Acer AL1916W – further musings

Just under a month ago I wrote a post (Entering the World of HD) about my decision to buy an Acer AL1916W for use with my XBox 360. I figures that now was a good time to write a follow up to that post to let you all know how I’m getting along.

As anyone who ahs read that post will know, I was ecstatic with my choice at the time. It made the 360 look so much better than playing on the 14″ portable TV that I was previously using. So in the last month (give or take a few days) has my opinion changed of the screen? Being completely honest I’m happy to say that it hasn’t! I am still so pleased with the screen, and am enjoying everything I play so much more as it looks so much nicer.

I was a little concerned at the time that using a non-MS VGA cable could cause me some problems (I’d read some horror stories on the web about people having problems with screens freezing or going completely black at critical moments of games). Again, I’ve got nothing but praise to report on this front. The games look stunning, and for anyone who is relying on the speakers in a 14″ telly for their sound. Do yourselves a favour and connect up a pair of speakers with a subwoofer. Even if you don’t want to invest in an HD set, the change in sound will make all the difference to you. If you can afford just under £200 then I seriously suggest you find somewhere selling an AL1916W (I got mine from Misco) and invest in one.

The screen has made that much of a difference that I haven’t even noticed the one dead pixel that I’ve got that much. It only seems to be really obvious on the Dashboard (the pixel that is playing up is in the middle of the top-left quarter) and I’ve never noticed it during a game. There have been reports of backlight bleed as well and the only time I’ve really noticed this is when the screen cuts from the Dashboard to a completely black screen. Again there had been horror stories online that games such as Condemned were unplayable on this screen but I can put these rumours to bed once and for all. I’ve not noticed any difference at all in terms of the brightness/darkness when moving from the TV to the Acer.

So as you can probably tell I’m still very happy with the AL1916W. It’s a great screen at a great price, and it’s making me realise just how good the 360 is. Hell, it’s even making me more accurate at Perfect Dark Zero online, and that can’t be a bad thing!!