ASUS VH236H 23 Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor – Black

Full Description

5 Reviews

1. Monitor came in 4 days (including the weekend)! I commend [...] and amazon on such fast shipping.
   Including rebate, I only paid 159 for this gorgeous display.

   In terms of the monitor, I haven’t tested it on my desktop yet, but on a PS3 with HDMI it has great sound and brightness. Contrast is also well above average. I also didn’t realize it could tilt vertically. The menu system really isn’t as bad as some people say and I don’t seem to notice bad viewing angles (maybe I’m not trying hard enough). Overall, ~160 for a 23 inch monitor w/ speakers? I’m not complaining.

2. A must for anyone looking for a Monitor this size. HDMI is a plus benefit but I use regular VGA on this and
   the quality is great. Perfect for my office.

3. I have purchased multiples of this Asus monitor for use playing Super Street Fighter IV with friends. They work very well because they have hardly any lag at all which is important for the game. It also comes with built-in speakers unlike other monitors. It’s one of the best monitors you can get for the money

4. I’ve owned this monitor for a couple months and haven’t had any trouble with it. The colors are good, the clarity is good, and the brightness/contrast is good. Only a couple minor points:

   - The default colors are somewhat warm for my taste, but it is very good.
   - There is a little backlight bleed around the edges, but nothing more than what you’d expect for a monitor in this price range.
   - The stand is a little weak so the monitor will oscillate a little if you bump the surface it is sitting on, but it isn’t bad.

   Overall, though, a good monitor at a great price.

5. I purchased this monitor upgrading from an old CRT (18 inch Trinitron from Dell). Because I was going from CRT to LCD and from 4:3 to 16:9, there were a lot of new variables to consider in order to ensure I got a monitor that satisfied me. I studied the specs on a number of monitors in the $200 range, considering models from $180 up to about $250 and more. I got this model because it looked like a steal. The specs were all there: 2 ms response time, 23 inches of screen real estate, full HD, high contrast ration, you name it. It also got decent reviews online.

   The trouble is that whenever you buy an item like this entirely online, you are buying based on numbers, word of mouth, and other ultimately unreliable sources of information. You should know upfront that manufacturers use different ways of computing these metrics. For example, you can’t compare contrast rations between manufacturers reliably. Such a comparison MIGHT be an indication of a real difference in quality, or it might be meaningless. It’s impossible to know. In fact, you can’t even compare contrast ratios between models made by the SAME manufacturer from different years! Even if it’s the same MODEL! This leaves us consumers in a real pinch. Especially when buying ONLINE.

   When I got my monitor, I was initially very impressed with the size of the screen. The 16:9 format is really so much better. It’s great for movies and it’s even better for the extra desktop space. Teamed with Windows 7′s nifty windows that snap to the sides of the screen, comparing two browsers or documents is really nice. The vertical height of this screen is about the same as a 19 inch 4:3 monitor. I have to say, I somehow thought this would be bigger, but it seems bigger than it is due to the extra horizontal space. Running in full 1080p is nice, too. The resolution is crisp and beautiful. Colors are fairly good and overall picture quality is good, though not stellar. After testing the monitor on monitor testing sites, I’m not entirely sure how much of a difference the advertised 2ms response time makes. This is another instance where that number may or may not mean much, and testing the monitor is difficult without something to compare it to.

   But all this is knit-picking. I would be more than happy with this purchase except for one characteristic that just leaves me anxious over whether or not I should return it and try a different model out: VIEWING ANGLE. This model has a very poor viewing angle. Granted, I am coming from a CRT where viewing angle was not really an issue. But looking at the monitor from even just a slightly up or down angle makes a huge difference in contrast, and the horizontal angle seems equally poor. It’s not atrociously poor, but poor enough to make me wonder whether or not I can live with it. It is definitely NOT acceptable considering the ADVERTISED viewing angle is 160 degrees v/h (who knows how they came up with that number, but I consider it false advertising). I should also mention that I am writing this review from work on a Samsung SyncMaster 943ewx, and this monitor has a great viewing angle, almost as good as a CRT, so I do have some kind of point of reference. The viewing angle is also worse than any of the three laptops in my home, one of which is around 8 years old! To compound this drawback, the monitor stand does not allow for up and down movement. To adjust it to eye level you will need to put it on a phone book or something. Very unfortunate that one major kink should stand in my way of feeling like I made a smart buy.

   I highly recommend you go into a store and look at monitors up close before buying. If you cannot do this, then buy two or more models, try them out side by side, keep the one you like the most and return the others. You will be out the return shipping, sure, but it beats having to buy one monitor individually and wonder whether or not it’s a good buy and possibly having to pay for return shipping anyway if you’re unhappy. At least this way you know you have the monitor you want. Also, this is the only real way to compare monitors, because the controlled conditions of a store don’t really allow you to test and compare monitors, nor spend any real time with them doing your daily tasks.

   Overall, this is a good value model, especially for this screen size, but it does sacrifice in at least one critical area.