*The opinions expressed in the blog in no way reflect the opinions of the Asus company. Asus is in no way sponsoring this blog post. Think of this as just another customer review.*

Money was less than abundant when we first moved to Las Vegas, and I had been using my 40 in Samsung Smart TV for a display…which was nice, however I wanted something a bit more personal (including a desk area for The Rig to live) so the day I got a desk and was finally able to purchase a desktop display, I leaped with joy!

Mission objectives were as follows:

1. Stay under the $200 USD budget. 
2. 1080p is the standard resolution.
3. Decent game performance and supports 60 frames per second.
4. HDMI input
5. Obtain the largest amount of screen size or ‘real estate’ as possible, without having to compromise on the first four objectives

This feeling of joy was quickly followed up with feelings of being overwhelmed by the sheer number of options there are out there! I literally spent weeks scrolling through both written as well as video reviews on so many products, I simply lost track of my options after a certain point. With so many different specs to compare and contrast (see what I did there?) narrowing down the options seemed like a nearly impossible feat. Especially with the irrational fear of things I couldn’t control…such as the unit shipping with dead pixels the bane of all displays everywhere.

I eventually came across the Asus VE247H… I’m not the best with model numbers, so it’s very possible that it wasn’t my first time coming across it. I was easily able to check off everything on my list!

I was able to find this for around $173 on Newegg so it definitely didn’t break the bank.

The build quality is quite nice, the stand feels solid for the most part. There is a bit of a wiggle when I accidentally bump it, but it’s very minor. The base covers a good amount of surface area, so the unit is definitely stable. The screen doesn’t rotate, but it tilts vertically which is definitely a nice touch!

The power, menu, volume, and brightness controls are located on the underside of the right most part of the frame. Navigating the menu took a little practice, but I eventually got used to it.

A place for everything…

On the underside of the back panel of display is naturally where you’ll find the video inputs, as well as power adapter. The display shipped with VGA and DVI cables for video, and a 3.5 mm cable for an audio input. However my port of choice was HDMI so I could have one connection for both audio and video signals. All of these ports are facing downward, which made it very easy to feed the cables through the open hole in the base…a little cable management is never a bad thing.

*VGA and DVI links – pcmag.com 

*Above image – infotechnow.com

The first thought I had upon powering it on was ‘Wow this is bright!’ In fact, I have the brightness turned all the way down and it can be a bit much if it’s the only thing on in the room, so I have a desk lamp on, which seems to offset it. It also turns out that I found the standard profile the most desirable (aside from a few minor tweaks to the contrast color balance,and temperature).

To my surprise, this monitor actually has an external speaker as well! It’s located at the top of the monitor, and from the sound of it, is pointed away from the front of the monitor or directly up. It’s not the most powerful external speaker. I still look at this as an extra. It’s great if I want to show someone a video or song without having to play pass-the-headphones, otherwise I primarily use a headset.

I’ve been gaming on this display for several months now, and I have run into zero issues. There’s no notable ghosting that I can see. If I leave it idle, or put the The Rig to sleep, the display automatically goes into a sleep / low power mode…great for those times I walk away from my desk for one of my spontaneous power naps.

It being a flat screen, it doesn’t take up a ton of desk space, the glossy surface makes it super easy for my webcam (Logitech C920 Pro which I’ll give my impressions on later) to perch safely on top without me having to worry about it falling off if it gets bumped (the grippy rubber on the camera helps a ton). It does tend to show dust and finger prints a lot easier…but to me that just inspires me to dust more often, which I should be doing anyways (coffee filters are an awesome option for removing dust without leaving behind fibers like paper towels do). Also, it’s VESA mount compatible, so that’s an option I fully intend to take advantage of some day…

All in all, my experience with this display has been great! If anything it exceeded my expectations. I like to think that my standards are high enough without being considered ‘lofty’ also I just needed something capable and affordable that I can game on. Once I have more desk space, I want to invest in a second one.

If you’re looking for a good display for your PC or console that doesn’t suck, have a look at this one. Unless you plan to use headphones, you may want to find some good speakers to go with it, as the built in display, while convenient, isn’t very powerful and may not be up to your standards.

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For the geeks, I included the specs below. Photos and specifications are all straight from http://www.asus.com/US/Monitors/VE247H/

Display:

Panel Size: Wide Screen 23.6″(59.9cm) 16:9
True Resolution : 1920×1080
Pixel Pitch : 0.272mm
Brightness(Max) : 300 cd/㎡
ASUS Smart Contrast Ratio (ASCR) : 10000000:1
Viewing Angle (CR≧10) : 170°(H)/160°(V)
Response Time : 2ms (Gray to Gray)
Display Colors : 16.7M

Video Feature: Trace Free Technology : Yes