AOC 2236Vw Review

[flibberdipper]

 

 

INTRO

I’ve had my AOC 2236Vw for about 4 or 5 years now, and I’ve used it a lot. So since someone requested that I review it, I figured that I would. This may not be the best monitor in the world (especially since mine was a display model at Best Buy for a few months before I got it), but it does the job well, and it looks good doing it.

 

DESIGN

Overall the design of this monitor is pretty nice. You can kind of tell that it was meant to be used in an office or just at home, since it has a very clean and simple aesthetic. The one thing I hate the most is on the base, where there are all of the ridges, since it collects dust and other crap like crazy. The bezel is really whiny when you get it all cleaned up, and collects dust, dirt, fingerprints, and scratches like crazy. The OSD buttons are simple and kind of clean, but the blue power LED is annoying as hell, since it is super bright at night. The bezel is a glossy black, and it is really reflective. The AOC logo at the bottom is a nice touch, and I think it looks nice.

 

DISPLAY

This monitor has a 21.5” (diagonal) display that is 1080p, TN-based, has a 60,000:1 DCR (Dynamic Contrast Ratio), and a 5ms response time. At 1080p, the monitor will run at 60Hz. The picture on this monitor is great, especially considering how old it is and how much mine has been used. Even at resolutions other than native, it looks great. Gaming on this monitor is pretty nice, since nothing is blurry, until you go lower than 1024x768. One little warning: With the brightness at 100%, this thing is REALLY bright. Even with it at 0%, it’s still bright. The matte screen does make it a lot easier to use the monitor near a window (like me), and the “glare,” if you want to call it that, is very minimal on the quality of the picture. I have always used VGA, and there is no really noticeable difference between it and DVI.

 

CONNECTIVITY

This monitor has a DVI-D port and a VGA port, along with a USB 2.0 passthrough and the normal power plug. My biggest gripe with the passthrough is that it seems to deliver slightly less power than a standard USB port, but that might just be that it is getting older. The passthrough uses a standard USB Type B plug (like what is commonly used with printers). The passthrough is positioned on the left of the monitor, and it is upside down. It faces outward, which I don’t really like, since I’m always afraid that I’ll yank on my controller too hard and break it. The monitor does have a built in power supply, which is nice since it uses a regular power cable like a computer and there is no power brick, but the bad thing is that if it fails, you basically have to replace the monitor, or take it to a PC service deal and hope that they can replace it.

 

CONSTRUCTION

The construction on this monitor isn’t all that bad, even though it is made with a LOT of plastic. The VESA mount is really sturdy and reliable (I hooked it up to a VESA mount and jumped up and down, shook the crap out of it, and it still didn’t fall off), and the monitor itself is sturdy. The weak point is the base. The monitor is kinda wobbly on it, but it shouldn’t be enough for you to worry about it that much.

 

THE OSD

The OSD is kinda confusing at first. Unlike the ones on Dell monitors now where it actually tells you what the hell you’re getting into (brightness instead of an icon), this monitor kinda leaves you to figure it out yourself. Now, it was no problem for me, since I kinda already knew what most of the stuff was in the first place, but for other people who aren’t as tech-savvy as I am, it might confuse them a bit. But once you get the OSD all figured out, it is pretty good with the options that it presents to you.

 

CONCLUSION

Even though my monitor came with a dead pixel, I still feel that it was totally worth the amount of money that my mom paid for it 4 years ago ($114 or so), even if it was a display model to begin with. This monitor has been through hell (bad power, power surges, cats sleeping on the screen, etc.) and it still works pretty well. The backlight in mine is starting to make a little bit of noise, but it’s only noticeable when you have the brightness up higher (which you really don’t, unless you have a replacement set of retinas ready when you’re done using it).

 

IS IT WORTH IT?

If you can find one for $50 to $80, I would totally grab it (as long as it’s in good condition). They may not be the best monitors out there right now, but they seem to last a really long time, even when they aren’t in the best conditions. I am thoroughly impressed with mine, and I would probably buy another one if there was one going pretty cheap.

[flibberdipper]

Oh, here you go, Juggernautilus. Since you wanted me to review this, and all...

[Mateyyy]

Great review! 

[Askew]

Cool review as always!

 

One of my displays is a Samsung 2233BW that has been running since forever and I'm quite fond of it too.

 

[o3871]

Awesome review!

[Mo5]

Cool review as always!

 

One of my displays is a Samsung 2233BW that has been running since forever and I'm quite fond of it too.

 

I have a Samsung 172X (it's old but the design could easily be 2014, it's that good) that I had since 2003 and even though a 6 year old wrote on the display with a ballpoint pen it's still working 100%.

[flibberdipper]

Great review! 

 

Awesome review!

Thanks.

 

Cool review as always!

 

One of my displays is a Samsung 2233BW that has been running since forever and I'm quite fond of it too.

 

I don't like how the Samsung monitor looks, but even my Dell E176FP still looks the way it was when it was new back in 2006.

 

I have a Samsung 172X (it's old but the design could easily be 2014, it's that good) that I had since 2003 and even though a 6 year old wrote on the display with a ballpoint pen it's still working 100%.

Wow.

[Damikiller37]

Cool review as always!

 

One of my displays is a Samsung 2233BW that has been running since forever and I'm quite fond of it too.

 

I had the 19' version of this monitor at some point.