Planar Helium PCT2235 review

If you’re looking for a great touch screen monitor but don’t want to spend serious cash, then check out our Planar Helium PCT2235 review.

Planar Helium PCT2235 review
(Image: © Planar)

Top Ten Reviews Verdict

If you’ve got the cash, there are better looking and better performing touch screen monitors on the market, but if value is your goal then the Planar Helium PCT2235 offers touch screen capabilities at a bargain price.

Pros

  • +

    Inexpensive

  • +

    Minimal screen bezel

  • +

    Touch screen works well

Cons

  • -

    Poorly placed buttons

  • -

    Utilitarian design

  • -

    Awkward to adjust viewing angle

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Touch screen monitors are typically more expensive than their conventional counterparts, but the Planar Helium PCT2235 is an interesting option for people who want to add the technology to their desktop PC. But if you’re looking for one of the best touch screen monitors on the market in terms of sheer value, then the Planar Helium PCT2235 has to be in the conversation.

Prices for the Planar Helium PCT2235 seem to vary wildly between retailers though, so it’s worth shopping around to find the best deals. You can currently find the Planar Helium PCT2235 for just $189.99 on Amazon, but the same monitor will set you back $322.37 on Newegg

 Planar Helium PCT2235 review: Design

  • Functional, but simplistic stand
  • Virtually no screen bezel

The Planar Helium PCT2235 has a U-shaped stand attached to the back of the monitor, which can be adjusted with a tilt range of 55 degrees. This isn’t as flexible as some of the other touch screen monitors out there, but the stand can be folded away to let the screen lie flat on your surface if you prefer. It’s not flashy or impressive, but it’s functional.

There is no large bezel like we found on the Acer T232HL, which is both a blessing and a curse. We thought that the bezel on the Acer T232HL was ugly, but the lack of bezel on the Planar Helium PCT2235 means that it can be a little awkward to use the touchscreen when it’s upright. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t it seems.

The monitor’s flexibility made it one of the most practical touchscreens we reviewed.

At 21.5-inches, the Planar Helium PCT2235 is on the smaller side of the touch screen monitors that we tested. It’s also a bit of pain to adjust the viewing angle of the screen, which is to be expected given the rather simplistic kickstand. if you need something a little bigger, another Planar model we reviewed, the Planar Helium PCT2485, might suit your needs.

Planar Helium PCT2235 review: Screen quality

  • Full HD touch screen
  • Slow response rate means it’s poor for gaming

When it comes to the screen itself, the Planar Helium PCT2235 is a bit of a mixed bag. The color accuracy was excellent, and far outstripped that of the Acer T232HL, our top pick, But sadly, the response time was down at 14 milliseconds, making it the slowest responding touch screen we tested. This means it’s not great for gaming, where a fast response time can be important. Touchscreens tend to have slower response times than standard monitors, but even by those standards, the Planar Helium PCT2235 is slow.

It was easy to adjust the on-screen display controls to give the Planar PCT2235 better color accuracy.

The screen itself has a full HD resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and a 50/60Hz refresh rate along with ten-point multi-touch interactivity, which means that the screen can identify up to ten different inputs at once.

Planar Helium PCT2235 review: Usability

  • Buttons get in the way during use
  • HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB 2.0

Annoyingly, the OSD buttons which let you adjust the screens settings (brightness, contrast, etc.) are located on the front of the screen, in the bottom right corner. During testing, our reviewers managed to accidentally bump these buttons several times due to the awkward placement.

The Planar Helium PCT2235 has both a HDMI and a DisplayPort hookup, as well as an analog VGA port. There are several USB ports on the screen too, but they’re only USB 2.0 so files transfer speeds will be slower when using the Planar Helium PCT2235 compared to newer devices.

Should you buy the Planar Helium PCT2235?

If you’re looking for a touch screen monitor and price is your primary concern, then the Planar Helium PCT2235 is probably the best choice out there. The screen works well enough and the design is sturdy, if a little utilitarian. There are better options out there, if you’re willing to spend a bit extra though.

Jessica Richards

Jessica Richards is a former writer for Top Ten Reviews. She graduated with a master’s degree in English from Weber State University, where she now teaches. You'll find her bylines across a number of articles concerning software, especially when it comes to typing software. She has also written about grammar checker software packages too.