Sceptre X20WC-Gamer 20" LCD Monitor Review

[Indybird]

Ive had this monitor for about 4 months now, and have finally decided to review it.

Purchase:
I bought mine off of newegg for $200 (after rebates). The price is still the same but there is now a model called the X20WG-Naga that is exactly the
same (except for the finish on the screen and accessories) and is only $180 after rebates.
Links:
X20WC-Gamer
X20WC-Naga

Specs:
20.1" Widescreen TFT Active Matrix LCD
1680x1050 Recommended, 1920x1080 Compressed
1000:1 Contrast Ratio
350cd/m² brightness
5ms Response Time
OSD Menus
1x VGA Connector
1x DVI Connector
1x 3.5mm stereo input
2x 0.5w Stereo Speakers


Unpacking:
The monitor came in a large durable-looking box with a handle. While im unpacking, first I see the DVI & VGA cables, then the power cable and lastly the audio cable. The monitor itself has two pieces: the stand and the monitor. The monitor itself is suspended in foam, wrapped in plastic and covered with a protective sheet.

Setup:
Setup is simple, though there were no instructions, everything was straight-forward. Remove everything from their respective packaging, connect the monitor to its stand then connect the power and video cables.

Video Quality & Use:
-Tested using DVI Connector-
First thing I noticed as I turn on the screen is it's brightness. Very bright screen makes for good whites but still has decently deep blacks. Next, I noticed the glossy finish on the screen. This is really more a matter of preference, but I believe the glossy screen gives it a sharper appearance. The "Sceptre" name lights up blue (but is unobtrusive) when the screen is turned on, and red when there is no signal. The screen is very clear and text looks really good. During gaming I do not notice any ghosting, which is good considering this is the "gamer" model. I've played Oblivion, Day of Defeat: Source, Need for Speed Most Wanted and Half-life 2, all of which looked very good. However this monitor sadly is not perfect and the first of the problems showed themselves: during very dark images mine had uneven backlighting in each corner. This is unnoticable during moving pictures. As I mentioned before the blacks are in fact very deep and look very good in bright to mostly dark rooms. Apparently the monitor does not come with the contrast set very high (55/100). I found mine looks best at 90/100 contrast and full brightness. This was where I ran into my next problem, the buttons are not very easy to press, you almost push so hard on them it starts to tip the monitor. And that brings me to my last two notes on this monitor. These two cons are very minor, so I left them for the end. First, the stand is slightly wobbly and can be shaken with a slight movement of the desk. There is a very easy fix, which is: take something app. 1mm thin and place it on the bottom of the base to even out the feet. Second mine came with a dead pixel in the upper-right corner and a lightly faded pixel in the middle. However, this is not a sign of bad quality but bad luck .

Conclusions
Pros:
-Outstanding Price
-Easy to install
-Good Picture Quality (Good color, res, contrast, etc.)
-Stylish Appearance

Cons:
-Uneven backlight
-Hard Buttons
-Wobbly Stand
-A few dead/faded pixels

This is a very good monitor and I believe, from experience, that the pros outweigh the cons, so here are the numbers:
Easy of Use: 8
Build Quality: 9
Picture Quality: 8
Overall: 8.3

-Indybird

[Mitternacht]

+ Rep. Not bad of a review. That was the monitor I was thinking about getting, but I got theViewsonic. Maybe I should do a review...

[Eclecticos]

I thought about getting that one, only thing I didn't like was the stand. . always bumping the desk. I got the Ben-Q Instead.

[Aero]

good review. I have a Sceptre X9 from a few years ago. I've started having the corner problem a bit when trying to display one color like on the windows login, but other wise mines been fine. Also I have had my LCD for about 3 years now and have yet to have a dead pixel.

+Rep for the review

ive been trying to decide whether to go 1650 x 1050 or 1600 x 1200 for gaming, can widescreens hold 1600 x 1200 for gaming?? or should i go standard

[Mitternacht]

After gaming on a normal monitor, then gaming on 1680 widescreen res, I can never go back to a normal monitor.. Halo looks awesome on widescreen.

yes but do wnough games support widescreen??

[Mitternacht]

sure. Halo looked perfectly normal; everything was there, nothing cut off the screen. Besides, I play at 1280*960. As long as a widescreen res is in the settings it'll be allright.

exactly i dont know how many games support widescreen, then again anything thats vista'll porbably have widescreen in it

[Indybird]

Here, check out this site:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com....php/Main_Page

They have a massive list of widescreen supporting games and hacks/mods for ones that don't.

Hope that helps,
Indybird