ViewSonic VX2245wm Black 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor

A nice BIG 22-inch LCD

Strengths: BIG screen, USB hub, USB card reader, iPod dock, dust cover, ALL the cables are there

Weaknesses: Colors could be more vivid, rear cover is required

Summary: 2007-03-02 12:58:29 The first impression after you buy a VX2245 is that this thing is really BIG and comes in a huge box. Upon opening the box you discover two big pieces of styrofoam protecting the display and around them are ALL the cables you need, even the USB one. The booklet with the software CD was not mounted anywhere inside the box and "flew" around free. This is not a big problem because after you remove the styrofoam you discover a rather thick plastic bag protecting the display and on top of that a thick transparent piece of plastic attached with tape on the front of the monitor. This bag doubles as a free monitor cover for those who plan to buy one. So, save your money folks.

The monitor is covered with thin pieces of plastic EVERYWHERE and you have to remove each and every one carefully. I do believe that the plastic has been applied by hand (that's a good thing) and it is required in order to protect the beautiful black piano finish of this monitor. After you position the monitor on the desk of your choice you will notice a couple of things. First it's BIG (did I mention this before?) and second it is of high design quality. But if you have carpet in the house all the little particles that fly around will stick to the base of it due to static electricity. You can clean it with a brush, so keep this in mind if you plan to buy the VX. You can also tilt the display to fit your needs but don't expect more than 5 degrees down and 20 degrees up.

The rear cover is NOT there and it should be because the wiring looks ugly. The main reason of its absence is air circulation. The VX2245 has grills on the top and bottom that allow air to circulate and cool the display. Viewsonic could mount a cover with grills on the rear though without adding a lot to the total cost. They should also make the wire hooks stronger since they look as if they could break easily.

The top right corner feels very warm (but not hot) after a short period of use and this may be because the inverter is located in that area. The VX needs at least 62W of power to operate but this is not much compared to older and smaller LCD monitors.

In my case I used a Powermac MDD G4 with original video card and DVI connection. At the same time I had attached a second smaller 15-inch LCD monitor to the card. Upon powering up the VX2245 I noticed some noise on the screen (some pixels were flickering). I disconnected the small monitor, rebooted and everything was fine. Since I was planning to remove the small monitor anyway this was not an issue.

The issue was the color of the VX compared to the 19-inch Samsung 930B that it replaced. The Samsung had more vivid colors, especially yellow. I had to re-work with all of my original background pictures in order to make them approach the quality of the Samsung. Now everything looks better but the quality of the colors is still not there 100%. Maybe 95% and I'll see what I can do about this. The CD includes a profile for Macintosh but only for OS9 not OSX. You can work around this by using the "monitors" control panel provided by Apple with your original software but OSX did not reach the picture quality I was able to achieve with OS9. I am still working with OS9 mostly, so this is not very important at the moment. PC users receive all the required software on the CD or can download it from Viewsonic's web site. Aside from this the picture is excellent. Fast response, no ghosts, no nothing. I don't play video games but gamers would love this monitor.

Another issue is the sound system. It makes noises at very high volumes, can be adjusted ONLY through the menu and in general its quality is rather cheap. The volume dial controls the woofer, not the main speakers. I still use the external speakers I had because I can adjust how far from each other they can be for better sound quality.

There were no problems with the USB hub and card reader. No software was required either. This feature was actually one of the main reasons I decided to buy the monitor. ALL-IN-ONE saves space, cabling and it is neat. One thing to remember is that the base has its own power button that has nothing to do with the LCD power button. The LCD power button turns red when the monitor sleeps and blue when it works. Nice little blue light.

I don't own an iPod; hence I cannot comment about this aspect of the VX2245. You do get 4 adapters to fit every iPod model on this monitor.

In conclusion I am happy with it. After rebates and including shipping the cost to me comes down to $328. You cannot argue with this for a 22-inch LCD that has the looks of the VX2245, can you?

Addition on 3/2/2007: If you enable the "more options" in the OSX "Displays" control panel you can make the VX look as good as every other expensive 22-inch monitor. At this point I have replaced both of my previous monitors with the VX and I am not going back. As soon as your eyes get used to it the whole "internet" thing is a different experience !!!

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ViewSonic VX2245WM 22 inch ViewDock

Strengths: Generous 22 inch screen, built in speakers with subwoofer, VGA/DVI cables included, built in 8 memory card reader, fast 5ms speed, 3 year warranty, and built in iPod dock.

Weaknesses: Stand is non-adjustable, speakers sound weak, no warranty on backlight, memory card reader conflicts with pc card reader, and a bit pricey.

