BenQ GL2450
Basic monitors are all fine and well, and they do have a
place in the home or workplace, but there comes a point when a product can
become a little too basic. This BenQ GL2450 is one rung up the ladder from
being totally basic, but not by much.
This is a 24" TN LED backlit panel capable of 1920 x
1080 with a native contrast ratio of 1000:1 and a dynamic contrast ratio of
12,000,000:1. It has a 2ms response time, which is reasonable enough, but sadly
lacks any HDMI - instead opting to provide a single DVI and VGA; there are also
no built-in speakers on this model, although in some respects that's not a bad
thing.
The BenQ CL2450
lacks a number of essentials to make it really good monitor
The lack of HDMI isn't too much of a disability, however it
does make the BenQ GL2450 a little less appealing to those who run multiple
systems from a single monitor. We, for instance, have three different systems
connected to our monitors, as do many other users. So the inconvenience of
having to remove or swap out cables on the GL2450 can get quite annoying over
time.
The design of the BenQ GL2450 is rather bland. It's a glossy
black finish, prone to dust, scratches, cat hair, and fingerprints, with a
reasonably thick bezel surrounding the obviously-cheaper-than-normal screen.
Speaking of cheap, the overall feeling throughout the case, stand, and tilt
movements is extraordinarily basic. In fact, it's quite surprising to see BenQ
putting its name to this as its products are usually of quite a good standard.
BenQ GL2450
connectivity
However, saying that, the image quality was slightly better
than we expected it to be, based on the exterior quality of the monitor. It
wasn't great, not by a long shot, in fact it was the worst of the group, but
we've seen worse from monitors twice the price of the GL2450. It certainly
lacks colour depth, richness or sharpness, although there were no visible signs
of tearing or anything during fast gaming or movie sequences thanks to the 2ms
response time. The problem throughout was the washed out (or, rather, cool
temperature) look that this monitor produced. We did alter the setting slightly
via the OSD, but it never really quite delivered anything as good as the other
monitors on test.
While this won't bother someone who would use it exclusively
for word processing, or even browsing to some extent, as soon as you start
viewing a significant amount of colours on screen (and we're not just talking
about games, TV or movies here) you'll begin to notice the cold blue-tint to
almost everything, and the washed out feeling we just mentioned.
It's just not
worth spending your money on, to be honest
Needless to say we weren't overly fond of the BenQ GL2450,
however, in this day and age you get what you can afford and in this case for a
tad over $167 the GL2450 would best suit the infrequent computer user who, when
they do use it, will simply tap away in Word. For those who require more from a
monitor though, this is, unfortunately, one to avoid.
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Details
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Price: $175 ·
Manufacturer BenQ ·
Required Spec: DVI, VGA connections
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