MaximumPC 2008 08

IN THE LAB^

REVIEWS OF THE LATEST HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

80 |MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC|AUG 08 |www.maximumpc.com

REVIEWS OF THE LATEST HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

W

e were excited when LG’s W2452T

arrived in the Lab—we had high

hopes this monitor would break the

streak of middle-of-the-road 24-inch displays

we’ve tested lately. And it nearly did. Although

the 1920x1200-res screen was able to hit the

grayscale extremes on our DisplayMate tests,

this functionality came at a horrible price: no-

ticeable compression when given an increased

range of grayscales to work with.

And then the LCD monitor turned to mush.

LG’s W2452T suff ers from noticeable

banding issues—the ugly streaks that disrupt

what should be a smooth gradient. It was quite

bad on a few of our high-defi nition photos, but

the problem was especially frustrating in our

gaming tests. Nothing ruins a good fog eff ect

like large, chunky lines bisecting the image.

The monitor’s coloration is acceptable,

but not great. We didn’t expect overwhelming

vibrancy from this display, which performs

like a 6-bit panel, so we weren’t surprised

when the monitor failed to produce images

as vivid as those of other

displays. Overall, the

W2452T’s picture is a bit

muted when using the display’s

normal settings. Adjusting the set-

tings did little to improve the image, and

heaven forbid you use the display’s pre-

sets. The movie and demo modes saturated

the colors so much that they turned normal

video into an acid trip.

LG spent a little too much time on the

monitor’s funny features: We see no need

for a zoom eff ect, nor would we ever want

to switch our display over to a sepia tone.

Instead of these additions, LG should have

included more connections on the display, as

just a single DVI and VGA port are provided.

And be careful adjusting the monitor’s angle,

the stand is wobbly.

The W2452T creates a good basic image,

but tweaking the monitor to achieve better

coloration leaves a little—or in some cases, a

lot—to be desired. –D A V I D M U R P H Y

LG W2452T

Getting the band(ing) back together

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VERDICT

$550, http://www.lge.com

6

Great grayscales and

average—not great—

coloration.

Banding affects image

quality and preset

options can completely

destroy the picture.

ROCK BAND

LG W2452T

GARAGE BAND

A host of silly sound effects are produced whenever

you press the monitor’s front buttons—it’s the fi rst

thing we turned off.

I

n Win can’t resist building gimmicks

into its chassis. We fi rst encountered the

company’s design oddities with its F430

case (reviewed July 2008), which emits the

superloud sound of a car engine when you hit

the power button. The company’s B2 chassis

isn’t quite as ostentatious—unless you think

the motorized front panel that conceals the

drive bays is over the top.

This midtower chassis does, however,

take its B2 theme to extreme levels. The vent

on the case’s snap-locking side panel looks

just like a Stealth bomber and the case’s ex-

terior is peppered with aeronautical jargon.

We love the look, but working in this case is a

diff erent story.

A VGA cooling bracket with two attached

8cm fans runs along the side of the case. It

pivots up and down to give you access to your

rig’s insides but leaves little room for connect-

ing additional power-supply cables to your

videocard. Back-end connections similarly

suff er, as this chassis is a bit cramped—heave

and strain all you want, an oversized next-gen

videocard isn’t going to fi t in here.

Labeled drive rails sit on a tray in one of

case’s four 5.25-inch bays. It’s great that the B2

doesn’t need any screws whatsoever, but we’d

rather receive the rails in a bag to simplify

installation. Also, the end of the tray sticks out

a little too far. We had to remove it—by fi rst

removing the case’s side and front panels—

before we could squeeze our motherboard into

the chassis.

We appreciate the case’s features, includ-

ing its support for up to fi ve hard drives,

superb air cooling, and luxurious front-panel

connections, but the B2’s peculiarities force us

to ground it for all enthusiast rig-building mis-

sions. It’s better suited for midrange machines.

• D A V I D M U R P H Y

In Win B2

Tower, this is Ghost Rider: requesting a fl yby

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VERDICT

$130, http://www.in-win.us

7

Pivoting hard-drive

bay, easy-to-remove

side panels, two

12cm fans.

Tight fit inside case

worsened by VGA cool-

ing bracket; removable

drive-rail tray.

GOOSE

IN WIN B2

MAVERICK

A side fl ap

conceals the

B2’s front-panel

connections: two eSATA, two USB, one FireWire

port, and one HD/AC97 audio jack.