Acer AT2001

Acer’s AT2001 is a slimline, wall-mountable television that makes a good space-saving replacement for a traditional CRT-based TV.

At first glance you could be forgiven for mistaking it for a good-looking 20in LCD monitor. But while the inclusion of a standard VGA port might make you think you’re getting a bargain PC monitor with a TV thrown in, a closer look at the specification confirms it is in fact a TV that happens to have basic provision for connection to a computer.

The main reason for this is its native 800 x 600pixel resolution. This is adequate for the built-in analogue TV receiver, but inappropriate for desktop use. Furthermore, it’s very bright.

At 450cd/m2, desktop use will leave you with that ‘sitting too close to the telly’ feeling in minutes. A relatively wide, 160º viewing angle and 500:1 contrast ratio make for a pleasantly crisp image that’s comfortably viewable from all areas of the room, while the 16ms pixel response time ensures no visible blurring from the LCD panel.

Given the relatively low resolution, this TV is obviously not HD ready.

As well as the VGA port, there are RF, composite video, S-video and Scart inputs along with a headphone socket. Separate audio inputs drive the integral 3w stereo speakers.

Automatic setup is straightforward, using a clear on-screen menu system. All five analogue terrestrial channels were found, but the supplied remote control is a little small and it’s powered by a watch-style lithium battery – less convenient than standard AA or AAA cells when the time comes for replacement.

The AT2001 is a decent flat-panel TV, but we feel most would prefer to spend more and get a widescreen model with Freeview support.