I purchased this monitor for my wife to use with her Alienware R17X4 laptop. She had broken a key on her keyboard but also wanted a little larger screen. So, I purchased a wireless keyboard and this monitor. She now uses the powerful Alienware laptop as a desktop with a larger display and a wireless, movable keyboard. She is a very happy camper.
Others have commented on the great graphics, thin design, and good quality build for a great price, so I won't repeat those details here. I will however point out a few tips:
1. At first, it seems the stand will not tilt. But it does! Grasp the stand firmly and then tilt the monitor back to the desired position. Note it does not tilt forward or side to side, but does tilt back (facing more upwards towards your eyes) which really helps in most settings.
2. If you don't get a signal, make sure you plugs the HDMI cable into the "HDMI out" port on your PC, not the "HDMI in" port. Duh. I had mine plugged into the wrong port until I found my reading glasses and saw the problem.
3. We changed three settings which you may want to also do if you have a laptop. First, we changed the display settings to choose between "Second screen only", "Duplicate", or "Extend". We chose "Extend" so she can have two documents open at once on the two monitors, her laptop screen and the new monitor. You just drag one document off the edge of the monitor to move it to the other screen.
4. Next, we found that closing the laptop, when she only needed one screen, put it into hibernation and shut everything down. We went into Control Panel and changed Power Settings under "What happens when you close the lid". We changed it from "Hibernate" to "Do nothing". Now the laptop keeps running even when the laptop is closed.
5. Third, most Windows laptops are configured so you have to drag things off the right edge of your new remote monitor to get them onto the laptop screen. However we wanted her laptop setting to the left of her new monitor, so it was confusing to have to drag something off the right-hand edge of the monitor to get it onto the left-hand screen on the laptop. We went back into display settings, where you can drag the two monitors in the settings to reverse them. Now, she can drag items from the left-hand screen to the right-hand screen by dragging them in that direction, and vice versa. Much more intuitive to use that way.
With those changes to the settings, she can open the laptop and use it as two monitors, dragging and dropping documents and apps from one screen to another. When she closes the laptop lid, it reverts to a single monitor (the new Acer) but does not go to sleep. This is perfect for what she needs. She can still power off the monitor when not needed for an extended period. Also, the laptop speakers still work when she turns on the sound even when the laptop is closed.
I highly recommend this monitor for anyone wanting a very good quality, cost-effective solution.
| Standing screen display size | 21.5 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 1920x1080 |
| Max Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 Pixels |
