Though its dapper design makes it a smart choice for home use, the ViewSonic VX2025wm is a great machine for light graphic and design work. This stylish wide screen isn’t nearly as adjustable as other displays, such as the Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP or even the Envision EN2028, but what it lacks in flexibility it makes up for with excellent performance–only the very expensive LaCie 120 comes close. Additionally, the VX2025wm packs good-sounding speakers and excellent gaming performance for $411, which makes it the most affordable 20-inch wide-screen monitor we’ve seen. Unless adjustability is a necessity, the ViewSonic VX2025wm is hands-down the best deal in its category.The ViewSonic VX2025wm gets its handsome look from a two-tone color scheme. A quarter-inch matte-silver bezel surrounds a black bezel that widens on the bottom to accommodate five silver onscreen menu (OSM) control buttons. The base follows the silver-and-black color scheme and is a rather large 11 inches wide by 8 inches deep. This oblong design keeps the display from wobbling side to side, but tilting the monitor back causes the base to lift off the desk. Flexibility isn’t this monitor’s strong suit: the panel tilts a standard 20 degrees back and 5 forward but offers no swivel, pivot, or height adjustment. The panel is nearly 5 inches above the desktop–a good fixed height for most users, though we appreciate more adjustability options, such as those found on the Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP.

The VX2025 has a maximum resolution of 1,680 x 1,050, so not only do you get more pixels horizontally but, crucially, you also get more vertically. If you’re a serious movie watcher then the extra pixels won’t mean much, but if you’re planning on getting a wide screen to increase productivity then those extra pixels are essential.In addition to the extra pixels the display has a fast 8ms response time so it’s great for games, and there’s no ghosting when you’re watching DVDs on it; there are both analogue and digital inputs. Plus there’s a very respectable 800:1 image contrast ratio (meaning that the white is 800 times brighter than the black), with a wide, 176-degree viewing angle, which makes it ideal as mini home cinema screen.The colour is good and you can set it to various different settings; sRGB, 9300K, 6500K, 5400K, or a user-defined RGB. However, in sRGB mode you can’t subsequently set the brightness or contrast.In my opinion, the most desirable LCD format is a 24in widescreen with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels. The pixel-pitch is about right to accommodate standard text sizes (no more squinting), and you can comfortably fit two pages of A4 (at 100%) side-by-side on the screen (less scrolling). The large desktop area is also great for editing images, playing games and watching movies.