Geeks.com was so kind as to send me the TS-21F5-R, a 21-Inch TFT Flat Panel LCD Color Widescreen Monitor (it is a de-branded HP LCD monitor) for review. At USD 245.99, that is a whole lot of screen real estate. Read on for my findings.
The specifications of the monitor are as follows:
The monitor has a silver casing and foot, as well as built-in stereo speakers. It also features a two-port USB hub, a standard VGA as well as DVI video port, a stereo headphone jack, and audio in/out ports. The monitor does not have an external power brick, it is all built-in, so you do not need to worry about making space for yet another power brick. In the box you will find the monitor, VGA and DVI cables, an audio cable, an USB cable to connect the internal USB hub, and of course a power cord. You will also find the usual warranty leaflets and a manual inside.
Yes, I really enjoy a clutter-free workspace…
The first thing you notice when you take the LCD monitor out of its box is how heavy it is. Contrary to what I thought, it was the stand that added the most weight; not the monitor itself. I find this a definite advantage, as the sheer size of this monitor would not have been done justice by a flimsy stand that you see on all too many monitors today. On the sides of the stand, there is space to tuck away the cables. The stand can be removed, and a standard VESA 100mm can be attached to it if needed.
Sadly, the stand does not allow for much in the way of vertical adjustment. I require my monitors to be at eye level (I have a tilted shoulderblade) and this is something this monitor cannot do. Now, in all honesty, I rarely see a monitor these days that does allow for proper vertical adjustment. In addition, the stand does not allow for horizontal adjustment at all; which can be annoying, as I regularly want to show something to friends who are sitting on the couch. With my other TFT (an excellent 17″ Dell), I could adjust it in any possible way (even tilt it), and I really miss that functionality with this LCD monitor.
The monitor has a sleek look, but as always, different people, different tastes. I especially like the ‘fold’ which runs across the front, underneath the screen. A few things break the clean lines: there is a sticker which reads “SVGA Color Display” at the bottom right corner, and a weird globe logo where the HP logo used to be. These two stickers do not fit into the design at all, and I will most likely remove these, and clean the remaining sticker glue with some sticker remover. The power key (bottom right) is illuminated blue when active, and orange if the monitor is in sleep mode.
At the bottom right there are also the control buttons. Volume up/down keys, a menu key, a down key, an up/input key (to switch between VGA and DVI input), and an auto adjust/select key. The automatic picture adjust works perfectly. The on screen display is easy to use, despite the fact that the Dutch translation has some minor spelling errors here and there. The OSD allows you to set just about any setting you could wish for in a monitor, including things like a sleep timer, positioning/colour settings, and even things like the menu timeout and menu transparency.
I hooked the LCD monitor up to my PowerMac G4 Cube (the Mac did not autodetect it properly, I had to manually set it at its native resolution), and the first thing I noticed as soon as the Mac had powered on, was the brightness. Just like Eugenia, I was baffled by it at first. My first thought actually was that the device was… Defective. When browsing through the OSD, I even found out that the brightness was only set to 85%! It appears the flat panel technology has not really been resting on its laurels. Response time is excellent too, although I must say I personally never quite notice the difference between faster and lower response timed monitors.
Bj"ork’s “It’s Oh So Quiet” together with “Army Of Me” is always a good test for speaker quality, and as was to be expected, the internal speakers are not really that good. Very high notes (“It’s Oh So Quiet”) are distorted, and so are the deep base sounds in “Army Of Me”. If you only use the speakers for interface sounds, they will probably suffice, but if you want to listen to music or play movies, I suggest to use better, external speakers. Then again, I may be spoiled by my Creative i-Trigue 3200 2.1 speaker set.
The biggest gripe with the monitor, however, is the fact that it takes its time to wake from sleep; where that Dell TFT wakes instantly (no delay) this monitor takes about 3-4 seconds to wake, and that is really annoying if you are like me and make a fuss out of insignificant things.
