Acer G24oid review (LCD monitor - 24")

The optimal viewing angle for a monitor is usually directly in front, about a quarter of the screen's distance down from the top. At this angle, you're viewing the colors and gamma correction as they were intended. Most monitors are not made to be viewed at any other angle. Depending on its panel type, picture quality at nonoptimal angles varies. Most monitors use TN panels, which get overly bright or overly dark in parts of the screen when viewed from nonoptimal angles.

The Acer G24 uses a TN+Film panel, which adds extra gloss to the screen. While this gloss really makes the colors in games pop, we don't recommend this monitor for nonentertainment purposes. When it is viewed from the sides or below, the screen appeared to darken only a couple inches off from optimal. Of course, when viewed from the optimal angle, we had no problems. When watching a movie we had to make sure we were absolutely lined up or we'd notice the heavy backlight bleeding on the black bars or reflections in the super glossy panel. The lack of a screen height adjustment feature hurts all the more when the viewing angle is so sensitive.

We tested the power consumption of the Acer G24 and found that it draws more standby power than most monitors do. The Acer's standby average draw was 4.77 watts, compared with the Dell's 1.56-watt draw. Based on our formula, the Acer G24 would cost $24.88 per year to run, compared with the Dell's $21.76 per year.

Juice box
Acer G24	Average watts per hour
On (default luminance)	72.3
On (max luminance)	80.23
On (min luminance)	32.32
Sleep	4.77
Calibrated (200 cd/m2)	46.7
Annual energy cost	$24.88
Score	Poor

Find out more about how we test LCD monitors.

Service and support
Acer backs the G24 with a three-year limited parts and labor warranty that covers the backlight; this is standard coverage compared with other monitor vendors. E-mail support is provided via a form on Acer's Web site, and drivers for the monitor can be found easily.