Wingnut
- Comment
I was looking for a gaming monitor for my Xbox One, had been using a Sony Bravia HD TV and it never failed anytime I wanted to game somebody was watching TV. Yep. I looked at the BenQs Zowie and almost pulled the trigger, but I really wanted an IPS monitor. So far Im pleased with the purchase and for the price very happy with the quality of the product. Dimensions: Since the monitor doesnt come with an adjustable stand heres some measurements that might help you determine if you might want to purchase a separate stand. Height from desk to bottom edge of monitor: 3 1/2", height from desk to bottom edge of viewable screen: 4 1/4". Height from desk to top edge of Monitor: 16 1/4", and width of monitor: 21 1/4". The height of the monitor stand worked perfectly for me so I didnt need a separate stand. Initial impressions: The monitor comes in a basic plain cardboard box with some black graphics, nothing over the top. Packaging seemed adequate for the price point, standard foam protection wrapped in plastic. Assembly was straight forward, snapped together without issue. They left out markings for the connections, theres two HDMI connections but neither are marked, which one is HDMI 1 and 2? Small details left off to squeeze into the price bracket its in. Not a big deal, not like youll ever look at it again. The monitor stand, does its job well and looks pretty cool. Startup: Fortunately for me I didnt notice any dead or stuck pixels. Color and appearance: Out of the box black was very washed out to light grey. Horrible. Played around with the settings and decreased the brightness. The settings menu has a lot of depth and adjustments, I set mine to Gaming. The only negative thing I have to say about this monitor is in the Gaming mode it throws the number "60" up in the top right hand corner of the screen. Not sure why they did this but oh well, Ive gotten use to it. Another neat feature that I dont use is the monitor comes with built in crosshairs you can turn on, with a couple different versions. This wasnt mentioned in any of the information I read about it. Game play: Flawless as best as my aging eyes can tell, no issues. Im nearing the completion of yet another play through of the Mass Effect trilogy and game play has been spectacular. Coming from playing on an older Sony Bravia HD TV to this it does feel more responsive. Maybe its all in my head. In game movie cut scenes arent great, maybe something to do with "gamer" mode settings. Ive been using this monitor exclusively for the Xbox One, so I cant speak to how well it looks picture editing or such but based on the amount of settings it seems it would do fine as a standard desk top computer screen. I think this is a superb monitor for the price and Im very happy with its performance. Hope this helps.