BenQ FP591 LCD Monitor (BenQ-FP591)

The FP591 screen has a fairly thin (about 1-inch thick) matte-black bezel, but it is set into a considerably larger gray frame that holds several uncommon extra features. The bottom of the frame houses a set of powerful surround-sound speakers that accurately reproduced the nuances of our test tracks without distortion--even at high volume.

Another bonus feature is a four-in-one memory card reader mounted behind the top of the monitor. (It accepts CompactFlash, Secure Digital, SmartMedia, and MultiMedia cards.) This "Digital Photo Frame" lets the monitor display JPEG photos from memory cards. The feature doesn't require the installation of software and even works when the PC is turned off. The monitor's on-screen controls allow you to navigate through photos, rotate them, and run basic slide shows. Linking the FP591 to a PC via the included USB cable and installing drivers allows the card reader to function as a standard removable-media drive for reading or writing any type of data to or from memory cards. (Unfortunately, the terse, awkwardly translated instructions did a poor job of explaining how to enable these features, and we had to fish around the BenQ Web site to locate the necessary drivers.)