Looking For LCD screen and Printer (R200).

[Marty2003]

A friend of mine needs to buy a new LCD screen and printer and I'm trying to find the best value for the price.

He wants a 19" LCD. I'm currently looking at the Samsung 915N. All the specs are above average and the price is reasonable.

1:700 contrast ratio
8ms response time
300cd/m2
160 viewing angle.

The only thing that doesn't seem that great it that it has an analog connection rather than DVI. Does anyone know if an analog vs. digital connection will have a visible impact on image quality? It is really noticable to the casual user?

Also Samsung has a 10 dead-pixel policy which seems worrisome. Right now he has an older model 19" Samsung which was a store display model and hasn't had any problems with dead pixels. If we check the monitor at the store and it's dead-pixel free what are the chances of a pixel going dead in the long-term?



He's also looking for a general-purpose printer which can print decent photos. I'm thinking about the R200 which is about CAN$100 right now. It's a nice feature to have printable DVD's but I'm guessing he's probably never going to use that feature, so it's not really a necessity. How does the R200 do with photos on glossy photo paper? Can you see a lot of little dots in the photos if you look closely? Is the ink overpriced? Is it easy to find 3rd-party ink for the R200?

Does anyone have any suggestions for another cheap printer which is good for photos? Any brand recommendations?


Thnaks to everyone for the input.

[808smokey]

The only thing that doesn't seem that great it that it has an analog connection rather than DVI. Does anyone know if an analog vs. digital connection will have a visible impact on image quality? It is really noticable to the casual user?

As far as I know only a professional would notice any difference, us average Joes would never know

[Hardcoreruss]

I have two screens on my pc at home, the left is vga and the right is DVI.

You cannot tell the difference unless you REALLY look hard such as displaying black on both screens. The vga one seems a little bit greyer but nothing to worry about.

[Prot]

Digital is better since there is no refresh rate concerns, and is a bit easier on the eyes. I have a Viewsonic VP171b, and started with the analog, then switched over to the digital a few days later.
As far as quality of the picture, it is close to the same.

[Hardcoreruss]

Digital is better since there is no refresh rate concerns, and is a bit easier on the eyes. I have a Viewsonic VP171b, and started with the analog, then switched over to the digital a few days later.
As far as quality of the picture, it is close to the same.

Small world, the two screens I use on my main pc are the same make and model as yours.