Recently I found myself in need of a new monitor. I needed a new monitor both for my desktop, so I could play high-paced games. When I play games I like to place my monitor 1 – 2 feet away, but I also want to see the entire screen clearly so I can react to any action without turning my head. I also needed the a second monitor to place above and behind my laptop, about 3 – 4 feet away, to be able to read the contents clearly on the screen while working on research projects. As I didn’t want to buy two monitors, I was looking for portability and ease of use in one monitor. I wanted the flexibility to use the new monitor with my laptop at times and with my desktop at other times. So the monitor had to be light and easy to move without getting smudges or fingerprints on the screen.
Back
Features
The Acer X223W has moderately chamfered sides that give you the ability to grip it with your wrists instead of your fingers, giving you a good, firm grip while keeping you from hitting the LCD screen when you carry it–preventing annoying smudge marks.
Camfered edges
The monitor also features a very sturdy base design with a perfectly aligned center of gravity. This allows it to remain steady when it is bumped or pushed.
Base
The buttons on the Acer x223w are big and easy to press. The buttons on some flat panel/LCD monitors are so hard to push you may end up moving the monitor around unintentionally any time you want to change the brightness or any of the other settings.
Buttons
Functionality
The screen takes about five seconds to start up, which is a relatively short amount of time. I have tested the screen with many programs from computer games and 3D design applications which have complex visual pipelines to more simplistic programs such as Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word. I have not noticed any negative attributes to associate with the use of the Acer x223w. However, the placement of the inputs for the DVI and VGA cables make it difficult to attach the plug.
Ports
The DVI and VGA inputs are facing down in the back of the monitor, at a low point right up against the back of the screen. This makes it hard to see to align the plugs. It is also hard to get a good grip on either of the plugs when plugging the cables into the monitor.
Plug
This can be problematic if you are moving the monitor around between multiple computers and must unplug and re-plug the cord many times.
With regard to installation, it’s a snap, literally. All you do is snap the base of the monitor to the top and then plug in either the DVI or VGA cord into the monitor and your computer. You are then ready to go.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Relatively inexpensive for an LCD Monitor
Chamfered edges
Quick start time
Easy to install
High resolution and large size, but not too large
Cons
Hard to plug in cables because of poor port placement
Technical Specifications
22″ Widescreen 1680 x 1050 resolution 5ms response
2500:1 Contrast 300 cd/m2 Brightness
Viewing Angle (H/V) 170 / 160
Dimensions (WxHxD): 517 x 600 x 177.4 mm
Display Size: 22 inch Wide
Resolution: 1680X1050
Response Time: 5ms (typ)
Pixel Pitch: 0.282mm
Contrast Ratio: 2500:1(ACM) (typ)
Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Viewing Angle (H/V): 170deg /160deg
Input Signal: D-Sub & Dual Input(HDCP)
DVI-D – 24 pin digital DVI ,
VGA – 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15)
Conclusion
The reliability and ease of use made the Acer x223w exactly what I was looking for in a new, inexpensive, monitor. It is a perfect example of an affordable, top of the line monitor. For the price of $160, this monitor is a worth every penny.
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Got one of these monitors too but it seems that the images displayed are fat in apperance. In other words if I have a picture of a circle it displays as an slight oval around the middle not a true circle. As I am doing art work this is a real negative-everything appears fatter than it is. Tried adjusting the width “in” but it does not take. Sent emails to the acer support and was not able to get a solution to the problem. They suggest that it might be the video card. Did not have this problem with the old monitor and do not want to waste money on unsure fixes.
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Sounds like you need to change the resolution of your system. Go to Control Panel, then to Display. (This is on Windows XP, should be similar on other Windows systems, and there is a corresponding procedure on the Mac.) Click settings, then change the resolution to 1680×1050, which is the native resolution of the monitor. Everything should look fine (I’m using this very monitor right now.)
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I fully agree with Geoffrey when he said that
1680×1050 Is the correct setting.
That would be the only thing preventing you, David Tuthill
to have a better picture on your monitor.
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The problem was that I needed a new video card and drivers that would enable the settings. When it was sold to me (the monitor) no mention was made about the video card nor did the tech support appear to have a clue about this being part of the problem. The card and drivers now installed the monitor is a beaut! No problems.
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The problem has been resolved by getting a new video card and drivers for the monitor. Was running windows 2000 professional and the drivers and video card did not allow the proper settings. Is fixed now and is a pleasure.
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Which Video card did you end up getting? I have a Dell Dimmension 4550. I am upgrading the RAM and also need to get a new video adapter too. I am running Win/XP
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The criteria was that it needed to support DirectX and OpenGL which my old RAGE128 card did not. I ended up with a cheepie Arcade FX GF5200FX128 which only ran me about $16.99. With the new card and drivers the monitor was adjustable to the correct width and height. I am running Windows 2000 professional (had the pc for about 8 years). Am considering adding more memory to the machine too as many apps have grown to fit pc’s with more memory and cpu power.
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I LIKE the plug placement. It is tight, but not a problem. The Downward facing hookups allow you to place the X22W flush against a wall, and no cables get in the way. (Exactly how I have it setup.)
For $168 at Walmart, it is Excellent! Literally $100 LESS than other 22″ monitors in this resolution class. The ‘e’ button gives you 5 presets for graphics/games, text, user, movies, and standard settings. The Auto button locks on target perfectly, getting the Horizontal and Vertical centered and synched in about 4 seconds. The edges are smooth, stylish, and flat matte black – All those High Gloss screens become a nightmare to see in high glare environments (like directly across from windows with bright sunlight.)
A BIG Bonus – the monitor comes with 2 video cables, one for VGA and the other DMI. The included cables saved me another $16 in buying cables. Some displays do not come with cables.
Overall, the only way to improve this economical monitor would be to add a HDMI hookup and remove the Mercury lamp and replace it with LED light.
Exactly what I needed – a cheap big screen to hook up to my laptop, not a $1000+ Graphic workstation monitor.
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Best monitor, i like. Very good and style. Very good quality.
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My monitor is acting strange lately. The screen seem to hibernate every now and then without even setting my computer to hibernate. What could be the problem? I have to turn it on and off for the screen to show-up.
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The Acer x223w LCD Monitor bought it from the Source on Jan 27 2010 Feb 01 2010 turned on computer and the whole monitor had verticle colored lines all across the sceen took it back to The source and they shipped it off to be fixed by Acer I don’t know how long it will take to get it back mean while the Source has a 15 day return policy .. and I have to wait don’t seem fair…
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So you only had it for 5 days? If they have a 15 day return policy you should have just returned it, or at least exchanged it. If you bought it with a credit card you can also check with them to see if you have even longer. I think my Visa gives me a 30 day return on all purchases.
In fact, you are still within the 15 day return period. I would just go into the store and demand your money back, or that they give you a new unit. Let the store deal with the other unit when it comes back.
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I tried hooking up the VGA cable to my Toshiba satellite laptop and it displayed a No Signal on the acer screen then the blue power light turned orange. I don’t have a DVI output on my laptop and it’s only 7 months old.
Anyone know why this may be happening?
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First off what kind of graphics card are you using (does it support dual monitors?) secondly did you set your graphics card to read 2 monitors in the display propery settings?
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I have a Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family video card. I’ve had a Dell 17″ monitor hooked up to it before and it worked fine. But when I hooked up the acer monitor with the vga cable, the laptop noticed the monitor was plugged in but didn’t display anything on the acer. Just had No Signal then went on standby.
The Dell monitor was hooked up with vga cable as well, 3 months ago.
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this site should help if not let me know: http://www.intel.com/support/g.....022119.htm
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