Do The New 19" LCDs Pass Muster?

Design and Finish

The pictures are deceptive, as the 190B6's finish isn't all that great-looking; the plastic is only of average quality. The monitor's base isn't heavy enough to allow the panel to be adjusted properly, and finally, the plastic used for the control buttons is too soft. The design is nice enough, but frankly there's nothing new about it. Most Philips monitors have had the same lines for some time now, except for the X series, which includes the 190X5 .

Ergonomics

The ergonomics of the on screen display (OSD) are okay, but making adjustments is a bit of a pain. This is mostly the fault of the quality of the buttons; again, they're too soft, so they get caught in the edges of the monitor shell.

Equipment

The monitor has VGA and DVI connectors, and uses a USB 2.0 interface. Added to that are a headphone jack and speakers. Obviously the speakers are unusable; their quality is worse than what you'd find on entry-level portable computers.