April 23rd, 2008 Acer P223w review
I finally got a new monitor on my desk, an Acer P223w. It looks great and I’m very happy with the performance, i mean its not top of its class but its worth the money i payed for it. I choose Acer after doing allot of research, of-course there were allot of other models and makes on the 22inch segment like Samsung that are slightly better but those were over my budget. Another reason i chose Acer for, its the Crystal Brite technology (CrystalBrite is Acer’s marketing name for high-gloss laptop screens, representing the latest in anti-reflective LCD screen technology). I own an Acer Aspire notebook, which has CrystalBrite display and it looks great, so i wanted the same technology on my desktop monitor.
Before i got the Acer P223w i was using a 17 inch CRT monitor(yeah i know, i should of got a new monitor some time ago) so you can imagine that i was truly impressed with the size and properties of the Acer. Here is a list with the main features of the Acer:
- Screen Size : 22″
- Resolution : 1680 x 1050
- Contrast Ratio : 2500
- Response Time : 5ms
- Connection : DVI, D-Sub
Acer actually build two versions of this monitor one with D-Sub(VGA) and one with DVI connector. I have the one with VGA, because at the store where i ordered the monitor they only had this version. But i don’t think the DVI version would of been any better, because most of the differences between DVI and VGA monitors are just numbers, nothing to be seen with your eyes.
The first thing i did when i powered it on, was to check for any dead pixels (i recommend you do this every time you buy an LCD display). The best way to check for dead pixels is to run a program called LCDtest (i attached a zip archive, so just click on the link to download it). What the program does is to display 5 colors on your screen(white, red, green, blue and black), this make spotting dead pixels really easy. So i ran the test and everything was ok, actually during the test i could see how nicely the monitor displays the black colour(very black).
My video card already detected it as a wide screen monitor and set the 1680 x 1050 resolution. Next thing to do was to find a nice High Definition wallpaper, i chose this nice mountain scenery. I’ve not seen bleeding issues like others report on various forums and sites, in fact i have no issue at all with the monitor. Even if it doesn’t have the 2 ms required response time for gaming, the monitor still displayed the games i tested without issues(Comand&Conquer latest versions, NFS Carbon).
Another great thing about the Acer P223W is the OSD menu, which is great. Other monitors have really complicated OSD menus, but not Acer. You can access 2 main OSD menus, the full menu by hitting the Menu button, or the E button (e comes from Empowering, another technology from Acer). So far i only use the empowering button, because i only change the display mode from Text to Movie sometimes, everything else the monitor adjusts automatically.
As a final word, the Acer P223W is a great monitor and definetely a must see on your shopping list. If you have a limited budget and you want to get great design and performance, this is a perfect choice.
April 26th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
22 inch is definetely the best deal at the moment, and as you said acer looks great
April 26th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
that’s not bad at all
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:46 am
I just got mine here in Miami from Tiger Direct’s company store.
It is a white bezel version of P223w (same model number),
and is DVI input only.
Am very pleased, stepping up from a 20″ standard aspect Acer I got a year ago, but it met with accident to its screen (still works though).
To compare these two: the glossy screen of the P223w is like looking into a clean, clear window.
Side by side, YES, a glossy screen gives you ‘free’ added image quality.
I guess most monitors have frosted screens to help people deal with hard reflections of room lights. I have no hard lights behind my back here.
In the store, the store all bright lit with overhead lights, side by side with frosted screen monitors, this glossy Acer just shone–a lot more WOW factor.
I expect good service from this, my second Acer. I can say this: even with a shattered TFT panel, my old Acer refuses to quit. It was just too nasty looking.
Also, compared with my year-old cracked Acer, this newer model offers better range of the vertical viewing angles–you can tilt it more, or be lower below the screen’s upper horizontal and still have an acceptable view.
I read somewhere, and observations at the stores confirm, manufacturers all tend to optimized their displays for viewers whose eyes are at a level one or two inches above the top of the display.
In my room I have the Acer on an Ergotron LX double swing arm (it’s great!) and this lets me laze next to the computer desk in a reclining chair, with the monitor swung out and in front of me, but my eyes are in line with the middle of the screen. No problem–while this is NOT the optimum eye-stance point, it works OK, and better with this new Acer than with the old one.
I like this new monitor very much already.
I wonder if it has any bugs that will bug me? I doubt it. But I don’t doubt Acer for delivering great value and good performance and rugged design, well packaged and packed and delivered.
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:12 am
yup, it’s cool, not the best 22 inch monitor out there but it definitely stands out. I’m happy with it, no bugs so far.