Review: Philips 200XW7EB monitor

The Philips 200XW7EB is a widescreen 20in monitor, with a smart but understated black finish and a sturdy look and feel.

Like many modern monitors, it's easy to put together, with the base simply attaching directly to the centre stalk behind the screen.

The design allows for various degrees of movement – not only can the screen be tilted and swivelled as normal, it can also be moved up and down a few inches, meaning it can easily be adjusted to match your working level without having to prop it up on some books. This is done by pulling out a small pin at the back, moving the screen and putting a peg in place to hold it, which is less trouble than it sounds, but it would be easy to mislay the supplied pegs.

Picture quality is good, with bright and clear images and sharp pictures at the monitor's native resolution of 1,680 x 1,050 pixels, which is very high, and about the right size for a 20in monitor. It comes with VGA and DVI connections to the computer, and has a built-in power supply, so there's no need for a separate power 'brick'.

It also comes with a USB port, so it's possible to pass a USB connection through to the PC, although it would have been nice to have seen more than one port, which wouldn't have added much to the monitor's cost.

In addition to the above contortions, the screen can also be rotated through 90 degrees, but the supplied Philips Smartcontrol software doesn't deal with this, so you'll need a graphics card that supports rotated screens to use this feature.

Those minor qualms aside, while it's expensive compared with the £100-odd monitors available these days, the Philips 200XW7EB is actually very reasonably priced for such a well-built screen, suitable for both homes and offices.

Vista compatible: N/A