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I-Inc 28 inch Widescreen LCD Monitor

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 | Monitor Reviews | View Comments

Huge monitors make me smile, and the I-Inc 28 inch widescreen LCD monitor gives me quite a grin. The I-Inc offers TV sized viewing for your personal computer.

Want more desktop space? Look no further. This 28 inch monitor really does take the cake, with over 3 times the total viewing area of a 17 inch monitor, it certainly lacking. My personal preference is to upgrade monitors more than upgrade my computer system. The benefits for day-to-day applications like web browsers and word processors and using multiple programs at the same time become much easier when they can be viewed side-by-side on the screen.

Here are some of the features of the LCD monitor:

• Diagonal size: 28 inches
• 16.7 million colors
• 56 – 75 Hz refresh rate
• VGA input port
• 2 x 2.5 watt speakers

Buttons are located around the side of the monitor, on the right. This position is not the most convenient to get to especially when unfamiliar of where the buttons are. Looking around the side might not be that much of a pain, but it’s still not overly convenient.

The monitor comes on a stand which can hold its weight. It can also be removed from the stand so it can be mounted on another stand or on a wall, using the standard VESA hole arrangement. The stand allows the monitor to be tilted backwards by 20 degrees, but not to be tilted forward.

The monitor itself has a slim frame around the LCD panel, making it less of an intrusion to a small desk. there is a still a bit of a push for space, but there is very little that is wasted. It is a little surprising that there is no DVI port included at the back of the monitor. The HDMI port allows other digital devices to be connected to the monitor though, so it can be used for purposes other that doing work on the computer.

A fantastic option for a truly large monitor for computer work. I’ll write Santa and prepare a big stocking in anticipation.

Hanns-G Widescreen 19 Inch Computer LCD Monitor

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 | Monitor Reviews | View Comments

The Hanns-G 19 inch computer LCD monitor is a widescreen LCD monitor with 1440×900 screen resolution, 5ms latency and 700:1 contrast ratio. Good specifications at a reasonable price.

A widescreen monitor provides lots of extra desktop space by making it wider. Pure size makes a difference, but the range of our own vision stretches much more horizontally than vertically. Seventeen inches has become pretty standard for desktop monitors, with the biggest laptop monitors also reaching that size. But a bit of a stretch up, and more stretching out to each side, you get a lot more monitor for only a little extra cash.

Here is a list of features for the Hanns-G:

• 19 inch LCD monitor
• 1440×900 maximum screen resolution
• 5ms latency
• DVI video input
• 700:1 contrast ratio

High contrast gives the image on the screen a crisper look, subtle difference in color are more obvious. 700:1 is just fine and will give good quality images. 5ms latency means that the response time of the monitor is very high. When the image is changing quickly, the monitor’s ability to keep up with the changing image without looking like there are ghosts chasing your character in a game, is measured by the latency. 5ms is very quick, and even when you take into account that this is the fastest response, the average should still be good.

DVI video input only is something to consider. A lot of computers still do not have DVI ports, so a VGA-to-DVI adapter would be needed to connect this to a computer with only a VGA port. The included speakers are small enough to almost not be seen, which also means they are not really much good for anything but simple audio, but if you’re listening to music on the computer you probably have speakers or headphones already.

Hanns-G has made a good name for themselves and this monitor will deliver everything it promises.

Acer 22 inch 1680 x 1050 Widescreen LCD Monitor

Monday, November 12th, 2007 | Monitor Reviews | View Comments

With LCD prices continuing to drop, this wide screen monitor with high resolution makes the computing experience better with a much larger desktop area for all applications.

I love widescreen monitors. Well, I actually just love big monitors. Monitor space is even more important than desk space. Being able to fit more windows on the screen allows them to be spread over the screen rather than having to Alt-tab everytime I want to switch to something else. The ability to keep a source document and the document that you are inputting the information into, on the screen at the same time adds efficiency and ease-of-use to the computer.

Although widescreen is not necessary to achieve this affect, it does make more sense as we would naturally spread documents out next to each other, rather than on top of each other.

Here are a list of the main features:

• WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050)
• DVI and VGA inputs
• VESA mounting
• 5ms latency
• 22″ widescreen (16:10)

Twenty-two inches is really big, especially compared to the average seventeen inches that I use on a daily basis. The size of the screen is very impressive, the resolution of the monitor doesn’t match up well enough.

With such a huge screen, a slightly higher resolution would be preferrable. There is nothing wrong with the resolution, but for a monitor of this size, I would like to see a higher resolution, and although it makes everything on the screen that little bit smaller, it allows the work area to be maximized.

The monitor is a standard affair with both DVI and VGA inputs and all the OSD buttons at the front of the monitor, just below the screen. The most impressive feature is, of course, the price, and it is available from $260, less with rebates. I am willing to overlook the little niggles I have with the monitor for that price. Acer are well-known, so there is little risk, even at this price.

Triple Directional Monitor from Sharp

Thursday, September 28th, 2006 | Monitor Reviews, News | View Comments

Sharp have added to their list of great goodies a 3 way directional LCD monitor. Simply put, you can see three different images from 3 different angles.

From straight-on, to the left an to the right you can have 3 different images displayed, allowing the driver to see a map, the passenger to see pictures of their destination and the person in the back to watch a movie.

It does seem like you will need quite a video card to pump out 3 different images at the same time, unless there is some more elegent solution to getting the 3 images.

Sharp already have a dual directional monitor on the market.

Press release at the Sharp website

USB Touchscreen for LCD monitors

Thursday, May 25th, 2006 | Monitor Reviews, News | View Comments

Touchscreen monitors can add that something extra to a computer that has everything. Although the most common uses are not in the desktop computing market, they are still useful at times.

A new product from Japanese company Logitec (not Logitech) promises to offer this functionality to any desktop. The device itself just attaches to the monitor, is plugged in via USB and then you’re ready to go. It uses two straps that wrap around the monitor, in order to hold itself in place.
There is no report on it’s pricing, according to the report on usbeverything, but that should be settled by the time it comes to market.

The device does not need external power and takes what it needs from the USB power supply. The touchscreen comes with a pointing device to be used on the screen, but works with just your finger, although not as accurately.
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