James Galbraith

PCWorld tests computer products in real-world settings with applications that an average PC user is likely to use day in and day out. To evaluate monitors, we assemble a jury of PCWorld editors and analysts to rate the performance of each product as it displays a number of test screens.

The testing methodology we use was developed by, and is the property of, the PCWorld Labs.

The glossy-screened HP x2301, with its dark gray bezel, aluminum trim, and green-tinted translucent base, is certainly out to make an impression. Unfortunately, this 23-inch monitor’s performance isn’t nearly as impressive as its design.

Unlike the significantly higher-priced HP ZR2440w, which came out on top in our recent roundup of 23- and 24-inch monitors, the $249 x2301 cuts a few corners when it comes to features. You can tilt it a few degrees forward or back, but you can’t change its height, swivel it on its base, or pivot it into portrait mode. It does offer DVI, HDMI, and VGA inputs, however; the HDMI is a nice bonus for a budget display.

Photograph by Robert CardinLaptops and tablets seem to get most of the attention these days--after all, they’re great for working on the run. But once you settle down at your desk, it’s nice to stretch out with the generous real estate that only a widescreen monitor can provide. And now is the perfect time to buy a monitor: They're cheaper, thinner, and less power-hungry than ever before.

To take the pulse of the current LCD-monitor market, we rounded up nine 23- and 24-inch displays from six manufacturers, at prices ranging from just $160 to $425.

The $349 ViewSonic VP2365 is a bit smaller (23 inches) and a little lower in resolution (1920 by 1080) than the three highest-ranked displays in our recent roundup of widescreen LCD monitors. Its physical appearance is unimpressive, too. But it did well in our tests of screen quality.

Thicker than most displays equipped with LED backlights, the VP2365 has a nondescript matte-black exterior and antiglare screen. The five small silver buttons on the front, just below the screen, are easy to locate but aren’t particularly attractive--and it can be difficult to tell what each button is for until after you touch it and the menus appear.

In choosing to buy the $170 Asus VS247H-P, you won’t get quite the same great screen quality as you would with the higher-rated models in our recent roundup of 23- and 24-inch monitors--but you certainly will save some money.

This Asus model sports a shiny, black, modern look with a round base and a forward-leaning arm. Unfortunately, you can’t adjust its height, so you may need to put a riser underneath it for more comfortable viewing. The external power supply allows the unit’s body to be thinner and to take up a little less room on your desktop.

Priced at just $160, the Samsung E2420L is the least expensive display in our recent roundup of 23- and 24-inch monitors. So what’s missing? Not screen performance--the E2420L scored reasonably well in our tests. But it is bulkier and less versatile than other monitors we looked at.

In our test group of nine models, the E2420L was the only monitor containing a CCFL backlight. Inclusion of this older technology necessitates a bulkier design (since CCFLs require more space than LEDs do), and it also leads to greater power consumption. Measuring 2.6 inches thick, this Samsung monitor looks positively obese next to the 0.4-inch-thick HP x2301, the thinnest display we examined. And when we applied our power meter, we discovered that the E2420L consumed about 41 watts during use, nearly twice the power draw of many of the LED-backlit monitors in our roundup.

At $425, the 24-inch HP ZR2440w was the most expensive monitor in our latest test group, but it was also the most capable. It produces brilliant images, it’s easy to adjust, and it can connect to your other electronic devices in lots of ways.

For our roundup of 23- and 24-inch monitors, our jury of testers considered five measures: text legibility, color quality, screen uniformity (whether light or dark spots exist), the smoothness of video containing fast motion, and the visibility of the screen across a range of viewing angles. With its bright 350 cd/m² of luminance, 16:10 aspect ratio, and antireflective IPS screen, the ZR2440w earned a score of Very Good in all five measures.

The Samsung S24A450bw is a great bargain, if you can do without a few features. Despite its moderate price of $300, it landed near the top of the heap in the screen-quality tests we conducted for our latest roundup of 23- and 24-inch monitors.

Our jury ranked this 24-inch monitor the second-best in the group overall, awarding it Very Good ratings across the board. Though the S24A450bw’s viewing-angle and motion test results weren’t quite as stellar as those of the HP ZR2440w, they were certainly more than acceptable.

During our recent roundup of 23- and 24-inch monitors, the $209 ViewSonic VA2448m-LED performed decently in our screen-quality tests. However, it’s not especially adjustable--and it has all the stability of a bobblehead doll.

Too much shiny, black plastic surrounds this 24-inch, 1920-by-1080-pixel display for our tastes, and the diamond-shaped stand offers little ability to customize the screen’s position for more comfortable viewing. You can’t pivot or swivel the screen, or adjust the height; all you can do is tilt it a few degrees forward or back. This monitor will sway with any movement of your desk, too: In our tests, even pushing the menu buttons at the right back edge of the display left the unit shaking for quite some time.

The Dell U2412M did well in our recent roundup of 23- and 24-inch monitors. It offers screen quality that’s almost as good as that of the top-ranked HP ZR2440w, for a little less money. Plus, its design is flexible and efficient.

The matte-black, 24-inch U2412M has a thin bezel, making it a good choice if you use multiple monitors. You can raise, lower, tilt, swivel, and pivot the monitor easily, and you can connect it to any device that uses DisplayPort, DVI, or VGA.

On paper, the $229 Acer S242HL looks like a bargain. But it doesn’t look quite as nice when it’s connected to a computer.

The problem isn’t with its specs: This 24-inch, matte, LED-backlit display with 1920-by-1080-pixel resolution has DVI, HDMI, and VGA connectors. Its 250 cd/m²-rated brightness is lower than that of some high-end models, but matches about half the displays we’ve tested lately. And unsurprisingly, as with many inexpensive monitors, adjustability is limited to a few degrees of tilt.

With the arrival of the Mercury Accelsior PCI Express SSD, OWC claims to have the only Mac bootable PCIe solid state drive currently on the market. The Mercury Accelsior comes in four different size configurations, 120GB, 240GB, 480GB, and 960GB, and will set you back $360, $530, $950, or $2080, respectively. Despite its relatively high price point, the Accelsior's performance is among the best SSDs we've seen, and its ability to upgrade capacity as needed is definitely a plus.

On the Accelsior, you will find two "blades" (as OWC has dubbed them), each with their own SandForce SF-228X controller and 24nm Toshiba Toggle NAND. The benefit of this configuration is that it allows you to upgrade capacity as needed, whenever OWC makes upgraded "blades" available for purchase. Out of the box, this SSD is configured as RAID 0, but can also be used in RAID 1, if desired.