Review:
  
  I bought this monitor for our backup computer which is an old Gateway PC running Ubuntu (free computer operating system based on Debian GNU/Linux). The old CRT monitor was over 10 years old and was fading into history not to mention it was huge, hot and took a lot of energy.
  
  This computer is mainly used to check e-mails, surf the web etc. and I use it to check how photos I re size on the big iMac look on a smaller screen. So I thought this little 17" should be just the ticket.
  
  Setup:
  
  I unpacked it plugged it in and bang it was up and running!! No need to do anything all the settings were perfect right out of the box.
  
  Conclusion:
  
  If you are looking for an easy to setup 17" LCD monitor and want bang for the buck this is it!!!
  
  I highly recommend.
  
  10-27-2008 Update:
  
  This little monitor continues to impress me. It seems almost as sharp and bright as my 24inch iMac which has always been my bench mark for the perfect monitor. But it's a heck of a lot cheaper. How do they make the price this low and the quality this good?
  
  

• good value

  
  By AD8K1MEOEPNME on 2008-08-30
  Pros: excellent picture, fast refresh, compact size, very little heat generation, wide viewing angles, looks nice.
  Cons: have run it near constantly for a month playing games and surfing with no problems yet so it may have none :)
  
  

• I've never really seen it, but ....

  
  By A27CNWMISC5OCF on 2008-10-21
  I purchased this for my 78 year old mother to replace her old, CRT monitor. I purchased it 1.) for the low, low price 2.) on the basis of two positive customer reviews. Exceeding all possible expectations, the monitor arrived in her home within two business days -- free freight. She hooked it up by herself and is babblingly ecstatic with the results. ("I don't even have to use my glasses to read it!!")
  
  
  
  
  

• Acer V173B 17" LCD Monitor

  
  By ANL4KC4GZU82E on 2008-10-24
  I bought this monitor to replace a 15 inch Dell Trinitron that started popping and smoking one afternoon last month. I take a lot of digital pictures in my work and for pleasure. Color fidelity isn't a life or death issue but I appreciated how well the Trinitron did its job.
  So, I had some apprehension about buying this monitor but the price made the decision easy. I haven't seen a better deal anywhere. I was very pleased to find that the color and resolution of this monitor satisfied me completely. I am very pleased with this purchase.
  
  

• Very Satisfied, some suggestions

  
  By AX45ZURP2YS87 on 2009-01-02
  I have had this monitor for about a month and I am very happy with my purchase. I am running Windows XP on a six year old Gateway computer. I received the monitor in just two days. I would recommend this monitor for anyone who wants an LCD for an analog connection (VGA).
  
  The first change I made was to run the monitor at the highest screen refresh rate that's appropriate for this monitor. I've always found the higher the refresh rate, the better the image on the screen due to the reduction or elimination of flicker. However, keep in mind the monitor must work harder in order to do this. The manufacturer had the default settings for the highest resolution and the slowest refresh rate. If you change the refresh rate, check to see if the manufacturer's software changes it back to the default the next time you start up your computer. If so, you can uninstall the manufacturer's software to prevent this from reoccurring. To change the refresh rate: Display Properties (right click the desktop, choose properties), Settings tab, Advanced button, Monitor tab, put a check in the box "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display", after checking the box - my highest Screen refresh rate was 75 Hertz.
  
  The following is for those individuals who find the size of text too small at a high resolution. At first, I tried different resolutions to make the text bigger via Display Properties (right click the desktop, choose properties, Settings tab). I didn't take long to realize this monitor should only run at 1280 x 1024 resolution for the best image quality. In order to compensate for my 48 year old eyes (going to need bifocals soon), I changed the DPI Setting (Display Properties, Settings tab, Advanced button). I recommend starting with Large size (120 DPI) and using that for awhile before making any more changes. If you find that to be too big as I did, choose Custom setting and reduce by about 5 percent to "119% normal size (114 dpi)". I found this Custom setting comfortable. If you still find it to be too big, reduce by another 5 percent and repeat until you find what's best for you.
  
  There will always be some web sites where the text is defined as very small and very difficult to read. One option to get around this problem is to copy the text into a word processor and then change the font and size of the text to your liking. Another option (suggested by a comment to this review) is to use the zoom feature of Internet Explorer located in the bottom right corner of the screen. It can be identified by a small magnifying glass with a "+". You can click on the magnifying glass to change the zoom percentage.
  
