The HANNStar Corporation based in the Far East has begun to build a reputation for itself as a designer and producer of high quality, imaginatively created monitors where the accent is on the retro or nostalgia side of the market.

The eXquisite Measures (XM) series of LCD monitors is now being introduced into the UK and the company recently released the ‘New York' (which has a tough, sturdy, no-nonsense feel to it) and the ‘Boston'. The official view is that the Boston “features wood pattern, retro frame design” which is geared towards the person of “refined taste” and would perhaps fit very neatly into a dark wood-panelled study, office or library.

The only problem with this is that the surround isn't made of wood at all, but is just a plastic fascia over a standard 19-inch LCD. Surely someone of refined taste would have preferred the real deal? In addition, the LCD stand is made of modern cylindrical metal and the stark silver seems too urban and industrial in contrast with the supposed ‘country house' approach of the monitor surround.

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The other design flaw is in the stand itself. Adjusting the height is a cumbersome process that involves removing four screws from the back panel, then repositioning the monitor in one of two other preset options before fitting the screws back in again. Wouldn't it have been better to have arranged for the monitor to just slide up and down the central column at will? Also, the tilting action (to a mere 20 degrees maximum) operates very stiffly and has to be carried out by holding the base firmly if you don't want to cause accidents.

When it comes to the monitor display itself, though, it's quite a different story. There are four standard inputs at the back for D-Sub, DVI-D, a single audio jack and the power cable and the controls at the front are clearly marked, easy to access and include Auto, Volume, the On/Off button and the main menu.

The LCD display incorporates an anti-glare coating, features a decent enough 700:1 contrast ratio and 5ms response time and can achieve a maximum 1,440 x 900 HD resolution, so games and movies appear crisp and detailed.

Two 1.2W speakers are built into either side of the bottom front panel, so you will have a perfectly usable sound system for anything other than games or movies.

In terms of price, this is about the average position for LCD monitors of this type, so in the end it will probably come down to how 'refined' your taste is as to whether you go for this specific model...

A solid yet unexceptional 19-inch LCD monitor, let down by poor design in both style and function. More should have been spent on making the reality live up to the projected image.