Shuttle XP17 Lite

An impressive display that's made to travel

Shuttle is a pioneer of small formfactor boxes and the brand remains a favorite of LAN party enthusiasts, so the XP17 Lite is an obvious companion piece to the popular wee gaming PCs. Like those machines, the XP17 Lite LCD sports a sleek, stylish, high-tech aesthetic. The 17-inch screen is encased in a glassy, acrylic pane, so the unit’s face is totally slick and seamless. But there’s a downside to all the gloss. The shiny bauble of a monitor is distractingly reflective.

This was immediately apparent when we fired up DisplayMate’s (www.displaymate.com) Dark Screen, which is meant to evaluate an LCD’s black levels. Far from black, the screen held mirror images of our lovely mugs and our Lab surroundings. And in DM’s gray-scale screens, we had trouble discerning the dark grays from true black unless we viewed the screen off axis. At the light end of the gray scale, the display fared much better. (After receiving our review unit, Shuttle released Temp AG and Temp AR versions of the monitor, which feature tempered anti-glare and anti-reflective screens, respectively, so those are probably better options).

Serif fonts appear crisp and clearly legible at 9-point, and the XP17’s performance in Need for Speed: Underground—our fast-motion game test—was perfectly acceptable, even with the resolution interpolated to 800x600.

As for transportability, the XP17’s handle is sturdy and comfortable enough, and the stand that’s attached to the monitor’s frame lets you rotate the screen and/or slightly adjust its uprightness, but sorely lacking is any kind of protective carrying case. Shuttle offers one as an after-market accessory, but we think it’s fundamental to any monitor meant for travel. --Katherine Stevenson

+ Personalized luggage: Slick aesthetic, super bright screen, and made to travel

- Personal baggage: Reflection issues, no protective cover

Month Reviewed: May 2005
Verdict: 9
URL: www.shuttle.com