- Joined
- May 3, 2004
- Location
- Georgia
Well, I've used my BenQ FP241W for a bit, and I must say, it's one quality monitor. Very nicely designed, sturdy stand, awesome image quality, super vibrant colors. Has a few minor things, most of which are inherent in VA panels, such as so-so viewing angles, and a bit of color shifting. But since I sit straight on it 99% of the time, the first isn't a problem, and I barely even noticed the second. The placement of the "Menu" and "Enter" buttons should of been swapped, because it's feels more natural that way. I saw that a lot of people complained about the lowest height setting was too high, but it works for me, because it makes a good place to stash my center speaker. 
I was worried about the monitor being matte finished and looking like it was dirty all the time like most Dell and Samsung LCDs I've seen, but I was glad to find out that the FP241W is more glossy than it is matte. In fact, it seems to be like the perfect medium. It has just a nice smooth finish, that doesn't glare, nor does it look smudged or dirty. It's perfect in this aspect!
I tested out the DVI, the S-video, and the Component connections of the monitor. The DVI is incredible: DVD videos, MPEG-4 movies, and Battlefield 2 looked really good on it. The S-video was just so-so full screen, but it actually looks pretty good in PIP mode. Using the component, I hooked up my 480p Wii, and played a little Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, and Wii Sports Tennis. The text looked really clean and crisp, the upscaling to 1900x1200 actually looked much better than I expected. The older Gamecube engined RE4 was a little rough up close, but at about 5 feet or so back it looked good. Wii Sports which uses AA(I guess, it looks like it does) looked very clean and pleasing on the eyes. And at least using the BenQ didn't give me a migraine like using the Wii on my Samsung 990DF via a Viewsonic N5 Video Processor.
Monitor Score: 9.5 out of 10.
Now I shall give my two cents on the fact that the monitor was a refurb: I was really surprised when I opened it up and found that the monitor was in perfect physical condition. Also there isn't any dead/stuck pixels at all! The only complaint was that I had to pay 42.50 for ground shipping that took over a week to come from California to Georgia. But that's not that big of a deal, and Fedex took really good care of my monitor.
Refurbished Score: 10 out of 10.(This is how "new" the monitor seems, which is really just more of a luck of the draw than anything.)
Bottom Line: If you are looking for a multi-function monitor which can be used for a true 1080p monitor as well, and you're on a tight budget like mine, then look no further than benqshopper.com's refurbished FP241W. This monitor is easily worth the $429 they ask for it, and it's actually worth the $700 or so it costs new.
I was worried about the monitor being matte finished and looking like it was dirty all the time like most Dell and Samsung LCDs I've seen, but I was glad to find out that the FP241W is more glossy than it is matte. In fact, it seems to be like the perfect medium. It has just a nice smooth finish, that doesn't glare, nor does it look smudged or dirty. It's perfect in this aspect!I tested out the DVI, the S-video, and the Component connections of the monitor. The DVI is incredible: DVD videos, MPEG-4 movies, and Battlefield 2 looked really good on it. The S-video was just so-so full screen, but it actually looks pretty good in PIP mode. Using the component, I hooked up my 480p Wii, and played a little Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, and Wii Sports Tennis. The text looked really clean and crisp, the upscaling to 1900x1200 actually looked much better than I expected. The older Gamecube engined RE4 was a little rough up close, but at about 5 feet or so back it looked good. Wii Sports which uses AA(I guess, it looks like it does) looked very clean and pleasing on the eyes. And at least using the BenQ didn't give me a migraine like using the Wii on my Samsung 990DF via a Viewsonic N5 Video Processor.
Monitor Score: 9.5 out of 10.
Now I shall give my two cents on the fact that the monitor was a refurb: I was really surprised when I opened it up and found that the monitor was in perfect physical condition. Also there isn't any dead/stuck pixels at all! The only complaint was that I had to pay 42.50 for ground shipping that took over a week to come from California to Georgia. But that's not that big of a deal, and Fedex took really good care of my monitor.
Refurbished Score: 10 out of 10.(This is how "new" the monitor seems, which is really just more of a luck of the draw than anything.)
Bottom Line: If you are looking for a multi-function monitor which can be used for a true 1080p monitor as well, and you're on a tight budget like mine, then look no further than benqshopper.com's refurbished FP241W. This monitor is easily worth the $429 they ask for it, and it's actually worth the $700 or so it costs new.
