Acer PD243Y E review: This dual-panel 24-inch monitor is much more portable than you might imagine

The idea of a portable monitor with dual 24-inch panels sounds a bit silly. But the Acer PD243Y E Portable Monitor makes the idea work surprisingly well thanks to compact proportions, tolerable weight and excellent ergonomics. So, it's a pity that the screens are only 1080p resolution.

Pros

+Surprisingly portable

+Excellent ergonomics

+Lots of real-world use cases

Cons

-Only 1080p per screen

-No USB-C power delivery

-No HDR support

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Think portable PC monitor and something pretty puny probably comes to mind. What you're probably not imaging is folding contraption with dual 24-inch 1080p displays. What you probably didn't think of is the extraordinary Acer PD243Y E Portable Monitor.

It's immediately obvious that the term "portable" is being used pretty liberally by this unusual dual-screen monitor. You're not going to be slipping it into a small bag with your 13-inch thin-and-light laptop.

However, it is much more compact and transportable than a typical 24-inch PC monitor, let alone a pair of them. So, it's not designed to be taken to the coffee shop, even if that isn't actually out of the question if you could put up with the attention you'd surely attract.

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Instead, the Acer PD243Y E Portable Monitor makes more sense for someone wanting, perhaps, to take an additional screen with them on a long trip or for work presentations, that sort of thing. And for those kinds of remits, the basic ergonomics make sense. But what about the features and performance? Time to find out.

Acer PD243Y E: Design and features

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Surprisingly portable for a dual 24-inch display

Clever hinge and ergonomics

No USB-C power delivery

Specs

Panel size: Dual 24-inch

Panel type: IPS

Resolution: Dual 1,920 x 1,080

Brightness: 250 nits

Contrast: 800:1

Pixel response: 4ms

Refresh rate: 100Hz

Color coverage: 72% NTSC

HDR: No

VESA: 100mm x 100mm

Connectivity: HDMI 1.4 x1, 2x USB-C

We'll come to the performance of the Acer PD243Y E Portable Monitor's dual 24-inch panels momentarily. But the real novelty here involves packaging them into something relatively portable.

OK, you're not going to sling this dual-24-inch contraption into your shoulder bag. But Acer has done a good job of keeping the chassis compact and the bezels slim. All told, it weighs in at 4.4kg, which really is pretty impressive given the sheer amount of screen on offer.

The ergonomics are clever, too. The two screens are attached via a sturdy hinge which folds around over 300 degrees. Combined with a kickstand on the lower panel, you can arrange the displays in a variety of configurations, including vertically stacked or tent mode. The latter setup could be handy for making presentations and screen sharing.

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Incidentally, the displays automatically reorient in Windows when you fold into tent mode and both panels run off a single USB-C connection. However, all of that only applies to Windows. Support for Apple Macs is more limited. A MacBook Air, for instance, can only drive one external display, so won't output to both panels.

Speaking of connectivity, there's a single HDMI input and two USB-C ports. Either of later can be used for powering the displays via the included adapter or video input. Sadly, however, neither provides power-out. So, you can't, for instance, hook up a laptop via USB-C and both drive the display and keep the laptop charged.

That's a bit of a pity because it increases cable clutter. You'll need two power adapters, one for your laptop and one for this display, for long-duration use. What's more, all the ports are located on one side of the lower display. Ideally, at least one USB-C on the other side to give you more cable management options would have been welcome.

Acer PD243Y E: Performance

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Relatively low resolution

No HDR support

Good viewing angles

Dual 24-inch displays undeniably provide a huge amount of physical screen real estate in the context of a portable monitor. But usable screen space also depends on resolution, and here the Acer PD243Y E Portable Monitor is less impressive.

The 24-inch panels are native 1080p or 1,920 by 1,080 pixels. That kind of resolution would be pretty low spec these days on a 15-inch laptop, let alone panels this size, even if the comparison with conventional desktop monitors is probably more apt.

Anyway, the point is that, physically, these screens have plenty of space to run two app windows per panel and thus four across the two displays. But because of the relatively low resolution, you may find limitations in that regard. You only have 960 horizontal pixels each for two two app windows on one panel, for instance.

But whatever your metric, 1080p certainly isn't a huge resolution when applied to a 24-inch in terms of pixel density, too. That means fonts look pretty rough and the image detail just isn't terribly sharp.

In other regards, these displays are tolerable but inferior to what you'd expect from a conventional display, be that a desktop monitor or laptop panel. Peak brightness is 250 nits, which means they struggle a bit in really bright ambient light, and there's no HDR support at all.

That said, they do support 100Hz refresh and so feel fairly responsive, and the basic calibration is decent. Thanks to IPS panel tech, the viewing angles are good too, which will be appreciated for presentations and screen sharing.

Acer PD243Y E: Final verdict

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There's a lot to like about the Acer PD243Y E Portable Monitor. It's surprisingly portable for something that offers dual 24-inch displays making it usable in a pretty wide array of contexts.

The ergonomics and build quality are good, too. The hinge and kick stand offer a wide range of configuration options both for personal use and for presentations or screen sharing. In those regards, this dual-screen monitor could be an extremely useful tool. The connectivity on offer via HDMI and USB-C is reasonable, too.

The quality of the panels is mostly acceptable, too. OK, the IPS panels only hit 250 nits, and there's no HDR support. But the colours and calibration are good enough for a portable monitor setup.

What isn't so impressive is the 1080p-per-panel resolution. It somewhat limits the utility of the Acer PD243Y E Portable Monitor in terms of multitasking and it definitely has an obvious impact on image clarity and text crispness.

If this display was 1440p per panel it would make for a pretty fantastic proposition for all round usage, including productivity work. As it is with dual-1080p, the appeal is narrowed somewhat. As a device for presentation and screen sharing, 1080p will often be just fine. But if you were hoping to use this dual-display contraption for, say, video editing or day trading while travelling, the low resolution is a bit of a pity.

For more displays, we've reviewed the best business monitors and the best portable monitors.

Contributor

Technology and cars. Increasingly the twain shall meet. Which is handy, because Jeremy (Twitter) is addicted to both. Long-time tech journalist, former editor of iCar magazine and incumbent car guru for T3 magazine, Jeremy reckons in-car technology is about to go thermonuclear. No, not exploding cars. That would be silly. And dangerous. But rather an explosive period of unprecedented innovation. Enjoy the ride.

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