Beside hard drives and memory, LCD monitors are one of the few components of a computer system that steadily drop in price over time. A little over a year ago, I purchased two 22" widescreen monitors at a price of $315 each, which was extremely low for that time. Today, the exact same monitor sells for $95 cheaper. My point being, if you are still using an ancient CRT monitor, you owe it to yourself and your desk to upgrade to a slim LCD and there is no better time than the present. Today we will be looking at a "budget" 19" widescreen LCD monitor, the Black X2gen VGA/DVI TFT LCD Monitor w/Speakers, to see if it is worth the relatively low asking price.


X2gen is not a name I was familiar with prior to this review, but I have learned through experience that you don't always have to buy the high-end "name brand" item to receive a quality product. Anyway, the monitor arrived in the semi-plain white box that you see above. There is a photo of the monitor as well as an indication that it is indeed a widescreen model, with a maximum resolution of 1440 x 900 and has built-in speakers. Below is a complete list of specifications, borrowed from Geeks.com




Notice the Disclosures list above - this is pretty much standard procedure for most retailers concerning LCD screens. I usually seem to have less-than-stellar luck when it comes to monitors, so I am curious to see how this one will turn out. Continue ahead as we open the package and take a closer look at its contents.