Ships quickly and looks good, picture is clear. The only issue so far is that at maximum resolution the refresh rate is only 60 at maximum, if you want the refresh rate to go higher you will have to sacrifice your resolution. that’s pretty sad because I never expect this when seeing this monitor’s specifications!
Rating: 3 / 5
No, I’m not reviewing our colorful Jello gelatin, I’m reviewing this brilliant monitor and it’s horrid stand that can’t support its weight. Who was the brainiac who designed a cheap base for a 23″ monitor that is so heavy that it forces the monitor to lean forward a little bit? Worse yet, the base is so paltry in design that the monitor leans forward enough to make you worry about if it’s going to tip over.
Sure, the monitor is pretty and colorful. Too bad it’ll fall off my desk if I try to use it.
Rating: 2 / 5
After significant research into 23″ and 24″ LCD monitors in the $220 and under category, I was pretty sure I was going to go with a 24″ ViewSonic for $199. Then I found a deal on this Acer model a couple of weeks ago for a lot less ($160 after tax and shipping) and got it instead. I was upgrading from my 19″ ViewSonic widescreen LCD from 2006 that had served me very well, first at home then in my office for the past year. Since the screen is used for typical office tasks (internet browsing, powerpoint, excel, email, reading PDFs, etc) I was interested in a screen with 1920×1200 resolution (16:10 aspect ratio) in order to get as much space for reading-oriented tasks as I could. Unfortunately there are not many models offering 1920×1200 and those that do are much more expensive (generally $270+ from what I found). So I figured 1920×1080 would be fine given my budget. I also wanted to make sure it had a MATTE screen finish (not the newer glossy “anti-glare” finishes like on macbook screens) as there are bright overhead lights all around me and I didn’t want reflections and glare. It doesn’t state the type of finish anywhere on the product description, but I did find the answer after some searching. I’m using this with the following setup on my lenovo T400 laptop:
Intel Core2 Duo @ 2.8GHz
3GB of RAM
ATI Radeon HD 3400 graphics card
Windows XP
connected to laptop via VGA cable
Though I’ve only had this monitor for 2 weeks I felt I could still do an initial review. Obviously the price point is excellent, but how well does it perform? As indicated by my 4 stars and title I give it a “very good” rating.
+No dead pixels out of the box
+No extra speakers or oversized bezel that add bulk
+Good color, contrast and image quality
Things that keep it from being 5-star quality:
-The picture (including text, which is what I’m looking at most of the time) does not appear to be quite as crisp as my previous lcd or the screen on my laptop [this may be an issue associated with the fact that I am using VGA as opposed to DVI, but since my laptop has no DVI out I cannot comment on whether performance would improve]
-Image quality near the very bottom of the screen (taskbar area and a bit above) appears slightly worse than the rest (not as crisp, slightly lower contrast)
-On-screen adjustment menus and physical buttons are a little clunky and annoying to use, though I will probably not touch them much more after the next couple weeks of use and tweaking
Overall I would certainly recommend purchasing this if the price is right.
Two Other thoughts:
1)I think I’ve read of some complaints regarding the stand. To be clear: you can angle the screen backward about 15 degrees and forward about 5 degrees. It is not a swivel stand, but it is not difficult to turn the whole thing left and right. And the stand is perfectly sturdy provided you’ve placed the monitor on it properly. In fact, the legs are not super stiff, so if you push down on one of the top corners of the screen, the legs will actually flex a little, making it very difficult to knock it over without serious force or intent.
2)Setup was not as easy as I’d hoped. This may be specific to me, but I will mention it, howeverI don’t feel that it is fair to knock any points off of my rating as a result. In order to get the monitor’s native 1920×1080 resolution to display properly I tried a whole bunch of things over a period of about an hour. At first it was displaying what appeared to be a scrunched up version of 1920×1080 with black bars on the left and right sides of the screen. I finally got it to work properly after upgrading my video card drivers (always important to keep these up to date), installing drivers for the monitor and assigning them to the ‘default monitor’ in the device manager, and finally, futzing with the Monitor Properties Adjustments in the ATI Catalyst Control center. On the last item, I found it was necessary to click on the expansion/stretching arrows in order to get the picture to fill the screen. That is what I think ultimately got rid of the black bars. I still am only able to run at 60Hz (not higher refresh rates that the screen DOES allow), but I have a feeling this has something to do with my video card and potentially the VGA output.
Rating: 4 / 5
I love this monitor! The picture quality is very good, and the stand doesn’t bother me at all. What does bother me is the fact that mine has two stuck pixels, one of them being in the lower left quadrant, but rarely visible, and the other being at the VERY top left corner where it doesn’t even matter. Could have been worse I suppose… Anyways, I think this is an excellent monitor for the price, and I would definately consider purchasing another!
Rating: 5 / 5
I have an Acer X203H as well, which lacks the HDMI input, but provides a greater range of resolutions. Basically though, I bought this for the 1080p capability so that I could review HD video.
