24" LCD Roundup

Gateway FHD2400 Specifications and Appearance

The Gateway FHD2400 is similar to the Dell 2408WFP in some ways: you get a bevy of input options and a fully functional stand. Move beyond that areas and there are plenty of differences. First, like the ASUS MK241H the FHD2400 uses a TN panel. Unlike all of the other LCDs in this roundup, the Gateway includes a glossy panel. You can easily see reflections in the LCD, particularly when it's off or showing dark content in a well-lit room, but in normal use it's not much of a problem. In fact, we can stop right now for those of you that like glossy displays: this is a great 24" LCD and definitely gets our recommendation for the glossy club. (However, there are a few other caveats that we will get to shortly.)

Gateway doesn't offer quite as many input options as Dell, but then we imagine the vast majority of users will only use one input anyway. Still, you get HDMI and DVI digital inputs, VGA for analog computer use, and component video in case you want to use the display as an HDTV. (Does anyone actually still use S-Video or composite inputs?)

In some ways, the Gateway stand is the best of the bunch today. It has two small wheels on the bottom that allow you to rotate the display 360° -- and beyond as long as you manage to keep the cables out of the way. You need quite a large surface area to do this, but then most people will be okay swiveling the display 20 or 30° to the left or right. The aspect that we truly appreciate with the Gateway stand is that it offers 5" of height adjustment. Why is that important? It allows you to easily pivot the display into portrait mode, and you won't find us complaining about an extra inch in height adjustment. Even if you don't use the portrait mode, the pivot function proves to be extremely convenient when connecting or disconnecting cables -- we definitely missed it on the two LCDs that don't pivot. Similar to the Dell display, the stand also has a cutout in the center that can be used for cable management.

Based purely on appearance, we would rate the Gateway FHD2400 has the best-looking LCD of the bunch. That's a completely subjective opinion, of course, but a silver stand and accents with the glossy LCD panel are definitely eye-catching. Like ASUS, Gateway does put something of a blemish on the exterior by including a large marketing sticker in the bottom-right corner listing the various features, but take that off and you're left with an elegant LCD.