[18 of 18 customers found this review helpful]

Envision AOC 2217V 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor Review

Excellent monitor at a bargain price.

Super Informative

"I originally went to buy a Samsung or Dell 22" widescreen monitor. I walked out with a Samsung but, when I took it out of the box, there were loose parts rattling around inside the monitor. I returned it and walked out with the AOC 2217V for only [$]. I had my doubts about such a cheap 22" monitor, but thought I'd give it a try.I turned off my Windows XP system, plugged in the analog cable and power cord, turned on the monitor and then my computer. Windows recognized the AOC automatically and I had to do nothing...true plug and play. I then installed the autoplay CD which provides drivers, if needed, instructions and a utility which allows you to fine tune the monitor without using the small adjustment buttons on the front of the unit. Since Windows recognized the monitor and showed it was working properly, I did not install any additional drivers. AOC's CD says you only need the drivers if Windows indicates a problem.The instruction CD says that the ideal resolution for this monitor is 1920x1080, so I switched to that resolution. The results were poor, in that icons and letters became tiny. I increased the font size, which helped. I then found that Internet Explorer's tool bars were washed out and faint, and many web sites displayed poorly. I also found Outlook Express's displays to be too small for comfort. I changed Window's resolution from the default 96 dpi to 120 dpi, but that didn't help much either.The solution was backing off the resolution of the monitor itself. Although the CD claimed 1920x1080 resolution, the monitor is actually only 1680x1050. When I reduced the resolution all my displays returned to normal and now look great.This monitor offers very crisp images, a ton of contrast and brightness, and very realistic colors. I do quite a bit of photo work, and my images are much more realistic on screen now than they were with my old 17" LCD monitor. The front panel controls are small, but you won't use them often, especially if you install the AOC utility from the CD. The tilt stand is adequate, but has almost no forward tilt to it. Viewing angles seem typical for an LCD monitor ... good side to side and somewhat limited vertically.My monitor came through with no dead pixels and only very slight light leakage around the edges.The overall performance of this monitor is excellent. It is a plug and play device, is immediately recognized by Windows XP, and normally does not require the installation of additonal drivers. It comes with a simple pictogram sheet which goes through the setup and connection steps. All other directions and information are contained on the enclosed CD. The only problem I encountered was with the plastic cable retainer which snaps on to the back of the monitor's stand. I could not get it to snap in place, so I just didn't put it on. It serves almost no function anyway, so this is a very minor point.I don't think there's anything out there, anywhere near this price point, that can do a better job than this AOC. Just keep your resolution at or lower than the 1680x1050 resolution point and you'll be very pleased with the performance of this [$] 22" monitor."