budget 24" widescreen review

[batboy]

My wife has lusted for my Dell 20" widescreen ever since I bought it. Her old monitor shot craps and I've been wanting a 24" LCD, so time to shop for a new monitor.

But, budget was a little strained, so I decided to compromise on a lower priced 24 incher. Dell and Samsung were my top picks of course, but they were too expensive.

I settled on an Acer X241W for $400. Sure, the panel ain't quite as good as the Sammy or Dell. But, this baby is one of the cheaper 1920x1200 resolution 24" widescreens available.

The viewing angle is not the best, but this is used purely as a monitor for me and I sit right in front of it, so that's not an issue for me.

Right out of the box, the screen is way too bright. Once I played with the settings a little and knocked the brightness down, it was much better.

Dang, this monitor sure looks huge compared to my old 20" Dell (which my wife is now happily using). I've had this new LCD for nearly a month now and it's played flawless.

No dead pixels at all. I've played the new Medal of Honor Airborne at max settings and max resolution with no problem and no ghosting (HD 2900XT vid card). DVD movie videos look great.

Conclusion: if you are looking for a budget 24" widescreen and don't want to spend big bucks, you might want to consider the Acer X241W.

[White_Pawn]

nice, wuts the ms response time and dpi ratio?

[batboy]

Advertised specs: 6 ms response time; 1000:1 contrast ratio; 500 cd/m² brightness; 1920 x 1200 resolution; DVI with HDCP.

Pretty sure it's a TN 8-bit panel, but I don't know for sure.

[Scott9027]

Sounds like a nice find for a budget monitor. If you can ever call a 24" panel "budget" ;). Pics?

[batboy]

Hard to take a flash pic of something on a computer monitor, but here is what it looks like. Images look better on the monitor than what this pic shows. It gives you an idea how big it looks compared to the keyboard.

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/batboybain/Acer-24-monitor-resized.jpg

[gigabit]

I have a Acer X192W.Pretty sure it's a TN 8-bit panel also .I dont care though image's look pretty good on mine and im enjoying it .
But id love it if it were X241W.

Hey Batboy i want your case!!!!!!!Were can i get one.I looked online but nobody has them.

[JamesXP]

lol@beigebox

[gigabit]

It would look sweet painted gloss black seriously

[batboy]

They stopped making that case quite awhile ago. I kinda like beige, but certainly it could be painted. Makes a great watercooled case. It's very big. Here's what it looks like with the side panel off. Two separate loops, one for the CPU and one for the vid card.

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/batboybain/bat-rig-waterX2-crop.jpg

[gigabit]

Its a beast.I saw were you posted some pic's earlier and i started looking for that case.Only review i found was from 2001.Maybe i can find one on Ebay.Enermax makes a server case that similar but i dont think it has 2x120mm exhaust Vents

http://www.enermaxusa.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23_24&products_id=45

[batboy]

That Enermax case you listed looks good. Pretty roomy too. Looks like 2X120mm in the rear to me. It's just a matter of personal preference, but I don't care for the door over the drives, although it does clean up the look. I don't like to hassle with opening a door to throw a CD in.