The button interface can be annoying for switching between analog and digital and sometimes I wish there were a dedicated option for this. Perhaps in the not too distant future even netbooks will output DVI/HDMI. Till then…
Rating: 4 / 5
March 3rd, 2010 | 
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Ships quickly and looks good, picture is clear. The only issue so far is that at maximum resolution the refresh rate is only 60 at maximum, if you want the refresh rate to go higher you will have to sacrifice your resolution. that’s pretty sad because I never expect this when seeing this monitor’s specifications!
Rating: 3 / 5
See it jiggle.
See it wiggle.
See it wobble.
No, I’m not reviewing our colorful Jello gelatin, I’m reviewing this brilliant monitor and it’s horrid stand that can’t support its weight. Who was the brainiac who designed a cheap base for a 23″ monitor that is so heavy that it forces the monitor to lean forward a little bit? Worse yet, the base is so paltry in design that the monitor leans forward enough to make you worry about if it’s going to tip over.
Sure, the monitor is pretty and colorful. Too bad it’ll fall off my desk if I try to use it.
Rating: 2 / 5
After significant research into 23″ and 24″ LCD monitors in the $220 and under category, I was pretty sure I was going to go with a 24″ ViewSonic for $199. Then I found a deal on this Acer model a couple of weeks ago for a lot less ($160 after tax and shipping) and got it instead. I was upgrading from my 19″ ViewSonic widescreen LCD from 2006 that had served me very well, first at home then in my office for the past year. Since the screen is used for typical office tasks (internet browsing, powerpoint, excel, email, reading PDFs, etc) I was interested in a screen with 1920×1200 resolution (16:10 aspect ratio) in order to get as much space for reading-oriented tasks as I could. Unfortunately there are not many models offering 1920×1200 and those that do are much more expensive (generally $270+ from what I found). So I figured 1920×1080 would be fine given my budget. I also wanted to make sure it had a MATTE screen finish (not the newer glossy “anti-glare” finishes like on macbook screens) as there are bright overhead lights all around me and I didn’t want reflections and glare. It doesn’t state the type of finish anywhere on the product description, but I did find the answer after some searching. I’m using this with the following setup on my lenovo T400 laptop:
Intel Core2 Duo @ 2.8GHz
3GB of RAM
ATI Radeon HD 3400 graphics card
Windows XP
connected to laptop via VGA cable
Though I’ve only had this monitor for 2 weeks I felt I could still do an initial review. Obviously the price point is excellent, but how well does it perform? As indicated by my 4 stars and title I give it a “very good” rating.
+No dead pixels out of the box
+No extra speakers or oversized bezel that add bulk
+Good color, contrast and image quality
Things that keep it from being 5-star quality:
-The picture (including text, which is what I’m looking at most of the time) does not appear to be quite as crisp as my previous lcd or the screen on my laptop [this may be an issue associated with the fact that I am using VGA as opposed to DVI, but since my laptop has no DVI out I cannot comment on whether performance would improve]
-Image quality near the very bottom of the screen (taskbar area and a bit above) appears slightly worse than the rest (not as crisp, slightly lower contrast)
-On-screen adjustment menus and physical buttons are a little clunky and annoying to use, though I will probably not touch them much more after the next couple weeks of use and tweaking
Overall I would certainly recommend purchasing this if the price is right.
Two Other thoughts:
1)I think I’ve read of some complaints regarding the stand. To be clear: you can angle the screen backward about 15 degrees and forward about 5 degrees. It is not a swivel stand, but it is not difficult to turn the whole thing left and right. And the stand is perfectly sturdy provided you’ve placed the monitor on it properly. In fact, the legs are not super stiff, so if you push down on one of the top corners of the screen, the legs will actually flex a little, making it very difficult to knock it over without serious force or intent.
2)Setup was not as easy as I’d hoped. This may be specific to me, but I will mention it, howeverI don’t feel that it is fair to knock any points off of my rating as a result. In order to get the monitor’s native 1920×1080 resolution to display properly I tried a whole bunch of things over a period of about an hour. At first it was displaying what appeared to be a scrunched up version of 1920×1080 with black bars on the left and right sides of the screen. I finally got it to work properly after upgrading my video card drivers (always important to keep these up to date), installing drivers for the monitor and assigning them to the ‘default monitor’ in the device manager, and finally, futzing with the Monitor Properties Adjustments in the ATI Catalyst Control center. On the last item, I found it was necessary to click on the expansion/stretching arrows in order to get the picture to fill the screen. That is what I think ultimately got rid of the black bars. I still am only able to run at 60Hz (not higher refresh rates that the screen DOES allow), but I have a feeling this has something to do with my video card and potentially the VGA output.
Rating: 4 / 5
I love this monitor! The picture quality is very good, and the stand doesn’t bother me at all. What does bother me is the fact that mine has two stuck pixels, one of them being in the lower left quadrant, but rarely visible, and the other being at the VERY top left corner where it doesn’t even matter. Could have been worse I suppose… Anyways, I think this is an excellent monitor for the price, and I would definately consider purchasing another!
Rating: 5 / 5
I have an Acer X203H as well, which lacks the HDMI input, but provides a greater range of resolutions. Basically though, I bought this for the 1080p capability so that I could review HD video.
The button interface can be annoying for switching between analog and digital and sometimes I wish there were a dedicated option for this. Perhaps in the not too distant future even netbooks will output DVI/HDMI. Till then…
Rating: 4 / 5
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