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The S20-1W from Fujitsu-Siemens starts to impress from the moment you open the box. We’ve looked at quite a few monitors in this class recently and only Apple’s 20in Cinema Display come's close in terms of design and build quality.
Like Apple’s product, the S20-1W eschews the usual plastic casing in favour of stylish brushed aluminium. This not only looks great, but also serves to dissipate heat from the panel without the need for air vents, thereby protecting the internals from dust.
The stand is a sturdy and well-engineered piece of equipment with a definite designer feel to it.
Unlike Apple’s monitor, it is tilt and height-adjustable and fitted with a convenient carrying handle - there’s also a hole to help keep your cables tidy.
The supplied analogue and digital video cables are fitted with special right-angle connectors to allow them to fit between the panel and the stand.
A set of built-in speakers are mounted below the screen and provide crisp audio with plenty of volume.
Pressing two rear-mounted buttons allows the speaker module to be detached - useful if you’re looking for a smarter appearance and don’t require built-in audio.
Five control buttons provide easy access to automatic setup as well as the on-screen menus.
In operation, the S20-1W produces an extremely sharp image with excellent contrast. Colour gradations are smooth and lifelike, and gamers will certainly appreciate the fast, 8ms response time.
The 300cd/m2 brightness is almost certainly too bright for normal desktop use but ideal for viewing widescreen movies at a distance.
It’s a shame there’s no USB hub included as it’s something found on most other higher-specification monitors in this class. However, the S20-1W represents excellent value for money.
Nothing in its price range offers this level of build-quality and design or will look as good on your desktop.
See also:
All Flat Panel monitors
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