ASUS VH236H 23 Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor – Black
ASUS VH236H 23 Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor – Black
- 23-Inch Wide (16:9)
- 2 ms (GTG) Response Time
- HDMI/24-Pin DVI-D/15-Pin D-Sub/SPDIF Audio
- 20000:1 Smart Contrast Ratio
- 2W x 2 Stereo, RMS
16:9 Full HD, 2ms, HDMI, SPDIF out and 2Wx2 Build in Speaker
Rating: 
(out of 45 reviews)
List Price: $ 189.99
Price: $ 178.99
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Review by J. Lam for ASUS VH236H 23 Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor – Black
Rating:
[...]
One of my criteria is to have built-in speakers. I don’t have external speakers nor do I like more tangled wires. The speakers sound better than my old Viewsonic VA1912wb I replaced. That is a welcoming fact. Initially, there was a lot of waviness on screen. The troubleshooting guide suggested video connection as the issue. Turns out that it was my old VGA cable (I didn’t want to craw behind the computer initially…). Once I hooked up with the new cable provided, it started working perfectly. I’m running Windows XP Media Center. After I turned off and on my computer, it recognized the new monitor and reset the resolution and refresh rate profile. It now runs at 1920 x 1080 at 60Hz. No driver is needed. I was afraid that I would need to update my video driver since I have a 4 yr+ old computer but I don’t. With HDMI, DVI, and SPDIF Audio Output, it will be more than capable to handle my future computer (definitely not with Vista, though).
Of course, not everything is perfect with this monitor. The buttons and OSD menu are not great. But they are within my expectation based on other reviews I mentioned before. In addition, once you move away from the center view by, say, more than 45 degrees, the picture quality starts degrading rapidly. It means that if you want to show someone standing behind you the pictures on your screen, he/she would need to bend down, sit down, or step back in order to appreciate what you are trying to show. These are just minor flaws that I’m willing to live with for what I’m willing to pay. Overall, I’m a very happy customer.
August 11, 2009 Update:
Shortly after I wrote the initial impression above, I began to experience some flickering with the screen. This is my description to ASUS Customer Service:
“While in use, occasionally monitor would flicker. Anywhere from showing multi-color vertical bands (partial or full screen) to black or white screen. Sometimes it’s vertical and horizontal lines covering the full screen (forming dense grid pattern). This is a brand new monitor (in use for 1 week). I’m using VGA cable. I’ve unplugged and plugged the cable and made sure connection is good. I’ve updated my video card driver to the latest version but did not solve the problem. Saw this posted in forum but no solution replied. If not resolved, may need to return the monitor.”
ASUS replied in about 2 days making several recommendations. I followed the advice the best I could. See my subsequent reply of findings:
“Firstly, would you please tell us when and after what action this problem occurred?
1. When the computer first boot up. Doesn’t matter whether the monitor is on first or on after boot up. The screen flickers with vertical multi-color bands on the right or sometimes the whole screen. At times there are both vertical and horiztonal bands that form white fabric like pattern. Duration could last for 2 sec to good 5 seconds.
2. When in use during any computer session. Very sporadic. Sometimes happens while surfing the net. Not always repeatable. In one particular session, every time I went to dpreview.com, it flickered. But it didn’t happen again since.
Secondly, please press Splendid key on LCD about 3 seconds to load the default settings.
Did it and no change.
Please replace another graphic card.
Not possible but I have another laptop to test with. This laptop is much newer… 1 yr old. When switch to ASUS as external monitor, the same flickering happened, for long or short duration. But other than that, I did not experience other instances.
Thirdly, please check if there is any updated BIOS or driver for your other PC components.
Updated BIOS.
Now the only times that it flickers are when the computer first boots up or when it goes in and out of screen saver or when the monitor is first turned on. I’ve not observed other in-session interruptions as before.
Otherwise please change this LCD to another PC to test.”
Today, ASUS told me that this may be defective. I’ve proceeded to replace my unit via Amazon. Will update again in the future. Up to this point, ASUS customer service has been prompt.
August 15, 2009:
Requested Amazon for a replacement on Aug 11. Received a new unit 2 days later. Plugged it in. Not a single problem was observed. All flickering has been gone since. I have to commend the excellent customer services from both ASUS and Amazon. Couldn’t be happier.
