Great if your on a budget. (Belinea 10 30 10)

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Product:	Belinea 10 30 10
Date:	29/11/00 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap to buy.

Disadvantages: No advanced options.

Priced at a very modest £181, the Belina 10 30 10 is clearly aimed at the budget end of the monitor market. Or, as Belina describes it on its website, this is an ‘economy class’ model. But can it provide enough benefits at that price to make it a worthwhile upgrade?

It’s certainly more compact than most CRT’s though this also reduces the viewable screen size to only 15.9 inches. The 10 30 10 doesn’t really impress on available screen resolutions, either, with a maximum size of 1,280 x 1,024 only available at a 65Hz refresh rate. I found the 1,024 x 768 or 1,152 x 864 screen modes gave more acceptable results.

One standard Belina feature that I wish other monitors would apply is the use of a wheel to select and modify options on the on-screen display menu. Some people think these controls are ugly, but Belina has done a good job of disguising them, and the system is a decent combination of good looks and ease of use. It doesn’t feature advanced options such as parallelogram adjustment or moire reduction, but it covers the basics well.

I spent some time using the Belina 10 30 10, and found it to be a competent performer. Whether it’s sufficiently better than your current display to justify an upgrade is questionable, but if you’re looking for a cheap replacement 17-inch monitor or you’re building your own PC, it’s worth serious consideration.

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