Acer AL1916 LCD

In the last twelve months LCDs have really gone mainstream, so with prices falling and screen sizes rising now seemed a good time for our first ever LCD review. For today's review we will be looking at the refurbished Acer AL1916 LCD, graciously provided us for review from Geeks.

I confess I am always somewhat apprehensive about receiving fragile items like monitors mail-order but in this instance my worrying proved to be unfounded. Not only was the Acer AL1916 double-boxed by Geeks, but the LCD body was enclosed in something that resembled a spider cocoon from NWN, and the screen itself was protected with a clear rigid sheet of plastic film.



Specifications:

Acer 19" flat panel display
Silver bezel
TFT Active Matrix LCD panel type
1280 x 1024 maximum resolution
0.294 mm pixel pitch
16.7 million colors
300 cd/m2 luminance
700:1 (maximum) contrast ratio
140 horizontal viewing angle
140 vertical viewing angle
15-pin standard VGA connector
DVI connector
Energy Star compliant
Plug and Play
On Screen Display (OSD) controls
Automatic Image Adjustment
VESA compatible for wall mounting

When I first went to fire up the Acer AL1916 I noticed that even though Acer had thought to include a quick start guide, and a CD with a users guide, they for some reason chose not to include a driver. While it wasn't much trouble to go online and grab it I am clueless as to why it wasn't on the CD with the user's manual. The driver itself is XP only, but with Vista due to be released next month I wonder how many people are still using Win 98 now?



Like most budget monitors the Acer AL1916 has a fixed base; that means no height adjustments and definitely no swiveling screen. What you will find on the back of the monitor in addition to the power & VGA connector is a DVI connector as well as an included DVI cable (Shock!). The literature I had on the AL1916 before it arrived hadn't mentioned either of these items and I found their inclusion to be a pleasant surprise.



OSD no PYT, while you will find most all of the usual suspects here to tinker with brightness, contrast, temperature, etc. The interface is not arranged in a particularly intuitive fashion, while things were not so bad that I had to refer to the manual for step by step instructions I did nonetheless find myself occasionally scratching my head.



Most LCD sold today are more than up to the task of running general office apps, the Acer AL1916 is no exception, gaming performance was also very good. I noticed no ghosting, even though I was playing a wide variety of games. All in all I was nearly as satisfied with this LCD as my ViewSonic which cost 50% more.

Conclusion:

The bottom line is that while the Acer AL1916 is not quite perfect, what few minor issues it has--like a slightly washed out looking black. None of them are IMO a deal breaker; on the plus side you get a good basic 19” LCD with a DVI connector that doesn't ghost in games for less than 200 usd. If you are on a budget this monitor deserves serious consideration.

Pros:

DVI connector

No ghosting

Low price

Cons:

Black slightly washed out

OSD menus not well organized

I would like to thank Geeks for providing us with the Acer AL1916 LCD for review. This item can be purchased at Geeks for 179 usd.

Added: December 26th 2006
Reviewer: Jim Adkins
Score:
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Language: english