All in all, this monitor gives you a whole lot of screen real estate for just USD 245. The speakers may not be all that, and the wake from sleep takes too long, but for the rest, this is an excellent LCD monitor, and yet another piece of evidence showing that you absolutely need not spend wheelbarrow loads of money in order to get a decent widescreen monitor.
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Please include the energie consumption of a device in any review you make.
Built-in speakers are never any good anyway, so I’d much, much rather have very thin borders than speakers. I like to be able to put monitors next to each other without having huge borders between the actual screens.
100% agree. I can’t stand space being wasted on speakers. We mostly end up with only the monitors with speakers being on-sale constantly at NewEgg.
so, given that the main point of a monitor is to display images, perhaps you could give us some kind of insight into how well this thing displays images?
I looked at the W2007 and W2207 (Surprise 2007 versions) They have the nice vertical height changing stand) I need my monitors low for progressive lens’s. Speakers are in the back with duct to the edges so they take no space. The monitor is wonderful to look at. 1680 by 1080 gives full HD and looks good doing it. HP Brightview which looks great and gives that high contrast ratio looks wonderful. (Now if we could only get anti-glare like we had on VT-22/40’s)
W2007 is $259 at Wal-Mart and W2207 which rotates into Vertical is $279 there and Target.
It’s 1680×1050, which is not full HD by quite a long chalk. Full HD is 1920×1080 (HDTV aspect ratio being somewhat wider than the typical PC widescreen monitor aspect ratio).
I’ve used many LCD monitors in my time and most of them haven’t impressed me all that greatly (that’s not to say there aren’t any good LCDs out there – i just haven’t been supplied then in any of my workplaces) so I was looking forward to reading this review. Sadly though I would have enjoyed reading more about the clarity of the image and possibly even a 2nd opinion of the response times (as Thom openly admits he doesn’t usually notice the difference) for people, like myself, who really do notice the difference.
In short, this review doesn’t really delve that deeply into any of the subject matter that really influence me in a monitor purchase. :/
P.S. Good to see another Bjork fan
[edit – didn’t proof read]
Edited 2007-06-05 16:47
True, but that was a conscious decision; at 250 USD, this is of course a low-end monitor. Were I to review i.e. an Apple Cinema Display, the review would’ve been much deeper, longer, and thorough.
True, but that was a conscious decision; at 250 USD, this is of course a low-end monitor. Were I to review i.e. an Apple Cinema Display, the review would’ve been much deeper, longer, and thorough.
I had to register just to ask this question…
Could you please explain the logic in this… the only logic I can draw from your comment is that you would have a more expensive monitor i.e. being paid more so you would put more effort into your review… surely it should not matter what the cost of the monitor is or who it is made by….. surely only quality of a product is important and all reviews should be treated the same..
Ad news strikes again…
It’s clear you have no idea whatsoever about reviewing products.
Let me ask you a question. Would you review the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano in the same way you would review the Ford Focus?
Of course you don’t. Both products are targeted at different people, and hence they require a different assessment. 21″ at 250USD means this is a low-end monitor targeted at ordinary consumers (not at professional users), and they have their own set of buying decisions; you think they give a rat’s behind about all the technical details? Of course they don’t. They want to know: is this monitor good value for money?
Please, don’t tell me how to structure my reviews. Some reviews, like this one, simply don’t require a deep, technical assessment. Contrary to i.e. when I reviewed QNX a few years ago, which turned out to be a different review completely.
It’s clear you have no idea whatsoever about reviewing products.
That’s an easy statement for you to make but how you will back this up with any credible evidence I would like to see….
Would you review the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano in the same way you would review the Ford Focus?
