ViewSonic VA2626wm review

ViewSonic's VA2626wm struck us as being particularly ugly as soon as we unpacked it.

The matt black bezel is plain enough, but the silver control panel underneath looks tacky. Even uglier are the ridges of cheap plastic all over the rest of the case, even on the stand. These not only look old-fashioned but also quickly picked up dust in the short time the VA2626wm was in our Labs.

The poor design extends to the screen's tilt mechanism. The hinge is set far up the back of the screen, so you have to grab the bottom edge to adjust it, which means you often hit the menu controls or power switch by accident. The monitor feels loose tilting downwards, so you may find over time that the screen is likely to droop. At least it has the option of tilting forwards, unlike Digimate's L-2647WDH, so it can be placed above your eye line.

The onscreen menu system uses the same logic as the cheaper L-2647WDH, but the buttons are less tactile. Like the L-2647WDH, there are few choices for picture quality, and colours are especially muted, with a green tinge to greys. Contrast is marginally better than on the L-2647WDH, and the display is slightly brighter. However, in our colour tests, we noticed that when going from a black screen to a coloured screen, the VA2626wm started out darker than the other screens here and then brightened over a period of a few seconds. In movies that switch rapidly from light to dark scenes, this slow response will be noticeable and annoying.

Unfortunately, the L-2647WDH doesn't have any redeeming features. Although it includes a three-year warranty, you'll have to pay to send the unit back for repair, whereas the other manufacturers here will collect a faulty monitor. Digimate's L-2647WDH is just as good but much cheaper, and Samsung's superb 2693HM is currently only a few pounds more expensive, is much better value and has much better image quality.