Can a few innovations make PC touchscreens practical? It seems so, with Dell's easy-to-use touchscreen ST2220T display.
One of the biggest drawbacks to touchscreen monitors is that it’s a pain to use them. As futuristic as it seems, poking at a screen in front of you is just awkward. After more than a few minutes it’s also very tiring, leading you to poke your greasy mitt into the screen way too hard and potentially damage something. While the Dell ST2220T doesn’t do anything new technologically, it has an innovative stand that makes the touchscreen actually useful.
While you can use it as a traditional or touchscreen monitor upright, you can also lay it over at any angle you please. Standing in front of a touchscreen at 30 degrees makes it actually pretty easy to use. You can even drop the Dell completely flat if needed. If I wasn’t so clumsy with hot drinks, I’d love one mounted in our coffee table.
Unlike lower-end offerings, the Dell has a high-quality 21.5in IPS panel that runs at a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080. It has an 8ms response time, a 1,000:1 contrast ratio and a 250cd/m² brightness. The extra wide 178-degree viewing angle on the IPS panels means colours are accurate even with the Dell positioned at any angle.
The ST2220T uses an optical touch system that offers a +/- 2.5mm accuracy. You can use your finger directly, though if you want to avoid smudges on the glossy screen a stylus over 7mm can also be used. We found accuracy very good, even when making use of Windows 7 multi-touch capabilities. Still, sometimes it was hard to hit a close button right in the corner of the screen.
Connectivity is handled by an HMDI port plus DVI and VGA connections as well as three USB ports. Small but acceptable speakers make the Dell totally multimedia-ready.
Available from Dell, retailing for $368.98.APC rating: 7/10