Gateway has come along ways in regards to the way their products look. Gone are the days of the gold trim, and the FPD2185 is a step in the right direction, but improvements could be made. We like that everything is black on the monitor and the new Gateway logo is a nice touch. The oval base looks and feels a little cheap but its large size helps keep the monitor feeling stable while you pivot or swivel the screen. There are controls for accessing the menu, PiP, input selection and an auto setting button, located on the right side of the monitor as well as two USB ports. Putting the controls on the side help to give the FPD2185 a very clean look. Gateway chose to go with a faux carbon fiber pattern on the sides of the monitor which sort of remind us of an 80’s Pontiac, we could certainly go without it, but since it’s a dark pattern it thankfully doesn’t really stand out much. 

The edges of the FPD2185 are smooth and rounded with very thin bezels which help give an upper-scale impression. We like that the bezels are thin because that means you can set multiple monitors side-by-side for added workspace without having too large of a gap between them.

We found the FPD2185 to be a very flexible monitor – literally. You can adjust the vertical height to a little over 4-inches and the screen tilts back about 20 degrees and swivels about 40 degrees in either direction. The screen also pivots into portrait mode, which is great for graphic designers and those that use CAD programs. In fact the FPD2185 can even tilt back while the LCD is in portrait mode, and that’s not something you see from most monitors. 

What really makes the FPD2185 a unique monitor is the inclusion of DCDi technology by Faroudja. This technology helps with video smoothing on the composite/RCA and S-Video inputs. So if you plan on hooking your satellite or cable TV up to the FPD2185 you can expect a better looking picture. There are a number of inputs on the back of the FPD2185 which should appeal to a large number of people. They include: S-Video, Composite, Component Video, Analog VGA and Digital Video Interface (DVI). One major caveat to be aware of though; Gateway does not ship the FPD2185 with a DVI cable, so expect to pay around $35 or more for a nice quality cable. Component video cables are also missing.

If you decide that you do not want to add huge speakers to your system setup, Gateway sells a speaker set which latches on to the under carriage of the FPD2185 while still maintaining a nice clean look. 

The FPD2185 comes with a standard resolution of 1,680 x 1,050 and supports an HDCP compatible DVI input for high definition signals like what you would get from an up-converting DVD player, or an ATSC tuner.

The FPD2185 comes with a 1 year warranty which is pretty skimpy compared to the 3-year warranties you would find from others like HP or Samsung. 

image Courtesy of Gateway