I bought this from dc-shop.ro. I was real excited about getting my first LCD, and a big one at that.
Specifications
It’s a 22″ TN film monitor. Native resolution is 1680×1050@60Hz (16:10). The rest of the specifications don’t really matter (see below) but i’ll paste them here anyway: Pixel Pitch: 0.282mm Brightness(Max): 300 cd/㎡ Contrast Ratio (Max.): 8000 :1 (ASCR) Display Color: 16.7M Viewing Angle (CR≧10): 170°(H)/160°(V) Response Time: 5 ms
Initial motivation
Initially i found only good reviews on the net. No bad reviews. I think it’s a new product and hasn’t had enough time or popularity to get properly analyzed. The price was also low enough. 669 RON (158€, $200).
Trouble
It turned out to be a really crappy experience. Firstly, there was a green pixel. There still is a green pixel on it. And there probably always will be a fucking green pixel on it. Always on. Always green. I called them up and they said ‘No, we can’t replace it unless there are 3 bad pixels on it’. That’s their return policy. Well, fuck them.
Second problem was that due to the fact it’s a TN type panel, the contrast changes with the vertical viewing angle. So if you move your head up and down, the image changes.
Third problem was with aspect ratio – it’s 16:10 – the widescreen movies i viewed on it had a black border top and bottom, due to the probable fact that they’re 16:9.
Fourth problem and most important, can’t do too much reading on it (more than a few minutes), i get eye pain. Perhaps it takes getting used to, but point is – the LCD i have at work doesn’t give me eye pain and i gawk into it more than 8 hours a day.
I suppose it might be good for gamers, but for me it failed – i use it for movies, browsing, games and text applications.
Conclusions
I’m selling this one and getting a new one. This time i’ll go and see it in the store, without ordering online (big mistake when buying monitors). I’ll get an IPS type screen, 16:9 or 4:3, from anywhere other than dc-shop. Don’t buy from them. They suck. I’m pretty sure they knew about the dead pixel before they sent it to me. In fact, i suspect they bought a cheap one-pixel-borked batch from Asus so they can make more money based on their 3-pixels-or-more return policy. Fuck you dc-shop, i feel so hurt:
pic from http://www.flickr.com/photos/banjo_d/galleries/72157622860719322#photo_29541996