Asus PW201

There's a reason I never bought a combo cell phone/MP3 player. It's the same reason I never bought a TV with a built-in VCR: I didn't want to own a TV in five years that also included a broken or outdated VCR. I don't need my cell phone to play music, and I don't need an LCD monitor to take still pictures or video. The Asus PW201 does many display-related tasks well, but the built-in Webcam--with its bad drivers and buggy software--detracts from an otherwise excellent, entertainment-oriented LCD. The 20.1-inch wide-screen display excelled on CNET Labs' benchmarks, and the inclusion of component-video connections is a boon. If you can make do with DVI, S-Video, or composite ports, however, Dell and ViewSonic carry 20-inch wide screens that rival the Asus PW201's performance and cost several hundred less.

With its shiny, black bezel and glossy screen coating, the Asus PW201 looks more like a mini HDTV than a computer screen. With its plethora of ports, it's just as easily connected to a cable box or Xbox as it is to your PC. Tucked behind the screen is a neat and orderly row of video ports: VGA, DVI, composite, component, and S-Video. There's also an upstream USB port (for connecting the troublesome Webcam) and the requisite red and white composite audio ports. Flanking the screen are 3-watt speakers; they'll suffice for your desktop or a small room--think: dorm room--but will struggle to fill a large living room. Then again, you'll likely want a larger screen if you are shopping for an LCD for your home theater. Along the left side are three downstream USB 2.0 ports and a handy headphone jack.

The silver stand allows for a decent amount of adjustment. The lazy-Susan-style base lets you swivel the screen 60 degrees in either direction. You can tilt the display forward 5 degrees and back 25 degrees. The height adjustment lets you position the screen so that the bottom of the monitor is 1 inch above the desktop or 6 inches above. I wish it could be raised another inch or so because you're barely given enough clearance to pivot the screen into portrait mode without scraping the polished silver base. With the circular base that measures 9.4-inches in diameter, the Asus PW201 is not prone to wobble. A slot in the arm of the stand is the only thing resembling a cable management feature.

The wide screen is bright with vibrant colors. With an 8-millisecond pixel-response time (gray to gray), it easily handles moving images with DVDs and games. It's not the best pick for offices because the glossy coating that makes colors pop in photos and movies can result in distracting reflections and glare when you're sitting in a well-lit office. The LCD features four preset image modes, which Asus dubs Splendid Video Intelligence Technology, that optimize the contrast, color, and sharpness for specific usage scenarios. The modes--Scenery, Theater, Game, and Night View--are easy to flip through just by using the buttons on the front of the display. A picture-in-picture feature lets you display images from two different video sources at the same time. There are also three present skin-tone modes for viewing photos; maybe my camera is good enough that the Natural preset always looked better than the Reddish and Yellowish presets.

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