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LG W2442PA-BF
by krakophyst
I was sick of my small 19 inch 4:3 screen, I wanted something bigger, at least 23 inch. The monitors for sale that were 24 inch really spoke to me, it seemed the perfect size and it wasn't much more expensive than a 23 inch screen.
This screen, the LG W2442PA-BF, got my attention because of the 16:9 aspect ratio (instead of ... the standard 16:10 aspect ratio), which I wanted because I watch a lot of movies, and 16:9 screens give you true full screen viewing, you still have black bars when using a 16:10 screen. It also had a good 2ms response time, good contrast, and all the connections I could ever want. So I went ahead and bought this monitor!
The monitor was really easy to set up, just click the screen onto the stand and you're done. The monitor was very adjustable, you can turn it from left to right, tilt it up and down, and even turn it around, so it becomes a 9:16 screen instead of 16:9. This can be handy for working on long documents.
The screen can also be adjusted in height. It can go up very high, mostly because it has to get high enough so that it can turn 90 degrees. It is great to be able to adjust the monitor exactly the way you want, and you can with this monitor.
The amount of connections on the back is amazing. You got DVI, VGA, HDMI and a 3,5 inch jack. You can switch between all of these connections easily with the press of a button. I hooked up my PC and my Xbox360 and turned everything on. Colours were really vibrant and beautiful on both the PC and Xbox360, both with stock colour settings. Watching movies and playing games on both systems was a blast, even when it is dark in the game or movie, you can still distinguish little details, due to the dynamic contrast this monitor has.
The monitor has built-in speakers, but these are of very mediocre quality. I didn't expect any better, most LCD monitors don't even have speakers at all!
This monitor consistently shows a good quality picture. I would recommend this screen to anyone, it has great adjustability, good picture quality and plenty of connections. The 16:9 aspect ratio is very nice for movies, but it is also the recommended aspect ratio for most games. I really can't think of any bad things about this monitor, maybe the bezel around the screen could have been a bit smaller, but that's it. If you don't need the newest LED monitor, this can be the monitor for you!
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Philips 244E1SB
by missj1981
We are a family that spends sometimes quite a lot of time behind the computer and all for different kind of reasons. While I like the computer to use of the internet and writing reviews, others use it more for gaming and listening music and using the webcam. For that reason we wanted a large enough screen so we found this ... one.
The monitor was delivered within 1 day and could be connected right away, you only need to have 2 cables, namely a power cable and a cable that goes in the computer / console. Once you connected the monitor you can just use it without having to adjust settings. If you want to adjust the screen settings you can very easily adjust them with the touch sensitive buttons at the bottom of the screen. You can't really press those button, but more softly click on them.
You can connect this monitor to almost everything and even to two different devices at once!For example you can use an HDMI cable for a game console and a VGA cable to a computer. You can easily navigate between the HDMI and the VGA connector. The speakers in the monitor, do their job well, but it is not the best sound quality. For the full experience is a surround sound system recommended.
Philips always delivers top products, this monitor is no exception. The monitor displays sharp images, ideal for work or for entertainment of course. The size of the screen is the ideal monitor to work, you might open a Word document and simultaneously have the Internet browser open at the side. This monitor is also very suitable to gaming, the screen size is just right so you get a better overview of the field. The 5 milliseconds response time that this monitor is important in gaming.
Older monitors often have a poorer response (5 <ms) so you have a disadvantage in competitive games where reaction is very important.
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Dell Ultrasharp U2410
by aethys
Recently we had an overhaul of our office equipment and I got a new monitor to with my computer. Not that there was a problem with the earlier one though the screen did have some nasty stains. Anyway the IT department said that these new monitors are a lot better than earlier ones so I did not mind my friend sitting on my desk staring at ... me constantly to be replaced by a newer, fresher and smarter friend.
