Product Reviews

The Hanns.G HW223 is a 22in widescreen LCD monitor with a resolution of 1680 x 1050, connections for VGA and DVI-D, a four-port USB hub, built-in speakers and a three-year on-site warranty. Not an inconsiderable feature set when you take into account the price is just £189 including VAT. And it comes supplied with all the cables you need to connect it to a Mac and a component-to-DVI lead for hooking it up to an Apple TV or similar.

Design and build is impressive too, with plastics that feel robust and a sturdy construction. The stand allows the panel to tilt forward and back but that's it, there's no rotate or swivel option.

The ports are all fairly easy to reach but there's not much space for the DVI cable and it was a bit awkward to plug in. Unless you're moving monitors a lot though, this is hardly a major concern. The speakers are fairly bad but then most monitor speakers are. The four-port hub gives you extra high-speed connectivity options and is placed for

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easy access on the rear right of the monitor.

The on-screen menu is accessed from a row of buttons on the lower right hand edge of the screen. There are four pre-programmed colour temperature settings and you can choose your own. There's not much more direct control over the panel but it's not devoid of options.

The panel itself is reasonably impressive - you're not realistically going to be using this for serious colour critical work, but even so colour accuracy is good. When we plugged the monitor in, it was overly bright which led to a washed-out look. However, a quick fiddle with the colour profiles in System Preferences matched out preference more closely. We watched a few high-definition trailers from the Apple QuickTime website and were impressed with the way the HW223 handles the fast action sequences. It didn't blow us away but then again it didn't disgrace itself either. Images lacked a bit of detail but it wasn't so bad as to raise any serious objections. Our colour gradient test showed a smooth transition between shades though there was a minor anomalous shimmer to the image.

The HW223 represents very good value for money and offers a screen that provides good if not impeccable quality. The impressive feature list is certainly worthy of praise as is the full complement of cables that come supplied with the monitor. The muted design and decent construction are also plus points. Performance wasn't mind-blowing but neither was it disappointing, and the price is certain to come down even further. It's a solid performer for the money.