Samsung Samsung 2263DX

The main 22-inch display looks sleek, with a thin, glossy black bezel on the top, left, and right sides, plus a thin, translucent plastic casing on the bottom. It has a native resolution of 1680 by 1050, a contrast ratio of 1000:1, and inputs for DVI, HDMI, and VGA. It achieved high marks in the PC World Test Center's performance tests, taking sixth place in overall performance and earning a score of Very Good. Overall, the 2263DX came in second on our chart of 20- and 22-inch LCDs, thanks to its performance, its wealth of features, and its high design-quality scores.

Before attaching the secondary LCD, you connect it via USB to the main 22-inch one. Then you must link the 22-incher to the PC, through USB in addition to DVI, HDMI, or VGA. The small LCD can sit on the top or along either side of the main monitor's casing, and it can double as a portable secondary display for your laptop. I found it useful for housing Photoshop tools, my music player, a video conferencing window, or instant messaging windows--and I even used it as a digital photo frame (not all at the same time, of course). We did not test the secondary LCD's image quality, but in our informal tests the 800-by-480-resolution screen produced pleasing images--similar in quality to those shown on the main 22-inch display--when displaying YouTube videos and photos.