ViewSonic VG2230WM 22-inch Black Widescreen LCD Monitor

Comment: Bright monitor deep colours quick response time. Refresh rate was slower than expected at highest resolution of 1680 x 1050

Comment: I've had this monitor for about a year and a half (April 2008). Its a huge screen, clear display and a big improvement over the old CRT that I had been using (which probably still is working although I junked it when getting this one).

Everything was going great until about a month ago, the monitor would go black for a couple of seconds and then turn back on by itself. It used to be infrequent, but then it started happening every day. I wasn't too concerned with it because it would black out for only a second or two. I thought it had something to do with the cable connections and after fiddling around with them it seemed to fix itself (later found out it probably had nothing to do with this).

Literally yesterday the monitor died on me, the power light is on but the whole screen is black. Adjusting menu settings doesn't display anything on the screen (i.e. I can't see controls for things like brightness, contrast... thus I know it is something with the monitor itself). I tried hooking it up to a few other computers, including a laptop - nothing worked.

I checked around online and it seems that this is a frequent problem with Viewsonic monitors and some LCD's in general. Googling my problem led me to pages talking about blown capacitors and broken LCD backlights. I called Viewsonic customer service and managed to get a hold of someone (on a Sunday, so good for them). I described the problem and all the cross checking I did with different computers, before I had a chance to finish the rep said it most probably is a failed backlight (gave me the impression that this is common).

I have an RMA number and an address to ship the product to. It's still under warranty so I only have to pay for shipping the LCD to them. Unfortunately I don't have the original box (make sure you keep that) so I'll have to be extra careful with packing and getting good packaging material.

Also, I checked online to find out more about Viewsonic's repair procedure and other people's experience. Not very encouraging. It seems a lot of people complained about a lack of communication about status of the repair, the repair took longer than initially stated and in some cases the product itself was lost by Viewsonic. Apparently it's the consumers responsibility to hound the company via phone every day in order to get a status update (they have a website to check updates but apparently it doesn't really tell you anything, even weeks after the product has been received). Like I said, I haven't shipped the product yet but I'm hoping I won't have a similar experience to others that have returned this product for servicing.

On the whole the LCD was great while it was working, I didn't do too much comparison shopping as it came recommended by another friend (not sure how his LCD is doing). The price is pretty good, but I'm sure that there are other competitors that offer similar pricing - these days it seems anyone can make a monitor.

Generally I have good luck with my purchases, maybe I was just "due" to have one of them finally fail on me. Still, I'm surprised that this monitor (which is fairly new) didn't outlast the Dell Dimension desktop (from 2004) that I had it running off of. My plan was to keep the LCD and upgrade the computer - looks like it didn't work the way I expected. Viewsonic says that the repair will take 15-21 days, but most other people's experiences seem to indicate a timeline closer to a month and a half for repair.

So I don't want to be one of those guys that bash a product and I'm not a "fanboy" (or whatever the opposite of that is) - just wanted to let you know about my issues before you make your final decision.

Comment: I purchased this monitor for our business. It is the fourth of these monitors that we purchased. The monitor is great. This last monitor, however, had a problem. The screen was titled due to a manufacturing defect. Well, I called View Sonic to see what they could do about it. They told me that they would replace it with a new monitor. Great, I thought!!! Well, that was almost two months ago and I am still waiting. Every time I follow up, the customer service personnel tell me that the replacement will be processed that day or the next day. Then I invariably get a call back saying that they have no stock of that item and I will have to wait! How is it that the company that manufactures an item can't get any stock of the item for two months?

Comment: I bought two ViewSonic VG2230WM monitors to replace aging 22" tube monitors. One on my PC and one for my wife. They work great. Color is sharp and clear and video games work well.

I have not used the built in speakers, since I have better speakers already, so I can't comment on those.

But as far as the picture goes, I am quite pleased.

Comment: I have 2 of the ViewSonic VA2226w at present. One is bout 14 month old and the other one about 17 months old. They are both connected to a G5 Mac. One is on the DVI port and the other VGA.
They perform well as they are advertised and are very good for the price.
The controls are adequate and easy to reach.
I do not use the speaker on the monitor but i have tested them and found them weak. Nevertheless I firmly believe that monitors do not need speakers. I would have been more pleased with the design if the bottom that contains the speakers was not there.
The base is good and sturdy, Alas, the bump on the front is not very eye pleasing. Tilt and roll work well. The height adjustment is working very well and very easy with small touch to move.
Viewing angles are fine for me as these TWO are on the two sides of a 28" monitor serving as a 2nd and 3rd and are placed at an angle to it.
The brightness and color is fine. Using calibration software I have both of them to appear the same gray background.
The front LED power indicator is blue and is medium bright, so I have put a layer of painter's blue tape on it to reduce its brightness. The Viewsonic logo is a fine brushed chrome and does create a reflective disturbance, which i cured by rubbing acetone on it in 3 passes and reducing its shine. (Acetone vapors are hazardous to breath so use in a ventilated area, preferably outside.)
The cable that came with it is adequate in length about 5.5' and has allowed me to easily connect the far right monitor to the system with no stretch/pull. It sleeps and comes back fine. It takes about 5 minutes to really warm up after waking.
I am satisfied with this monitor and would buy it again and again to use as a secondary monitor.