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Where I ran into trouble--and a quick trip to Asus's user forums confirmed that I wasn't the only one--was in setting up the 1.3-megapixel Webcam that sits above the display. I connected it using the supplied 3-in-1 (USB, VGA, audio) cable and installed the Webcam driver and LifeFrame software from the included CD. The Webcam showed only a gray or black screen; I could take neither still images nor video. Even when taking grayed-out photos and video, the LifeFrame software would occasionally report an error and close. I reinstalled the software and drivers and also tried connecting the monitor via DVI instead of VGA--no luck. Maybe my desktop was to blame, so I tried connecting the display to my laptop. Failure, once again. Many users reported the same problem, and while some were able to fix it using a beta Webcam driver (2.6.14) available on Asus's site, this didn't do the trick for me. I never did get the thing to work. And even if I did, I would have preferred to just use an external Webcam. I've never had trouble with a Logitech Webcam, and it offers a greater degree of flexibility for tracking your subject, a squirrelly toddler, for example. The Webcam integrated on the Asus PW201 offers only 60 degrees of vertical adjustment.
It's not all bad news, however, with the Asus PW201. Its scores on CNET Labs' benchmarks confirmed my anecdotal tests, where I didn't find a single weakness with the display, whether staring at text in a word processor or looking at digital photos, watching a DVD or playing an Xbox game. Tested at its native resolution of 1,680x1,050, the Asus PW201's score of 77 on CNET Labs' DisplayMate-based tests matched that of the more expensive, professional LaCie 120. The ViewSonic VX2025wm, however, also scored a 77, and it has a street price that's $200 less than that of the Asus PW201, which at the time of this writing, carries a street price of roughly $540. The Asus PW201 excelled in the brightness and contrast ratio tests, finishing a close second to the ViewSonic VX2025wm and the LaCie 120 on each, respectively. On all three tests, the Asus bested Dell's competing 20-inch wide screen, the UltraSharp 2007WFP. Like the ViewSonic, however, the Dell display can be found online for less than $400. As great as the Asus PW201 performed in testing, it's hard to recommend it over Dell's and ViewSonic's 20-inch wide screens when the price difference is so great.
Asus backs the PW201 with a standard three-year parts-and-labor warranty. Calls to tech support require a toll call. The troubleshooting section on monitors is pretty thin, but you can find lots of good information in the user forums on Asus's Web site.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
(Values in cd/m2)
(Values are a ratio)
