BenQ E900WA

BenQ's 19in E900WA is one of the few this month to diverge from the angular blandness of the majority.

Its dark blue, curved fascia, complete with distinct grey edge at the bottom, still won't win any style awards, but is definitely a step in theright direction.

BenQ also performed well in the PC Pro Reliability survey, scoring five out of six from readers who've bought in the past - a more impressive achievement than any other manufacturer this month.

The control buttons are a little awkwardly positioned on the side of the monitor, but are clearly labelled, and the OSD is very simple to navigate. We barely needed it, though, as the BenQ's panel produced close to neutral colours out of the box, which is more than could be said for some others. There was a very slight green tinge to the colours, but this only showed itself in grey areas.

The black level is deep but the backlight bled through at the top and bottom of the screen, while the white test screen showed an uneven top half. In real-world use this translated to blacks that were a little too murky, with detail missing from night scenes and shadowy areas. Even at full brightness and in the lightest of scenes this screen fails to make an impact.

The speakers are a bit fuller in the bass department than most here, and if that's important to you then you might be able to swallow the £95 (exc VAT) price. But for everyone else it's that price tag that really gets in the way: the BenQ just doesn't offer enough beyond its slightly nicer design to challenge the superiority of the Iiyama.

Author: David Bayon