Four function buttons and a power switch are arranged in a slight arc on the lower edge of the screen bezel. Two cable clips are attached to the mounting arm to help keep the numerous cables organized. You can tilt the panel forward and backwards, but the stand does not support height or swivel positioning.
Two PC inputs (analog and DVI) and an audio input are located on the rear of the panel along with the power connector. Pound for pound, the 5-watt speakers built in to the Norcent Vion LT-2090WBK produced much better sound. High tones sounded a bit flat, and the overall sound lacked punch and volume. I was grateful for the added bass response, but the audio quality was still disappointing. I liked the idea of a built-in 3-watt subwoofer better than the reality.
I watched an episode of Scrubs that I had loaded on my iPod and was generally pleased with the results, even though it ran in a 640- by 480-pixel box within the 22-inch screen. Once docked, the iPod will upload new content from the PC and begin charging up the battery, and you can access music, video, and photos stored on the iPod.
The iPod has to sync up with iTunes, which means your PC must be up and running with the software installed. Though it would be nice just to plug in an iPod and get instant music and video, that isn't the case here.
The big news here is the inclusion of an iPod dock, which is situated in the center of the base and comes with adapters to fit virtually every iPod model on the market (according to ViewSonic, only the iPod shuffle, which uses a USB connection, can't be docked on this monitor). The panel sits atop a matching stand that doubles as a hub for a generous assortment of multimedia connections, including five USB ports (four upstream, one downstream), an 8-in-1 media card reader, audio-in and -out ports, and headphone and microphone jacks. The high-resolution (1,680-by-1,050) 22-inch LCD panel does a nice job of displaying video, and there are connections galore, but I had expected a more robust docking system for my Apple iPod.Ī high-gloss black case with silver trim gives the display an elegant look without going overboard. The ViewSonic VX2245wm ViewDock ($350 street) delivers some cool multimedia features and looks good doing it.