Monitors
Asus Designo MS236: Fancy ring monitor 
Remember the 'Fantasy Ring' series of monitors from LG? You know, the ones with the base shaped like a doughnut. Yeah? Good, because Asus, of Eee PC fame, has pounced on the concept to create its own circular-standed monitors, the Designo MS series.
We've just got our hands on the 23-inch MS236 and it's not bad at all. Whereas LG's ring hangs out the bottom, Asus' ring is mounted in a perpendicular fashion at its rear. This allows the monitors to be carried like a handbag, worn on the head like a slightly ill-fitting sweatband, or used as a shield in a game of Monitor Punch.
Continue reading...
Samsung SyncMaster XL2370 1080p monitor with LED backlight: Hands-on photos
LED illumination for both TVs and monitors has been gathering pace recently, with Samsung's XL2370 the latest we've seen to make use of the advantages LEDs offer over traditional cathode backlights. Firstly, they're dimmable, which means you get good contrast and secondly, they use much lower power, which means you won't make the polar bears sad.
At 23 inches, the XL2370 is a good size for a PC monitor, and its 16:9 ratio and 1080p resolution mean it's likely to appeal to people who work with video, or those who watch loads of movies. Continue reading...
Nokia Booklet 3G: Photos of Nokia's netbook
Just when you thought the world didn't need any more netbooks, up pops the Nokia Booklet 3G. It's a 10-inch mini-laptop with design and specs that seem to place it closer to the MacBook Air than your typical cheap and cheerful netbook.
The screen is a glass display that Nokia says is HD Ready for watching in high definition. It also includes A-GPS, which uses the phone signal to get a fix on your location faster, integrated with Nokia's Ovi Maps. Other Ovi features include Ovi Suite for syncing between phone, netbook and the cloud, as well as access to the Nokia Music Store. Continue reading...
Asus T4T1: Hands-on with the monitor that's also a TV
Remember the Asus T1 range of monitors we wrote about last week? Course you do. We've just been sent a sample of the 24-inch 24T1 version to play with and have wasted no time putting it through its paces.
First things first: it looks pretty sweet. We'd have made the bezel thinner, the floral pattern on the speaker grille a little less girlie, and played down the Asus logo on the front, but on the whole, the 24T1 is definitely non-muntish. Continue reading...
Asus T1: Monitors that turn into tellies
Asus has announced a series of monitors that double as high-definition TVs. The 22T1E, 24T1E and 27T1E allow you to watch Freeview and terrestrial telly with built-in DVB-T and analogue tuners, as well as plugging into your computer for gaming and other computer-y tasks.
There are 21.5-inch, 23-inch, and 27-inch models, which almost explains the model numbers. Each gives 16:9 1,920x1,080 high-definition resolution. They boast two 7W speakers, which can be set to four sound presets: vocal, rock, soft and boom, selected depending on whether you're listening to music, watching TV, playing games or going boom, apparently. Continue reading...
Asus announces wireless USB LCD monitors
After ushering in a revolutionary, perception-altering paradigm shift by changing the Eee PC's motto from 'Easy to learn, easy to work, easy to play' to the far more enlightening 'Easy, excellent, exciting', Asus dropped off news about its first wireless LCD computer monitors -- the EzLink Series.
If memory serves -- and it often does -- these Wireless USB monitors were first hinted at in the middle of last year, when Realtek announced its collaboration with Asus on their creation. But we just got word from Asus that they now exist!
Details are scarce of course, and Asus hasn't got back to us regarding exact specifications. But it looks like these monitors will be the first to connect to your desktop or laptop without touching -- y'know, like your parents in bed -- and the promise is the same user experience conventional wired displays offer. Continue reading...
Most iPhone apps spurned after purchase
Just 30 per cent of people who buy an iPhone application actually use it the day after it was purchased, according to Pinch Media, which analysed over 30 million downloads from Apple's App Store.
The numbers plunge from there: after 20 days, less than five per cent of those who have downloaded an application are actively using it. The drop-off is even greater for free applications. Continue reading...
BenQ M2200HD: 16:9, 1080p monitor joy
Monitors with a 4:3 aspect ratio have all but died a slow, painful death, and 16:10 models like the one you're using now are on their way out, too. The future is all about 16:9 displays like the new BenQ M2200HD, which we had the pleasure of testing recently.
This 21.5-inch bad boy runs at a native resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels -- the same as you get on 'Full HD' 1080p televisions. This means it's ideally suited to watching high-definition movie content -- particularly Blu-ray or HD DVD movies, which are designed to run at that particular aspect ratio and resolution. Continue reading...
HP Dreamcolor LP2480ZX: One billion colours!
The generous chaps over at HP have just sent us what they proudly believe is the LCD monitor to end all LCD monitors. The HP Dreamcolor LP2480ZX's claim to fame is that it'll deliver colour reproduction the likes of which was only possible with a CRT display.
Designed in conjunction with movie studio Dreamworks, the LP2480ZX is capable of showing 64 times the colours supported by ordinary LCDs. It has a 30-bit LCD panel and a tri-colour LED backlight, which allows it to display over one billion colours. That's heavily impressive, considering the LCD you're reading this on probably shows just 16.7 million shades. Continue reading...
LG Flatron W2284F: Nipple-powered monitor
LG sent us a rather lovely 22-inch monitor to test this morning, and it stirred something primal in our loins. You see, the LG Flatron W2284F has the curves of Beyoncé Sasha Fierce, style like Gok Wan, and -- with a weight of just 4.4kg -- we suspect it may even have one of those trendy eating disorders.
Our favourite thing about the screen is the touch-sensitive power button, which one Craver noticed looks like a slightly deformed nipple. Bizarrely, you can actually tweak it to switch the power on, which causes the Perspex button to glow blue, and the clear transparent base to temporarily glow white. Perhaps that look is in this season. Continue reading...
