PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

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LabsMonitors @PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO

AcerCB 342 CK

AraremissfromAcer,withpoor

viewinganglesandarelatively

highpricecombiningtoilleffect

Teamsintegration,buttheiffy

webcamspoilstheparty

PRICE£345(£414incVAT)frombox.co.uk PRICE£633(£760incVAT)fromballicom.co.uk

I

n some ways,we’rethankfultoAcer

forsendinginthis 34inIPSmonitor.

Thatmayseemoddwhenitgetstwo

starsoutoffive,butitemphasiseswhy

specificationssimply don’ttellthefull

story.Afterall,ifyouturntothefeature

tableon p 81 you’llseethat theCB342CK

sharesmanyof thesamespecsasother

32in-34in monitorsontest,butthemoment

youplugitin– viaDisplayPortoroneoftwo

HDMIinputs,withnoUSB-Cpresent– it’s

obviousthatthisuses an inferiorpanel.

Thebiggest clueisitsviewingangles,

whichareatrociousbymodernstandards.

There’sanobvious drop-offassoonasyou

lookawayfromthe centreofthescreen,

anditdoesn’thelpthatwhitebackgrounds

don’tlookwhitetostartwith:there’sa

fuzzinesstothepixelsthatannoys.Inshort,

ifyouuseWord,Excel andtheirilk,then

don’teventhinkaboutbuyingthismonitor.

Gamersmightbemoretempted,with

refresh rates up to 75Hz(overDisplayPort),

1msresponse timesandsupportfor AMD

FreeSync,anditscontrastratiois strong for

anIPSpanelat1,015:1.It’ssurprising,then,

thatoftheeightpresetsnoneareforgaming.

Instead,you mustheadtothePerformance

submenutoset “OverDrive”toExtreme.

Noneof thecolourpresetsmakemuch

differenceanyway.InsRGBmode,it

covered87%ofthegamut outofa 96%

volume– exactlythesameastheStandard

mode.Moviemode?Thatactuallyreduced

DCI-P3coveragefrom68%to67%.Itsonly

positiveeffectwastoboostthepeak

brightnessfrom277cd/m^2 inStandard

modeto 300cd/m^2.

Thestandisokay,with 1 50mmofheight

adjustmentandthepromiseof 360°swivel.

Thisworks,butothermechanismsonshow

thismontharefarslicker.

Let’sendona positive,whichis thatthe

speakersaregenuinelygreat.Butwhenthe

bestpartofa monitor’sperformanceis its

audiooutputratherthanitsvisuals,you

knowsomethingisn’tquiteright.

T

hiscouldhavebeenamould-

breaking34indisplay, built to meet

thedemandsofanyonewhofinds

themselvesinback-to-backvideocalls:a

fullnameofCurvedVideoConferencing

MonitorC3422WEgivesthegameaway.

Dellcertainlygetsa lotright, startingwith

thegentlycurved,high-qualityIPS panel.

Eveninitsdefaultmode,thishita

satisfying 6 378 K colourtemperaturewith

79%DCI-P3coverage.TweakingtheRGB

controlsimproved bothofthosescores,and

liftedthepeakbrightnessfrom260cd/m^2 to

270cd/m^2 – lower thanisideal,butmost

peoplewillbedelighted by thisscreen’s

imagequalityfromthemomenttheyplug

inoneofthethreeinputs.

Thekeyoneisa USB-C port capableof

delivering 90 W ofpowertoyourlaptop,in

turngivingyouaccess to a three-portUSB

hubbuiltintothemonitoranda welcome

extraUSB-Cport.Youcanalsoadda second

laptoporPCviatheDisplayPortorHDMI

input,witha varietyofPIPandPBPmodes

onofferviathe intuitiveOSD.

ThenwecometotheTeamsintegration,

witha stylishfabric-coveredsoundbarthat

includesfivebuilt-inbuttons to makecalls,

adjustvolumeandmutethemic,plusa red

LEDtoshowthatyourmicismuted.

Weweredisappointedbythequalityof

thesoundbar.It’sokayforbackground

musicandfineforvoicecalls,butwehoped

formoredepth,especiallyatthisprice.

Wealsohopedformorefromthewebcam,

whichproved...curious.Onfirsttry,its

colours andquality werewoeful.Butthe

nextday,fornoapparentreason,it

performedwell;nomatchfora good-

qualityLogitechwebcam,asitstrugglesto

dealwithvaryinglightconditions, but

deliveringsharp,well-balanced 1 080p

visuals.Jekyll,meetHyde.

TheproblemforDellisthatit’sasking

severalhundredpoundsfortheC3422WE,

andthatmeanspeoplewilldemand

perfection.Thismonitorfallsshort.

SCORE SCORE

Tecadecreview:

theworkstation

inabox

“Workfromanywhere”hasbecomea

worn-outphrasethesepast 18 months,

butwhataboutwhenyoureallydoneed

toworkfromanywhere?Tecadechas

theanswer:aworkstationinabox.

Likeaself-assemblyITtransformer,

itturnsfromsuitcaseonwheelstodesk

withoutanyneedfortools:allyouneedto

doisopenthecase,removethescreen

(initsholder),slotthingsintoplaceand

ensureeverythingfitsfirmlytogether.

Theprocesstakeslessthanfiveminutes.

TheTecadecworksbestwitha 27in

screen.Anymonitorthathasa VESA 100

mountwillfit,oryoucanbuyitwitha

screenpre-fitted.There’sa holderfor

yourlaptoptoactasa secondscreento

theleft,plusa smallerholdertotheright.

Thiscouldbeforpapers,a tabletoryour

phone,leavingtheentire 640 x 400mm

topofthedeskfreeforyourkeyboard

andmouse.Anywirelesssetwilldothe

job,oryoucanordertheTecadecwitha

basicLogitechsetandhandytravelbag.

Downsides?Whileeverythingslots

togetherneatly,thereisinevitable

wobbleifyoutypevigorously;that’sthe

natureofplasticdesks,evencleverones.

We’dalsobetemptedtobuya wide

gamingmousematsothatyourarms

aren’trestingonplasticasyouwork.

Andnotethatthelaptopholderworks

bestifyourlaptop’sscreengoesalmost

flat,asshownbelow;otherwise,the

screenwillpointdownwards.

Althoughthepriceishigh,andthere

areniggles,theTecadecisanelegant

PRICEBareunit,£445(£534incVAT)

fromtecadec.com

SCORE

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