LG W2453V Review

Hi

For those interested, I'm writing a short review on my monitor.:-D

Less than two years ago (12/15/09 to be exact), I purchased an LG W2453V LCD monitor from Newegg. It's very stylish in appearance, doesn't have speakers built in (I don't like monitors with built-in speakers, as I have a dedicated audio card, and good speakers to match, so they would just be a waste of space, etc.). It also has touch sensitive "buttons".

The display is very nice, and decent all around -- gaming, word processing, web surfing, movies, you name it. I bought it before the LED-LCD monitors were out, and before 120Hz was common. However, even to this day, I get ooohs and ahhhs from everyone that sees it (and a lot of "holy cow, that's huge... nice!").

When it first arrived, I was surprised by its large size, myself, and wasn't sure if I was going to have eye strain issues and etc. Nope, after I adjusted to being able to see a lot more on my screen at once, I was very happy with the size.

Overall, I was very happy with this monitor. I kind of wanted to get a second one, so I could have a tri-display computer (I have a Vizio 47" 1080p TV connected as well). However, by the time I was contemplating it, they had discontinued this particular model. Who wants two different looking monitors, even if it's only a slight difference, side by side? No way! They have to match.

So... opinion/fact/opinion sandwich, time for the facts part. This screen's specs (copied from the LG website's page on the monitor, FULL detailed specs here):

http://www.lg.com/us/computer-products/images/lg-monitor-W53-Medium.jpg

24" Widescreen LCD Monitor (24.0" diagonal)

HD Ready 1080p
Full HD contents should be displayed on a Full HD resolution display to maintain their original details. With a display supporting HD 1920x1080 pixels, users can enjoy a perfect visual experience.
Cinema Mode
Video clips uploaded on web pages are in low resolution and pixels are distorted when the clips are viewed on full screen. On the other hand, watching the clips in their original size would mean being exposed to various distractive elements such as banners and text. Just like a movie theatre, Cinema Mode creates an ideal environment for viewing video clips posted online by dimming the areas excluded in your mouse drag and helping you focus on what you are watching.
Time Control
The Time Control reminds you to take some time to rest by signaling with the power button light according to the interval set by the user.
Auto Bright Sensor
LG's Smart Monitor's Auto Bright function has a Bright Sensor that measures the amount of light in the area surrounding the monitor. After analyzing the brightness of ambient light and the data source, the monitor signals the backlight to create an optimized brightness that reproduces a clear image without causing eye strain.
Live Sensor
Live Sensor recognizes hands approaching the monitor and automatically turns on by a proximity sensor.
HDMI Input
A single, all-digital cable input which makes it easy to connect and integrate all your digital systems, including cable/satellite boxes and games.


And now back to opinion. This morning, I was being my normal geek self, trying to remove the Ease of Accessibility button from the Windows 7 logon screen by editing authui.dll with Resource Hacker. I thought I'd followed the online instructions perfectly, so I pressed Windows Key + L (lock user account, which displays the logon screen) to test it. I got a whole lotta black screen with the mouse cursor.

I couldn't get back in, so I had to (unfortunately) hard restart the computer, hoping it just needed a reboot for the changes to take effect. No such luck. I should've figured it was risky business, since I had to take ownership of the file in order to edit it, etc. Of course, this was a few minutes before I had to leave for work, so I didn't have time to fix it before I left.:-o

So... I turned the computer off, turned my external drives off, turned off the monitor, and went to work. I figured it'd be an easy fix... I'd just boot a live Linux distro, and replace the modified authui.dll with the copy of the original I had saved.

So, I turned on the tower, put my Mint DVD in my BD drive, left the external hard drives off as I didn't need to access them in order to do this simple fix, and touched the monitor power "button" to turn it on. Tower's whirring, monitor's dead. I'm like... great.

So, I did basic troubleshooting. I (luckily) have an older Dell 17" "square" LCD screen that I use to connect to desktops of friends I fix, so I tested the LG's power cord (standard "computer power cord" type) with the Dell monitor... worked fine. The LG monitor doesn't require a video connection to power on... it'll just turn on and go straight into power saving mode if it doesn't detect a video signal.

So, the power cord's good (and I even tested it on the same exact plug it was in when it was hooked to the LG screen). I've cleaned the LG monitor out with canned air, and short of taking it apart and wondering what's going to jolt me into unconsciousness or what will void the warranty, I'm unsure what else to do. There were no power brownouts/blackouts/surges while I was gone (I asked my wife). The LG just won't power up... at all. I've tried leaving it unplugged for awhile, I've tried leaving it plugged in for awhile after that. No response at all.

Yeah, I realize most of the above doesn't directly pertain to the monitor, but that's okay. Anyway, long story short, my next step is contacting LG and cashing in on the 3 year limited parts and labor warranty (hopefully... I've never had to deal with LG on a warranty before). I'm currently using this comparatively tiny old Dell screen meanwhile. :cry

 

Be ready to pay for shipping costs though, not sure if the USPS has a 'box that it could fit in'. It must have have cost you way over $500 ATT! I still have my 19" WS LG and loved it but it is now a back up monitor as the warranty is out.

 

LG pays shipping from the US to them, and back. However, since I'm military stationed in Germany, I will need to pay the shipping between me and someone I know in the US... so it's gotta be shipped twice each time (apparently, their warranties are country-based... whatever).

The original price I paid for that monitor wasn't bad, actually... under $300.

Someone gave me this older Dell monitor for free. It looks freaking TINY compared to my inop LG, and I've actually noticed a slight increase in eye strain using a smaller monitor.