And why not…???? could be rather interesting …..
a lot of CAR magazine(s) and programs reviews have a basic structure no matter what car they are reviewing… yes the performance model car will go faster (hopefully) and stick to the road much better then a lower budget….. but one you can still add this information into the lower budget’s review…. things like fuel efficiency can be targeted at both models…. construction of both could provide an interesting POV for things like wear and tear… maintenance costs are still considered on all models in good reviews… and things like owners thoughts… well into the life of the car… how they are treated at dealerships and such what…
just does not seem as open and thought through as it could be hey look I got a free monitor here are three pictures.. specs and price and if i keep mentioning apple people might click…. apple apple halo around me apple apple apple…
you mention how bright this monitor is at 85% maybe a conversation on if this is at all a good thing if LCD monitors keep getting BRIGHTER is this good for humans????? touch of research into the matter could give you an interesting 20 to 50 words… just a thought….
but heck what would I know…. you know my whole life and what i have lived through so you tell me sir…
I dare you to give me a good review….
Of course we wouldn’t, but we would probably include some comments about how well both cars do their basic job of moving from point A to point B.
Your review of this monitor is analogous to a car review which runs something like this:
Paragraph one: overview of car’s extra features (nothing about the engine, tyres or brakes)
Paragraph two: curb weight
Paragraph three: Seat tilt control
Paragraph four: external appearance
Paragraph five: dashboard
Paragraph six: The first thing I noticed when I pressed the accelerator was that the engine is really powerful! At first I thought the engine was defective, but then I realized they just make really powerful cars these days. Also, it seems to go round corners quite well, but I don’t really know.
Paragraph seven: stereo
Paragraph eight: engine start behaviour
Paragraph nine: conclusion
Have you ever *read* a car review which looked like that? Would you think it was a good car review?
lower response timed monitors.
try using an original imac G4 your soon notice / understand it…
Features/Specifications:
21-Inch TFT Flat Panel LCD Color Widescreen Monitor
General Features:
Silver case
21-inch TFT Active Matrix display
.270 mm dot pitch
1680 x 1050 @ 60 Hz maximum resolution
-5° to 30° tilt (up and down)
30-94 kHz horizontal frequency scan
48-85 Hz vertical frequency scan
Built-in speakers
On-Screen Display (OSD) controls
Connectors:
15-pin VGA connector
DVI connector
Two (2) Type A USB ports on the side
One (1) Type B on back
Stereo headphone jack
Audio in
Audio out
Power Specifications:
100-240V, 50/60Hz, 1.5A
Regulatory Approvals:
FCC
UL
CSA
Package Includes:
21-Inch TFT LCD Monitor
VGA cable
DVI cable
USB cable
Power cord
Audio cable
Additional Information:
Notes:
LCD displays may have cosmetic imperfections that appear as small bright or dark spots. This is common to all LCD displays used in products by all vendor and is not specific to any vendor or brand. Below are the acceptable amounts of “dot defects” for LCD displays that we sell:
19-Inch to 21-Inch:
Total Defects: 8
Bright or Dark Dots (random): 4
Bright or Dark Dots (2 adjacent): 2
Bright or Dark Dots (3 adjacent): 0
Minimum distance between defects: 15 mm (bright to bright dots); 5 mm (dark to dark dots)
Product Requirements:
DVI adapter
VGA adapter
Available USB port
Available power outlet
thanks for copying and pasting from the buy it now section….
total monitors in section 21inch x1
21 inch Refurbished $245.99
total monitors in section 22inch x6
Acer Refurbished $249.99
Acer New $274.99
Acer New $299.99
Samsung synciemaster New $329.99
total monitors in section 24inch x2
Acer Refurbished $469.99
here is my advert for geeks… ppl go for samsung look prettier even if you never turn it on
and only a few $$$$$ more… and geeks are getting more money 
ha… everyone wins… lol
Heh.
I figured you would appreciate that.
Hey Thom, can I ask you where you got that desk? I’m looking for a nice desk with a glass table too, but I haven’t been very succesful. I’m in the NL too, btw. Sorry for being off-topic
Listening to Bjork, good man
And I HATE monitors with speakers… HATE!
Bah, I just picked up a 22″ widescreen LCD made by Acer from Best Buy. Total price after 12% coupon was $167.99.