Acer T230H review

We’ve seen a number of 22in multitouch monitors recently, and Acer’s first attempt ups the size to 23in. Like most, it uses an optical touch system that works well with minimal setup. Just connect it to your PC via USB and Windows 7 handles the rest in seconds. The panel offers a Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 resolution and a quick 2ms response time, so it has the potential to be a good all-rounder.

The multitouch detection was good enough to have us spinning and zooming photos with ease, and customisable gestures helped greatly when browsing web pages. It didn’t pick up too many obvious fingerprints during testing, and the protective coating on the panel wasn’t overly reflective under the glare of our Labs’ fluorescent lights.

The T230H has a large, slightly plasticky, frame with wide feet and a thick, sturdy neck, so it doesn’t flinch too much under each prod. The screen is height-adjustable and tilts back slightly, although not enough to use comfortably from above. It’s a matter of preference, but the potential of the touch interface feels a little restricted by the inability to push it all the way back and stand over it, as you can with the Medion Akoya E54009. Sitting and prodding horizontally tires the arms surprisingly quickly.

Alas, the quality of the panel itself also leaves much to be desired. At its default settings it’s so washed out it’s almost unusable on any of the preset screen modes. We had to switch to User colour and lower all three channels before also reducing the brightness and contrast to bring out low tones in the bleached test images. Even then the black level wasn’t deep enough to lend any real atmosphere or depth to photos and video.

Gradients weren’t particularly even from black to white and showed stepping in places, and all these tweaks to the settings left the colours inevitably muted. That’s not to say they were bad – our tinting tests showed no issues and our test photos looked like slightly paler versions of the real things – but recent touchscreen panels have done a far better job of retaining quality.

The T230H is a little disappointing in use, and the price doesn’t salvage things. At £216 exc VAT it’s cheaper than the flexible Medion, but for around the same price you can get your hands on Iiyama’s T2250MTS, and that’s a superior all-round monitor.

Author: David Bayon