| Product: |
Acer AL2223W |
| Date: |
27.08.07 (290 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Those extra inches
Disadvantages: A bit expensive for those extra inches
Research is very important to me whenever I decide to buy new computer or hi-fi equipment and it took me some time before I eventually made a decision to buy this monitor. I have used Acer products on a few occasions and past performance and reliability were major factors in my purchase decision. Acer based in Taiwan, are now the largest PC manufacturers to European markets so they must be doing something right.
The Acer AL2223W is a 22 inch monitor and still a bit on the expensive side at just under £300. What you’re paying for is those extra inches that always seem so overpriced. My last Acer monitor was 20 inches and cost £140 just after Christmas. Now you can by it for about £100. So you can easily predict that 6 months down the line this 22 inch monitor is going to be at least £100 cheaper. It’s something you have to take into account whenever you buy an electrical item of this type.
As I was only wanting a computer monitor at present, I felt that 22 inches would more that satisfy my needs. I wasn’t going to require one for use as TV or for playing games so there was no reason for having a large monitor that was going to use up twice as much energy as a smaller one. I did want a larger screen though, as I often work with numerous graphics applications such as Macromedia Flash and Dreamweaver. Having a large visual area makes it a lot easier to work with these programs. The monitor incorporates an intelligent widescreen display that supports the latest operation systems which require high definition pixel per inch for specialized professional applications. However, this monitor is probably still lacking in the necessary visual quality that is demanded by professional graphic designers and digital photographers. But if you’re not too fussed, it’ll do.
In terms of design the monitor looks good. It has a narrow bezel of only 1cm and a slim profile with an integrated power supply that has been especially designed with the aim of saving desk space and for optimizing the screen area.
According to the manufacturers The Acer AL2223W combines “high definition digital performance within a solid large screen format whilst integrated within a multi-functional design”. This means that the screen is quite good and you can move it about a bit. The slim 22 inch screen display renders an optimal pixel per inch (PPI) of 90.2 that allows for sharp and crisp image rendition. The quality of digital streaming has also been improved with the addition of an advanced digital HDCP (high-bandwidth digital content protection) interface. This is often recommended for Windows Vista browsing features and toolbars. The screen also incorporates intelligent Acer Grid Vista software that allows you to automatically open four applications and view them at the same time. The monitor is ergonomically friendly with its “pivot functionality” - you can adjust the height via the foot-stand. This allows you to adjust the screen into a more comfortable position for viewing. The monitor comes with 90° rotation display and portrait software.
The wide horizontal and vertical viewing angle of 160° is slightly better than my previous monitor and is one of the main visible differences when you switch it on. This just means that you can view home movies or DVDs from the side with a quality that is more in line with frontal viewing. Compared with previous models the screen response time has also been lowered from 8ms to 5ms. Importantly as well as VGA there is the option for a DVI (Digital Video Interface) connection that is often favoured by gamers and supposedly allows you to obtain a crisper image. The monitor has integrated speakers which as you can probably guess aren’t that good, but they do come in handy from time to time. After all, it’s not always necessary to hook up to a super high quality sound system just to listen to some crappy YouTube video.
Recommended, especially in 6 months when it will be £100 cheaper.
Technical Summary
Device Type: Flat panel display / TFT active matrix
Colour: Titanium silver
Diagonal Size: 22" - widescreen
Max Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Colour support: 24-bit (16.7 million colours)
Response Time: 5 ms
Image Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Image Contrast Ratio: 800:1
Digital Video Standard: Digital Visual Interface (DVI)
Audio Output: Speaker(s) - stereo - integrated
Interface: DVI, VGA (HD-15)
Compliant Standards: TCO '03, ISO 13406-2
Power: AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Also published on another website under the name of Nazuku.
Summary: Good all round performance
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Last comment:
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susie19 - 30.08.07 You've got a very big one ;o) x |
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