Review by EDW for ASUS VH236H 23 Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor – Black
Rating:
PROS:
- Every video connector you could possibly want
- 23″
- Very bright
- Audio is adequate for a monitor
- Dedicated input select button
- No obvious dead pixels (knock wood)
- Cables included: DSUB, DVI, male/male audio, AC power
CONS:
- Limited vertical viewing angle!
- Cumbersome menu / buttons
- Highly polished bezel & base scratch easily
- Volume control buried in the menus
- No LED backlighting (though not advertised as such)
OTHER:
This is a lot of monitor for the money! Blows everything in its price range away. If you need a general purpose monitor NOW and can get it cheap (rebate, free shipping, no tax) I recommend it. Though if you can wait, please do as LED backlighting is coming which will give you a potentially more efficient, reliable, inexpensive, lighter, and thinner monitor with significantly better color. I scratched the base before I could even turn it on for the first time, not a big fan of the highly polished plastic motif. Volume is adequate if you turn it way up (85% or more). Biggest con is the vertical viewing angle – no matter how I tilt it I can’t get rid of the “dark sky” effect. It’s almost as if there is no backlighting at the top, only at the bottom. This is common with most modern LCD monitors though. Base is not particularly flimsy, no vertical adjustment, tilt range is fine. I’m also not a huge fan of the current widescreen craze, and think a square monitor would be ideal. Have seen 1920 x 1200 in stores and prefer that 16:10 aspect ratio to this 16:9, but those are still rather expensive. Note: this is a plug-n-play monitor and doesn’t require a driver in XP! Also, the box it comes in should easily survive fairly rough shipping as it is sturdy with plenty of foam inside. Amazon double-boxed mine which made me feel even better about it’s journey home.
Review by Steven Lesmana for ASUS VH236H 23 Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor – Black
Rating:
OK first, This is NOT 21.5″ but this is 23 inch Widescreen Monitor !!
At First I’m about to get Samsung for a lot more but decided to get this since I’m not rich. The result: WOW I’m no regret of what soever. Excellent Pics, full HD, Perfect for My Gaming(XBOX 360, PS 3) just connect HDMI and you are good to go. It has speakers so I can play game or put in Headphone.
The only little complaint is the base.. which made from plastic.. but its OK, it holds Fine.
Get this !! You won’t regret !
Review by Cheryl Kobe for ASUS VH236H 23 Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor – Black
Rating:
Like many others, I was somewhat hesitant to buy this particular piece of equipment. With college coming back in full swing, I had to buy a new computer. So far, this has satisfied my machine. It looks good with my ATI 5850 and runs games in great contrast. Obviously the 20,000:1 contrast ratio is a farce (granted 100% of them are.) It runs at about 900:1, which is good considering some of the most expensive monitors on the market can’t even get that deep. The blacks are deep, the screen is bright, and it comes with several presets. After a little bit of tweaking to the color, contrast, etc. it looks fantastic. I haven’t run into any dead pixels *cough* as I shouldn’t. It was packaged very securely and was incredibly easy to set up. No ghosting and no gray st-t-t-t-tuttering so far. I would recommend this monitor, definitely.
Review by A. J. Katz for ASUS VH236H 23 Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor – Black
Rating:
By the way, i paid $170 after a $20 mail-in-rebate, just so you all know.
I ordered two of these Asus monitors for use with my desktop. I believe they are absolutely gorgeous monitors. I tested each for dead pixels and found none. They colors are accurate and vibrant, and the screen is plenty bright. The edges are thin and glossy, giving the monitor a nice look. The screen itself is a matte finish so there is limited to no glare.
I tested the monitor with a few blu-ray movies. The picture is stunning. I’m comparing these two monitors to an HP w2207, a relatively expensive monitor i purchased two years ago. The quality is the same if not better. I think for the price, these monitors are hard to beat. I cannot compare them to newer LED LCD monitors, but unless you have them side-by-side, i doubt one would notice any significant difference.
I am using my own speakers and not the built-in ones so i cannot comment on them. I might add though that the purchase of a monitor should not be based on speakers, just buy a cheap pair of external ones. Finally the stand. While it is not as ergonomic or as functional as others, it is solid. You can only tilt the screen, it is at a fixed height. While this provides good stability, if you like a custom height or you wish to rotate the screen, you are out of luck.
I do not consider myself an expert, but i put a lot of careful research into purchasing a good monitor for a good price. I definitely would make this purchase again.
Hope this helps.