Review oF Viewsonic VSD220

Review oF Viewsonic VSD220

Touch technology has assimilated all manner of mobile devices. Phones, tablets and latterly laptops with tablet-convertible functionality, it's all powered touch technology

Enter the new Viewsonic VSD220. It's also a fully functional Android device complete with the 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich revision of Google's operating system, wireless connectivity and 8GB of flash memory. And all for just £330. Sounds like a steal.

Android
 

Much of that is down to the combination of the mediocre TI OMAP4 dual-core processor and the large 1,920 x 1,080 pixel grid. It makes for frequently sluggish performance and occasionally painful slowdowns.That applies to everything from demanding web content and third party apps to some of the native Google apps. Even Google Maps feels fairly reluctant.

But even with a more powerful processor, things wouldn't be perfect. For starters, Android Ice Cream Sandwich may not be ancient, but it does feel dated and unfinished.It also makes for an unsatisfactory browsing experience. Web pages that are capable of detecting mobile operating systems based on browser technology immediately assume you're viewing on a smartphone or tablet and serve up a dumbed down experience.

Admittedly most allow you to switch to the full desktop version. But even here, pages are scaled up as they would be on a tablet. In other words, despite 22-inch diagonal and generous resolution, web pages feel cramped and the scaled-up images are blurry.

                                                                               

Performance









For the most part, the Viewsonic VSD220 is a conventional 22-inch TN panel in the modern idiom. That means colours are rich and saturated and the overall image quality is good.It performs well enough in our test images, with little evidence of compression in either black or white scales.

Admittedly, IPS technology makes for better colour accuracy and viewing angles. And PVA panels have significantly deeper blacks. And by TN standards the pixel response is pretty ordinary.

But this is a pretty decent panel overall. HD video content looks lovely and games look great, too. The recessed bezel housing the optical touch kit doesn't detract from the experience, either. Just bear in mind that with the touch capability comes a glossy, somewhat reflective surface and, inevitably, dirty finger marks.