ASUS BE24EQK 23.8” Business Monitor With Webcam

Funciona muy bien

The monitor works well on Linux and Windows. The image is sharp for business applications and engineering graphics. Sound and camera work fine for presentations. Good choice and not expensive.

I am not a gamer, nor do I do any serious video work, so I am not in a position to review this in terms of what many may find most important. Indeed, my vision is far from perfect and I suffer a form of color blindness. So if you want a review of the finer visual qualities look elsewhere. All I can usefully say about its visual quality is that it works great for my needs, with clear, sharp, bright display. So I will instead talk about features that matter to me.

A great stand with easy setup

Typically, when I get a new monitor, I have to fiddle with assembling the stand and attaching the monitor to it. An unpleasant chore that delays me actually getting to use the thing. And after working with the typical stand for a few days, I find myself ordering a separate monitor desk mount (which in turn needs to be assembled.)

But the ASUS VA24DQSB stand was the easiest out of the box setup cabling that I have ever had. By far. Furthermore, the stand actually has the tilt and rotation flexibility and solidity that I need. This saves me having to get a separate monitor mount, and I really had this thing usable within a couple of minutes of opening the box.

The cable management guides on the stand are also correctly less ambitious than others I’ve seen. Instead of attempting to completely conceal cables at the expensive of complicated setup and difficulty in changing things around, it takes a very simple and straight forward approach.

The only downside I can foresee of having this stand is that heavier than what is typical. That might be an issue for shipping or moving it about, but if so that would be a minor one. It is only an issue if you plan to mount the monitor and so the benefits of the stand would be wasted on you.

Connectivity saves on cables and adapters

DisplayPort, HDMI (and VGA) mean that I unless I were in a DVI world, I don’t have to worry about adapters, making cabling easier and means that I can use it easily on a broad range of devices now and in the future. I happen to be using it via HDMI from a Mac mini, but it is not wedded to that host.

The USB hub give me 2 USB 3 type A ports in a convenient location. Again, making cabling easier.

I realize that the features which most immediately appeal to me after having this for less than a week may not be what matter to others, but I do hope that this is useful for some.

UPDATE 3/26/13:

I played: Crysis 3, Dead Space 3, Skyrim, Doom 3: BFG Edition, Far Cry 3, GOW: Ascension, Mass Effect 3, and they all looked great on this monitor. I love this monitor and I definitely recommend it.

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*So far I have tested 6 PS3 games with this monitor. (Note: the PS3 and Xbox 360 have graphics less good than high-end gaming PCs).

*I received my monitor two days ahead of schedule (was shipped by Amazon).
*This monitor is HUGE! and lightweight.
*The quality of this monitor for the price is impossible to beat. What a deal!
*I experienced no GHOSTING.
*I’m using a HDMI cable I got from amazong for like a $1 and I compared the cable with the monster HDMI cable that came with my 60” hdtv and I saw no difference in graphics (you may check out my review on that cable).
*Some of the PS3 games I played looked outstanding while others did not but this is due to the games themselves and not the monitor.
*If you own a gaming PC you’ll enjoy higher graphics than us PS3/XBOX 360 owners.
*My desktop screen looks true 1080p HD on this monitor; 1080p HD videos look great too.
*The STAND that came with it is excellent; it allows to adjust the angle all the way down facing the floor or facing very up. Also, I put the monitor on my bed and I can freely move on my bed and this stand is so good the monitor barely even moves. Now I can play while on my bed and don’t have to be careful at all about moving around! Love the stand!
*This product was packed excellently; very secure and professional. I received a brand new product.

*The default display settings were horrible but after messing with it for a couple minutes I got a great display. The preset display called “scenary” was the only and best looking one (the others looked terrible). I did try the settings offered by the top reviewer here but his settings were almost exactly as the preset “scenary.”
*The very first time I turned on the monitor, it was set to only work with VGA so I was forced to connect it to a laptop with VGA before I could actually access the monitor’s menu and change to HDMI and edit all the other settings.
*The speakers are terrible but this was expected; very low maximum volume too (as expected).

:::GAMES TESTED/PLAYED:::
*Uncharted 1 & 2: this game is extremely famous for its outstanding graphics. I finished the entire game on this monitor. The game looked absolutely outstanding from start to finish! Incredible/perfect graphics. I am now playing Uncharted 2 and the graphics are outstanding.

*Infamous 1: excellent graphics; both cutscenes and gameplay looked true HD. Uncharted takes first place hands down but Infamous is right there with beautiful excellent graphics.

*Sniper Ghost Warrior: this game is known for its no-good graphics. This game did not look good but we know it is the game and not the monitor!

*GTA IV: shockingly this game looked terrible on this monitor. The cutscenes looked outstanding in true HD but strangely while driving vehicles the graphics looked atrocious. I was not happy at all. I don’t know what is wrong.

*Crysis 2: this game is very well known for its high-end graphics. The game looked excellent but not as outstanding as Uncharted. But let’s not forget that I played the PS3 version – the PS3 console’s graphics are limited and are not as high as high-end gaming PCs. Again, Uncharted wins first place hands down but Crysis 2 is right there at the top too.

*Prototype 2: this game was criticized for its not-so-good graphics (e.g. IGN review) and it’s true. I played this game on this monitor and although the cutscenes looked true HD the gameplay looked sort-of HD. Again, this is the game’s fault and the PS3 console’s fault and NOT the monitor’s fault. Still I enjoyed and loved the game and it still looked great.

*Modern Warfare 3: I only played a couple minutes of the game on the monitor but the game did not look as Uncharted and Crysis 2 and Infamous. This is probably because I am comparing in my mind every single game with Uncharted. I mean, Uncharted was absolutely incredible, and MW3’s graphics could not compare. But I only played a few minutes of MW3 on this monitor so perhaps it is too soon to give a final verdict.

-I need to try Skyrim, Bioshock, God of War III, Dead Space 2, AC: Revelations, and Batman Arkham City, and I’ll report how the games look on this monitor, with the PS3 console.

VERDICT: +5 stars. Love this monitor. I highly recommend it. The price + quality combination is unbeatable!

UPDATE 9/17/12

School started for me here in NYC (college senior) and I have NOT been able to play at all! I know I need to test especially Skyrim and Bioshock but I’m busy with school, schoolwork, and the gym (lifting weights 5 days a week). But when I can I’ll test the games!

UPDATE 11/3/13:

I have been busy and had not much time to play. I do have all the “top/best” games with me though, but I just have to find the time to play my PS3 games…

I’m still happy with the monitor though. I was able to connect my iPad 4th Generation to this monitor with a cable (blacks ops zombies) and the game looked great. So I am still happy about this.