  
• Good no great value for my money
  By A27D2VY7IO4L0M on 2008-11-26
  Easy to set up, clear images, bright colors and finally I have a monitor I can move around without hurting myself and I can actually work off my computer desk with all the extra room.
  
  
• Nice monitor
  By AZ5NWZ0KSD875 on 2008-10-30
  This is an excellent buy for the money and purpose of our home computer. There are no internal speakers so be prepared to buy those separately, but we got the Logitech S120 2.0 Multimedia Speakers for around $12 and they work great for our use. Have always had good experiences with Acer brands.
  
  
• good screen, decent stand
  By A19K4JIZI3QTNA on 2009-03-21
  I agree with all the reviewers who say this is a great screen at a great price. I like that's it's relatively square, rather than widescreen (with all the resulting resolution-adjustment issues).
  What I didn't realize before I got the monitor and set it up and used it for a few days was how important the stand is in any monitor. The stand for this monitor is heavy plastic, non-height-adjustable, and balanced. I originally thought the stand did not allow for any front-to-back tilting, either, but another review made me reexamine the stand and I was eventually able to tilt the monitor back. Yay! I would change my review to 4.5 stars but cannot seem to adjust my original rating.
  
  
• Good Monitor for the Price
  By A2VOX29U2WVTW0 on 2008-10-09
  The color is good, it's a little small, but a great bargain. Installation was easy, I have no complaints.
  
  
• Acer V173
  By APXYDNS54FDIE on 2008-12-25
  The display itself works great. Two things to watch out for: 1) tilt is limited and may not get you the angle you need; 2) cable connections on the back are fully exposed, a factor if you care about aesthetics as when the monitor won't face a wall. Other than that, it looks like a great display.
  
  
• Great product
  By ANP9U851F80TR on 2009-02-10
  I'm a senior citizen with a enough computer knowledge to make my way around fairly well on email and some Internet activity. Decided to replace my old monster-size monitor with the "thin" kind, knowing I could turn to family to help with install if necessary. I read many Amazon reviews first, then bought the Acer V173B 17" Monitor based on those reviews.
  I'm not disappointed. I installed it by myself, and I'm very pleased with myself and the Acer V173B 17" Monitor. It is everything I hoped it would be.
  
  
• Quality budget monitor
  By A35Q6VVTF31HU0 on 2009-01-09
  Simple, problem free, stable, fast and very good color rendition, are the qualities that mark this value monitor.
  
  
• flat screen monitor
  By A14D6I1K4DXCBF on 2008-10-28
  I bought this monitor to use as a second monitor in my home office. The screen is clear and bright, and is a perfect size to fit on my small desk at home. It works very well sitting side by side with my laptop. The price was also very good. If I was to do it over again I would consider a larger screen as the 17" screen is not the largest, but given that I don't have much room on my desk the 17" works out fine.
  
  
• Green Tint unfixable
  By A1IK5AQTLGW0SQ on 2009-04-11
  Well, the price was right, but as soon as I plugged it in I could tell the picture was off. Very heavy green tint. I read about this problem occurring fairly regularly on this monitor by Acer. Apparently something to do with poor soldering inside. I returned it to Amazon and will be buying a nicer one next time to avoid wasting time again having to return a faulty monitor.
  
  
• Very pleased
  By A17HEQ5X0BHTSP on 2008-12-13
  I must say that this product meets all my expectations and more. The colors are great and everything is crystal clear. I'd recommend this to anyone who's looking for a great flat screen LCD monitor that's not very expensive.
  
  
• Great monitor
  By A19OBAO89DO4YL on 2009-04-16
  This is a great monitor for those of us with older computers. My older DELL GX240 won't support the higher and wide-screen resolutions of all the new monitors on the market. So I started looking for a traditional SQUARE 17" monitor. Went to walmart, sams, best buy. All they had were wide screens. Came to amazon and found this monitor which is specifically designed for 1280x1024. Perfect! Works beautifully. (And the price was awesome as well).
  
  
  
  
• Superb unit at a great price!
  By ANIZ1AR4F0AOC on 2009-02-09
  Just what I was looking for in an LCD. Clear image, no missing pixels. I upgraded from a 10-year old LCD, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that this unit automatically adjusts the size and position of the display area. Another big plus is the user-adjustable contrast and brightness, which can range from absolutely dazzling to fairly mellow (I prefer the latter, as it's much easier on the eyes).
  
  Many online stores offer this unit, at prices that are all over the map, but with the free Super-Saver shipping Amazon's price was the lowest I found.
  