I enquired further into this friend on my desktop and found that it is not exactly very new in the sense that this model by Dell U2410 was released somewhere in late 2009. So it is pretty old by the standards of technology innovation age. However, it is fairly new in the sense that it uses the IPS tech which is a far departure from the PVA panels used by my earlier friend. Now this IPS is meant to enhance the colour sharpness of the monitor and hence is a critical factor of improvement if the work is colour intensive. Another feather in the cap is that it increases the contrast ability of the monitor besides the Adobe RGB (red, green and blue) colour gamut, a package of improvement in colour sensitivity.
SETUP
It is as simple to setup as a piece of cake. When the IT guy unpacked the box there were 2 parts, the monitor and its stand. The guy left with the thing on my desk expecting me to do the rest as he had many more desks to visit, unpack the box and take the empty box back on his trolley.
The two pieces lock together securely in a lock-key manner. No messy screwing or need of specialist knowledge. The stand is of tough metal and looks very sturdy and durable. It also offers a good tilt to the monitor. I can swivel it at decent angles on either side. It is also height adjustable and has a sound pivot. I have just a small complaint of my friend here. It does not rise enough from its base, maybe 6 inches of the desk and when pivoted it reclines back a little. Not that it poses any problem to me but leaves him in a relaxed and slightly inattentive.
SLOTS
In this era of networking and staying connected it is natural for my friend to feel deprived if it did not come with enough slots to make good connections. The manufacturers have been very generous to him. It has been provided with 4 USB slots - 2 on the left hand side just behind the bezel and 2 behind the monitor itself. Besides it comes with a memory card reader also on the lefthand corner behind the bezel. My complaint here is that the card reader is not compact flash compliant, again a bit of a let-down. There is also a pull-out info tag to get the familiar with the antecedents of your friend.
There is also an USB input hub, VGA, 2 DVIs, video input slots, a HDMI slot and a display port. The only thing worthwhile that is missing is the S-video slot. The only complaint might be if I am being fussy is the lack of digital outputs for sound. They are analogues which reduces the sound clarity.
LOOK
It looks smart and impressive in black with a greyish leg and sides. Touch sensitive buttons adorn the right lower corner by the side of the power button. The power button lights up blue when the monitor is on and glows orange when in standby.
FUNCTION
It takes a bit longer than expected to start.
The touch sensitive buttons deserve special mention. Though it is smart to operate with some sensor recognising your fingers proximity but it is not a one touch system. On turning on the monitor the touch buttons all light up simultaneously and then dims. When dimmed these buttons cannot be pressed again. Now you need to press the bottom main button to activate the other 4 buttons.
The monitor has a context sensitive display system. It means that the buttons call up input selection menu when not active and standard menu when active. As mentioned earlier it is not one touch but you do have the ability to utilise shortcuts for Preset, Brightness and Contrast, Auto Adjust, Input or the Picture In Picture selection.
The colour setting is pretty impressive. I could adjust RGB in Gain as well as Offset. Not only did I manage to adjust RGB for Hue and Saturation but also the CMY (cyan, magenta and yellow). There are other modes too - Standard, Multimedia, Game, Warm, Cool, Adobe RGB and sRGB.
Though I friend does not suffer from snoring problem (no operating noise) it does have high temper (its top gets heated up when constantly in use).
IMAGE
The most important criteria in a monitor are of course the quality of the images. As said earlier it excels in this due to its superior IPS tech and 12-bit colour processing. The black and white, grey and the colour images are supreme. There are no fuzzy colour overlaps - the colour contrasts are sharp and distinctions clear even in the slightest of variations.
When you have a 24 inch monitor then obviously you are tempted to play a game or two or watch a video after office hours. I use the custom preset rather than the presdeined one to get my perfect picture. It gives a vast variety of aspect ratios - fill, aspect and 1:1 and offers option for everything. There has not been any ghosting issue till date with the videos.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This 24 in, 1,920 x 1,200 pixel monitor offers really impressive stuff within this budget range of sub £400. It has good looks, sturdy built, flexible adjustments, impressive image quality, connection slot for practically everything and perfect ergonomics. It does have its share of faults like any human being but has given me immense pleasure ever since it arrived on my desktop. It is a screen to behold and cherish.
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