Summary: While out shopping on Black Friday I ran across a large LCD monitor with the iPod dock. This was the first time I saw or heard of it. The piano gloss black finish looked great along with the huge 22 inch screen. To top things off, it was on a one day sale. $120 off with a free photo printer after rebate! This was just too tempting to pass up. I had been shopping monitors for my Father when I saw this deal, so I got it for him. I liked it so much that I had to have one just like it for myself! Thanks to PriceGrabber, I was able to find another good deal on the VX2245WM. No free printer though. Looking at the 22 inch wide screen reminds me of the drive-in movies! So far I haven't had a single case of tired eyes. Only things I would change are the speaker system and the annoying better resolution pop up message on start up.

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ViewSonic 2245

Strengths: Beautiful glossy black design, built-in speaker and Ipod dock, both VGA/ DVI connectivity.

Weaknesses: A little bit pricey compare to other model, nonadjustable stand, supper small buttons (so hard to push)

Summary: 2006-12-24 17:11:28 Bought it on Black Friday at Fry's, it is not a very great monitor, but its look worth a price, huge 22" monitor with beautiful glossy black. Also, it is also the first monitor that has a built-in Ipod Dock, so it is really cool.

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vx2245wm monitor

Strengths: Good picture quality, abundance of features

Weaknesses: questionable ipod dock

Summary: This monitor has the good viewsonic optical quality of a standard TN panel. The features are what sets it apart. The card reader in the base is especially cool. Good buy.

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Dead in 2 days

Strengths: Worked really well in the 2 days it was alive. No dead pixels, 3 extra usb ports, subwoofer, nice finish, etc, etc, etc...

Weaknesses: On the third day of use, the screen flashed once, and just like that, my beautiful new monitor went bye bye. After that, all i can get is a white screen. RMA people hard to reach afterwards.

Summary: Pretty decent monitor with loads of extra features IF it survives. I guess i am not that lucky... The warrenty people are really hard to reach and I am usually on hold for about 20-30 min. before I can reach a real person to talk to. And worst of all, they contradict themselves. Some say my monitor will be replaced with in 3 days and others say I have to wait another 2 weeks! Hopefully I can get another one within a week. So much for award winning service...

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Good Monitor but can be better

Strengths: Glossy Finish, Ipod Dock, Memory Card Reader, USB hub

Weaknesses: Speakers are not that great

Summary: Just received it a couple of days back. Believe me this one is huge (it really is) and comes in a very big box. The box was really humongous.

I bought this Monitor for the extras that it provided i.e.. Ipod Dock, Memory Card Reader, USB Hub.

I am happy with this monitor. Colors are great. I have watched movies and played games. No complaints.

This monitor comes with all the necessary cables including DVI. The Monitor looks good with its black glossy finish.

Cons are that the speakers are not that great. Even the subwoofer (Yup, it also has a built-in Subwoofer) is ok. The monitor is a little pricey but you get a lot of extras with it.

Would recommend this.

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Big screen, great price but thats about it.

Strengths: Price, looks (cool gloss black), Ipod doc, built-in speakers, card reader and USB hub.

Weaknesses: Lack of USB 2.0 support, speakers suck, card reader on side of base. Lots of cables, even to connect the base to the monitor!

Summary: I resell computer products for a living but only corporate stuff so I'm not familiar with home type products.

Bought this for home, based on the impressive "extras" (Ipod doc, card reader, USB hub, built-in speaker with "sub") but the "extras" disappoint. Whey can't someone make a monitor with decent speakers? I would pay WAY more for that! All USB devices on base do not appear to be USB 2.0 (very slow) and no mention of 2.0 in the literature. Card reader slots are on the side of the base (inconvenient).

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big &cheap

Strengths: 22 inches. not much else to say!

Weaknesses: Mine had 2 dead pixels out of the box. The speaker system sucks in it. The free speakers with my computer are better. The ipod dock seems to disconnect at random times.

Summary: Well, the thing is 180 bucks.

The most annoying thing was the dead pixels, one is semi right in the middle of the screen. A dead pixel is one little dot of the screen that has one of its filaments (red green or blue) stuck permanently on. So sometimes you wont see it, and othertimes like watching a movie, it becomes an eyesore especially if you are close. In my case I have 2 dead pixels.

Mine has problems as mentioned above, but hey. Like my parents always said, you get what you pay for.

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Beautiful ViewSonic LCD Monitor

Strengths: bright, nice colors, easy on the eyes, plenty of extras Nice addition to the desk.

Weaknesses: Extras are not of the highest quality, especially the speakers; lighting is not perfectly even. OSD buttons are not designed for human fingers.

Summary: Definitely is nice to look at, both screen and housing, and no eyestrain whatsoever.

Tests seem to show that the backlighting is just a bit uneven coming from the top and the bottom. This isn't noticeable during use, really.

The regular speakers are OK, but the "subwoofer" is a joke, and its port is just a distraction. Otherwise, the base is a nice addition, but I'm not sure I would make the same trade off for adjustability again.

The buttons on the monitor are tiny, and impossible to access. Switching inputs from Analog to Digital (and back), is a painful, slow, and uncertain process. The OSD is functional, but the buttons make you want to never have to use it.

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