As you'd expect, ViewSonic's latest 22in panel offers top drawer quality, excellent game performance and an appealing design.
There are some obvious shortcomings. As it's been built to a price, the base looks like a comedy plastic cowpat and the stand above is only capable of tilt adjustment.
While nobody faces their screen and fiddles endlessly with its position, it is a far less accommodating setup than Samsung's SM226BW or my favourite HP L2045W, which in addition to tilting also swivels, pivots, height adjusts - you name it - but which now is obsolete.
The VX2240w panel itself offers deathly black blacks and Persil bright whites courtesy of a 4,000:1 contrast ratio, but from within a rather tight viewing angle. If you move your head a few inches side to side, the picture can darken markedly.
That's not a big deal if you're using it on its own, but if it's the second or third screen of a multi monitor arrangement, a picture that loses its vibrancy even a few angles from the dead ahead is hardly ideal.
For budget-conscious gamers, though, none of the above are genuine deal-breakers. The VX2240w's 1680 x 1050 resolution, snappy 2ms response time, high-contrast, high-vibrancy image and HDCP DVI-D input are what we really want for our desks.
If you're working to a £200 budget, this one's worth a long look.
I bought one of these for christmas at Staples (the office superstore) for £150. Its a fantastic piece of Kit, really bright, with excellent colours. However...it does only have an analogue connection, no DVI or HDMI. As a big plus though, it sets itself up! No fiddling or tweaking. Install the driver and it's ready to go.
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