  
  
• An Excellent Low-Cost 17- Inch LCD computer monitor
  By A2LZX3NDB6RFF2 on 2009-08-17
  My review of this inexpensive high performance 17 inch monitor, the Acer V173B. The difference between this one and V173BM are the built-in stereo speakers. The one that I purchased has no built-in speakers. The model that has the built in speakers, as as well as the one with out speakers uses the same case. It's because of this, Acer was able to keep the price down for this model. This tend to make this unit a little bulkier than it should be at 2 5/8 inch thick for the monitor case. Also this unit only has VGA input instead of VGA and DVI. Having only VGA input is no handicap at this point for a 17 inch monitor since technology has advanced so much to a point where DVI is only necessary for a much larger higher definition model. The native resolution for this model is 1280 x 1024 pixels at 4:3 aspect Ratio. The six control buttons are located in a very conventional area of the monitor at the bottom front face right hand corner. The first button on the right is power on and off, the two buttons next to that is the scroll buttons and the fourth button from the right to menu button. A fifth button is the Auto-Configure as well as the Enter button. The sixth button or the first one on the left is used for selecting preset mode such as User which is customizable, and for other four modes that is not adjustable by the user. These modes as follow, Texts, Standard, Graphics and Movie. Included in the box as follow, the monitor, the base line cord, VGA cable and the CD-ROMs that contains the user's menu with the installation instructions. Also included in the CD is the software "Acer eDisplay Management" that you can install to adjust the monitor under Windows instead of pushing the buttons at the front of the monitor. It also comes with a owner's menu booklet and warranty pamphlet with instructions on how to register your new product at Acer. The controls on this monitor is relatively easy to learn how to operate and even easier under Windows using the included software. Being an inexpensive monitor, the stand has no provision for height adjustments or rotation. Only thing it can do is tilt up or down a little. The warranty on this unit is three years parts and labor including the backlights. The warranty is not as good as my previous unit, the warranty does not cover postage to and from the repair site. On their website it lists carry-in to their repair facility. Like other companies, the warranty replacement entails a refurbished unit in many cases or refurbished parts.
  
  
  I am extremely happy with the performance of this 17 inch monitor. The backlighting on this unit is extremely consistent as far as uniformity throughout the screen with equal brightness in fact slightly better than my previous unit. I am lucky with this unit having zero dead pixels. The problem with LCD monitors is that some of us has to live with a few dead pixels in some cases. They have improved quite a bit in the last few years in manufacturing LCD products with no defects right out of the factory. The manufacturers cannot afford to discard each and every one of those panels with a few dead pixels. So to keep costs down, they end up selling them to a few unlucky buyers. My last three purchase of monitors has zero dead pixels on them. The first time when I turned this unit on with my computer, I ran a dead pixel test using DPT program and the result was perfect. And like my previous unit, this unit runs extremely cool with very little heat output from the back. When set to the Graphics mode, the screen is extremely bright in fact too bright for me for browsing the Internet or for reading text. When set using the native resolution, the text is extremely clear and extremely uniform color wise with no color bleeding. The color uniformity is also extremely good throughout the screen with extremely wide viewing angle at about 160° both horizontal and vertical. This is in fact slightly better than my previous monitor even though that one claims to have similar specifications. For a brand-new monitor that sells for less than $100, this is quite outstanding in my opinion. So for those of you who don't mind a standard aspect ratio instead of a wide screen, this one would make an excellent choice.
  
  
• Great Buy
  By A34U8IZ97X3C17 on 2009-08-06
  I ordered this product on 8/04 and received it on 8/05. I'm totally satisfied and very impressed. The price is almost too good to be true but it is. The video and audio are excellent and I recommend this product for any in-home office. I work with Windows XP and all I had to do was plug in the new components and sit back and enjoy. I have more desk space than I had with my previous Sylvania 17". Lastly, the set up is easy and fast. Even the elderly or those with back problems will be pleased.
  
  
• It's okay, no problems for our purpose.
  By A2YHKUYFOKQHH8 on 2009-01-03
  We bought this because we needed to put 2 monitors on one desk due to lack of room, so it was the perfect choice not only because of cost but for the room we needed. My husband and I need 2 computers to play online games together so it's perfect for what we need but the clarity is not perfect. The "maps" from our games are crisp and clean on my monitor but blurry on his. Like I said we only use it for games but I couldn't use it for Photoshop or anything I need clarity to perform fine details. You can read emails and type, stuff like that, with no problems but with side by side comparison with my monitor, it's just not as crisp as it should be...but again, perfect for what we need it for.
  
