Summary: 2007-09-15 17:25:08 If you are researching on 22" panels you already noticed that it is hitting a sweet spot in performance vs price ratio. If you are looking at an Acer you probably are not
gamers looking to buy monitors with super fast response time, or graphic designers seeking for the best true color
in a monitor. Chances are you are looking for a budget monitor with an acceptable performance.
If you want better image quality you probably should go with Samsung's 226BW. But according to many reviews online if you get one with A (AOC) or C (Chimei) panel, you are better off buying an Acer for the money saved. If you want an monitor that allow height adjusting, swiveling and tilting, a good choice is Samsung 225bw. Many good brands, like BenQ, ViewSonic simply are either not as good as the Acer Al2216w, or as expensive as the Samsung (but not as good). Be forewarned that a common problem with most budget LCD monitors is that manufacturers cut their cost by making stands that only allow tilting of the monitors. Oh, and don't expect it to come with good speakers, or even speakers at all at this sub $300 range.
I spotted a really good price for Acer X221wsd on Staples.com for the price of Acer Al2216W on Buy.com, plus local sales tax and free shipping. Before that I already earned that Al2216W is a solid performer providing the bang for your buck. I instantly decided to buy the Acer X221wsd. Thee shipping was free and arrived the 2nd day. Amazing! So I ended up paying for about $245. The difference between these two monitors are:
X221wsd is in silver color, while Al2216w is in black.
X221wsd's contrast ration is 800:1, while Al2216w is 700:1
X221wsd has a really ugly stand, while Al2216 has a dull, average stand. Neither of them allow swiveling or high adjustment. Only tiling is allowed.
The text on X221wsd looks crisp and bright. In fact, a little too bright that I had to change the mode to "Text", the only preset mode that is not too bright for my taste. You notice a little back light bleeds through on the to and bottom only when looking at movies and when the room is dark. This is pretty common even in better monitors as other reviewers pointed out. It is essentially non-existing under most conditions such as web surfing, e-mailing or working on document. The color saturation looks good, but not as good as my old ViewSonic G773 CRT monitor. I guess there is a trade off between space saving and image quality. By the way I was using the D-Sub/VGA input, not DVI. But from what I know, naked human eyes can barely see the difference under most daily use.
The worst part of this monitor is the enclosed stand. In
additional to that it is unacceptably ugly, it is stiff.
To tilt it forward or backward takes some getting use to.
Its arm and the base are detachable but it is very difficult to do so. There is no enclosed instruction and I am sure someone will break it eventually. Before buying the monitor I already decided to replace its with a third-party product.
To enable raising, swiveling the monitor I first found the
Ergotron Neo-Flex 33-310-060 LCD stand, which even allow me to rotate the monitor. After doing a little research I decide to go one step higher to purchase the Neo-Flex 45-174-300, which further allows me to free up my entire desktop space. Better yet, it matches my silver Acer X221wsd monitor and silver Shuttle computer case perfectly. I think to anybody the Neo-Flex 33-310-060 will be a good investment.
Before you purchase any 22" LCD panel you want to make sure your video card support the resolution: 1680 x 1050. If you have a relatively recent computer and are looking to make the switch from a CRT monitor to an LCD panel, and if you are just buying it for your mom's e-mail station or your usual computer tasks, I highly recommend this Acer X221wsd with one of the Neo-Flex LCD arms. I am happy with my purchase.
100% of People (10/10) found this review helpful. Was this review 
Report this as 
There are no comments for this review. 
