LG Flatron L2000CE-SF Widescreen Monitor

The L2000CE-SF is a 20" widescreen LCD monitor with a silver bezel and a couple of funky features. (The BF version is the black version). I bought it a few years back (at least 4 years now?) for around £200 (Back then, this was a pretty good price) and it's still going strong on my desk.

FEATURES

The screen is height adjustable, which is a feature not all monitors have, especially cheaper ones. Simply pulling the screen can extend it up to 8cm upwards, which could save some people from getting a monitor riser. I do think they could have made it rise a bit more though as I also have a monitor riser for my Samsung TV and the LG doesn't quite stretch as high even whilst adjusted to its maximum height. On the plus side, it can tilt downwards slightly, as well as quite a bit upwards, which may make up for it.

One rather unique feature is that the screen can rotate 90 degrees clockwise (pivot). This would leave you with a really tall screen instead of a wide one and would be nice for reading long pages of text, comics, viewing certain graphics, etc. Unfortunately, I need to manually set the graphics card software to rotate the picture as it can't rotate itself automatically. Most graphics cards software have this rotate display function but unfortunately, not all of them can do it using shortcut keys (Ctrl + Alt + arrow key) and mine certainly can't at the moment. It came with a Pivot Pro software CD but unfortunately, doesn't work in Windows 7. I believe it also can't run properly with dual monitor setups. The rotation feature still a bit of a gimmick and not something I use often anyway but it's really useful for when plugging and unplugging cables from the monitor. When rotated 90 degrees, the cables are on the left and not underneath, making the cables more accessible! Neat!

It can also rotate effortlessly thanks to the base of the stand having a rotating mechanism underneath. I like this as I sometimes like to watch something whilst lying in bed so need to turn the screen that way. Lastly, the base sort of acts as a nice little platform to put small bits and pieces like stationary, loose change, etc, to make up for the lost desk space. I don't recommend anything that can roll around though as the 'platform' doesn't have raised edges like a tray, which some other monitors I've seen have. Still, nice to have.

PICTURE QUALITY

Luckily, my L2000CE never and still doesn't have any dead pixels so that's a good start. The picture is sharp and colours are as good as any other decent LCD monitor I've used. Granted, colour accuracy cannot compare to CRT monitors and expensive IPS screens like the ones you get with Apple iMacs but only graphics designers tend to have such high requirements so the L2000CE suits me fine. The brightness and contrast is adjustable via the menu options but it also has a 'Flatron Engine' button to let you choose pre-defined lightness and colour modes depending on what you want the screen optimised for (i.e. reading text, watching movie, use a user defined profile set in the menu options or just use defaults). FYI: The native resolution is 1400 x 1050 (size you set for the picture to look nice and not stretched / squashed).

The viewing angle (178° according to specs) is perfectly acceptable and means that the screen can be viewed up to that angle without the picture turning black. Moving around to the left, right, up and down, the picture does turn darker but text is still readable unlike some cheaper screens where the entire picture goes black, especially looking up at the screen. However, the extra flexibility of this monitor more than makes up for any problems with viewing angles. The specifications state it only has a response time of 8ms but I don't play games and I never had any problems with watching DVDs with fast movement so no complaints.

CONNECTIVITY

It has both DVI and VGA, which is no big deal today but back when I bought the monitor, only premium monitors had DVI as well as VGA. Being only a monitor and not a TV, there are no other connections besides the standard kettle plug for the power. One thing that some might expect is a 3.5mm audio jack for sound but the L2000CE doesn't have built-in speakers and frankly, I'm not fussed as sound from a monitor is nearly always poor quality and tinny so I'd rather use speakers any day. It came with both DVI and VGA cables as well as the power lead, which is always good. The back of the monitor has a little cable tidy as well to help you route the cables.

Most people will only use one of the two video connections but I've found a use for both, which is why I'm glad it has both connections. The main connection I use is DVI from the monitor to my PC. I then use the VGA option to plug into PC's that I'm fixing for people (and most only have a VGA port anyway). This saves me having to unplug the DVI cable from the back of my own PC, which is under my desk, so very, very, very inconvenient! To switch from my PC DVI display to the VGA, I simply press the 'Source' button on the monitor and it'll flick me over. Marvellous!

SUMMARY

PROS

- Good quality picture
- Good viewing angles
- Height adjustable
- Rotatable screen (90° CW)
- Has both VGA and DVI (and cables included)
- Platform to store small items on base

CONS

- Screen rotation in Windows needs to be set manually
- No inbuilt speakers, which people without speakers may want to save on getting speakers

VERDICT

It's a solid monitor, with great picture, good flexibility as well as having some nice features. Lacks speakers but not many will mind. If you come by one, then I would highly recommend it as even today, 20" is a reasonable size for a monitor.

Thanks for reading!