  
• Defective product
  By A27T293J245CME on 2010-02-06
  I don't know if this is isolated to the one I got, but the screen flickers and there are ripples of horizontal lines that go up and down the screen whenever you move the mouse.
  
  I am returning it.
  
  
• Basic value product
  By ADMR63K3WLNBT on 2009-07-21
  I needed a flat screen monitor (space considerations) for my desktop computer which I use for pretty basic computer applications on what many would consider somewhat intermittent timeframe (I don't turn it on every day!). The price was reasonable, the size workable in my desk space, and the set up simple.
  The biggest drawback I ran into is the lack of flexibility in positioning. The tilt was very stiff at first and is quite limited. Also, you have to turn the base in order to get left/right adjustments. I still haven't found a really good configuration on my desk space and I wonder how well it would work for somebody significantly taller than I.
  Still, it does what I really need for a reasonable price and I am happy with it.
  
  
• Inexpensive 2nd screen for home office.
  By A3D46ODX07V9OJ on 2009-06-12
  Very pleased with ease of setup and quality of display. With minimal additional footprint on my desk, I'm now able to use a single mouse and keyboard to slide documents between my primary screen (a 21" flatscreen) and the Acer 17" secondary screen. Very nice for home office if your PC can support 2 monitors. My only "gripe" is that the Acer does not have a tilt screen; had to place a small wedge under base to get my desired viewing angle. For the price, an excellent monitor for office 2nd screen.
  
  
• Great Value!!
  By A3L7MEY5OQJLV on 2009-05-29
  I bought this Acer 17" monitor to replace my 6 year old 15" HP monitor that died last week. I didn't want to spend a lot but was afraid a low cost monitor would not be sturdy or look very good. However, I am well pleased and would recommend it to anyone who needs a good monitor without having to spend a lot of money. Way to go Acer!! Thanks Amazon for a great deal!!
  
  
• Nice, small, inexpensive, 4:3 aspect ratio
  By A30LV0VEB95V51 on 2009-05-15
  I must admit that the new wide screen monitors drive me a bit crazy. It seems like you're getting a big monitor when you buy a wide screen 22" monitor, but since the screen is measured on the diagonal you could conceivably buy a screen that was 21.9" wide and 1.25" tall! Besides since most of us want to use the full screen you often get objects that are distorted: elliptical circles, squashed people and cars, etc. The more square aspect ratio doesn't normally do this.
  
  A 17" 4:3 monitor is only about 6 sq. in. smaller than a 19" 16:9 monitor!
  
  Nice picture, good contract, little ghosting.
  
  
• Great monitor at a great price
  By A7GGQ8G6WD4WS on 2009-02-10
  This monitor is well priced. I went searching for a LCD monitor at a similar price and could not find one (especially with FREE delivery). A good buy, especially if you want to save some energy (compared to CRT's).
  
  
• Great monitor
  By A2Q1DCJSNE3DFH on 2009-02-06
  This little monitor continues to impress me, excellent picture, fast refresh, compact size, very little heat generation, wide viewing angles, looks nice. I purchased it to set up another work station, couldn't have purchased a better monitor.
  
  
• Completely Satisfied!
  By A3S81XRP0X8A4N on 2008-11-19
  I ordered this monitor on a Friday and received it the following Tuesday and didn't even have to pay shipping!! I had been using one of the old "T-Rex" monitors and after switching to this one I'm amazed! The display is so clear and vibrant. I am completely satisfied with my purchase!!
  
  
• Very nice. Use the supplied cable. Not great in portrait rotation.
  By ASM25WTP80PMR on 2010-03-05
  Very nice for text work.
  
  Be sure to use the supplied VGA cable. The ferrite filter cores on the cable ("blobs" near each end) are necessary to maintain signal quality for a sharp display. A plain VGA cable I tried produced very blurry video.
  
  Viewing angle is narrow if you unmount it from the stand and use another stand for portrait mode.
  
  Excellent value.
  
  
• Great monitor for the price, but I wish it were adjustable...
  By A1XM6S5JLD8354 on 2009-10-17
  Everything about this monitor is great - crisp resolution, true coloration, low price, etc. BUT, I hadn't realized when I purchased it that the housing doesn't tilt. Not a big deal, but I would have preferred that feature. If that isn't important to you, this is a great buy.
  
  

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