Need advice for buying a new monitor

[doomdoomdoom]

Hello board,

Been looking around here a bit for DVD ripping tips, etc, but now I need some help with monitors, so I created an account.

Anyway, I'm in need of a new monitor. I recently purchased a new custom-built PC, but haven't had the chance or money to upgrade to a new monitor. I've been using this CRT since Christmas 2000 or so, which came with my pre-built HP Pavilion. Running Windows ME. Yeck.

So, it's time to upgrade.

I've been looking around Newegg a bit, and I've seen some interesting models. I'm not sure if I want to go with just larger size, or widescreen, or what... And I'm working on a budget. I'm a cheap arse, and wouldn't like to spend much more than 200 dollars, but seeing as that won't get me far, 250 is more ideal.

As far as specs go, 8ms is a MUST for this screen, but 5ms would be awesome. I'm thinking of leaning more towards widescreen, as I may try and connect a console to the monitor for a more incredible gaming experience. Video connectors a possibility, then. Native resolution doesn't matter.

One thing that bothers me though, is the thought of dead pixels. Being too much of a perfectionist, seeing one or two pixels that are out of place would drive me nucking futs. There are some "no deal pixel" guarantees out there, but people still have "still" pixel problems. Meh.

With all this information, could I get some serious feedback? PLEASE?!

Here's some of the monitors I was checking out at Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009083&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL07310...82E16824009083

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824138070

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824138064

Again, thanks people.

Doomy

[budz]

My suggestion is to buy a LCD monitor from a store instead of buying it online. Because NEWEGG has a dead pixel policy which means it has to have more than 8 dead pixels before they will accept a returned lcd monitor. So for instance if you have only 5 dead pixels on the lcd you won't be getting a refund/replacement. You'll have to go directly to the manufacturer for the replacement.

Buy a LCD monitor from a store like OFFICE DEPOT, COMPUSA, STAPLES, OFFICE MAX or BEST BUY. You can find good deals at those stores for the specs that you want. I bought a 19 inch LCD VIEWSONIC widescreen w/DVI & VGA port for a friend that only cost $200.00 after a $30.00 mail in rebate. A few weeks ago BEST BUY had a ACER 19inch widescreen LCD for $130.00 after a $90.00 instant rebate.

[GKar]

It took me a while to finally get my 2 ton CRT 21" pyramid brick off my desk, and I'm glad I did. Go LCD, you won't look back. I have 2 of them now, a 19" and a 17". both have a stuck pixel or 2 but you won't notice them most of the time unless you are on a black screen. They aren't a problem. The feedback on Newegg is a fairly reliable tool, I made most of my buys off there using it. My BenQ FP93GX 19" handles all my FPS games no problem and looks good even if it is not at native rez. High rez & native rez gamers need to make sure the video card they choose can handle it, I stay in the 1024x768 area so even my lowly GF7600GT PCIE can handle Quake4, Doom3 etc..sufficiently at near HQ settings. DVI connectivity seems to improve the experience also.

Budz is right, buy it locally for a test spin, at least you can take it back if it's not what you want.

[doomdoomdoom]

Buying it locally sounds good, but I'm looking for a good deal, and alot of good ones are online.

... And I actually do work with alot of black and darker colors, so stuck pixels would be a problem for me. Meh.

I'm really appreciating these replies. Keep them coming!

[FulciLives]

I bought a ViewSonic VX922 at CompUSA this past Christmas and it was $300 but right now the CompUSA website is listing it at about $267 which is a very impressive price for this great LCD monitor.

The ViewSonic VS922 is a 19" LCD with 2ms response time and a resolution of 1280x1024 and I am very happy with it.

Official ViewSonic link: CLICK HERE

CompUSA Link: CLICK HERE

Good luck with whatever you end up with!

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
No dead pixels here!

[videobread]

I go cheap. COMPUSA online usually has free shipping. I bought two Q19wb Optiquest (Viewsonic) 19" for $130 each. Also two Samsung SyncMaster 731BF 17" for $99 each. Works for me. Next best time to buy is Labor Day weekend. I watch their adds online daily. Any good deal is sold out within 24 hours. compusa.com I don't need high end specs.

[FulciLives]

I go cheap. COMPUSA online usually has free shipping. I bought two Q19wb Optiquest (Viewsonic) 19" for $130 each. Also two Samsung SyncMaster 731BF 17" for $99 each. Works for me. Next best time to buy is Labor Day weekend. I watch their adds online daily. Any good deal is sold out within 24 hours. compusa.com I don't need high end specs.

If you are a big enough geek such as myself then you spend a lot of time in front of your computer monitor. So called "high end specs" are therefor very important.

I care about the quality of the image and the quality of my eyes.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[doomdoomdoom]

If you are a big enough geek such as myself then you spend a lot of time in front of your computer monitor. So called "high end specs" are therefor very important.

I care about the quality of the image and the quality of my eyes.

QFT

I've been looking around sites, and I found this one Acer monitor that has my attention. Can't find it at Newegg though, so I'm guessing it might be an older monitor.

eBay link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140144048272&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=004

It's the real deal - I've checked out Acer's site, which by the way, I can't find a dead pixel policy on. Meh.

Most anywhere I see this monitor, it's priced at under 200 dollars American, which makes me happy.

More feedback is great - keep it coming! Thanks, people!

EDIT - just saw this bad boy at Staples: http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StaplesProductDisplay?ts=118612945332...CG4:grin:P2000 Huh? HUH?

[stiltman]

Best LCD I've owned Dell 1905FP I'm not a gammer, but for photo/video editing and plain text it's been awsome

[doomdoomdoom]

Well, I opted for the one day deal at Staples.com - how can you pass up a 22" monitor for 200 bucks?!

Thanks to everyone for the input, especially you, budz. I didn't even THINK about Staples, because I don't believe we have one around...

5ms response time on widescreen... drool... no ghosting for me.

[MJA]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8357645&st=8357645&type=product&id=11771...D1177112670706


http://www.techbargains.com/cheaplcdmonitor.cfm


The Dell 22in LCD Monitor E228WFP with 3yr warranty isn't bad at all

[edong]

Well, I opted for the one day deal at Staples.com - how can you pass up a 22" monitor for 200 bucks?!

It's a good one. I bought one at Best Buy for $189 a couple of months ago. My HD mpeg2 home video looks great on this. I also have a 19" model of this brand. Can't complain.

[videobread]

Their is not much difference in monitors but the price. I'm very satisfied with my Viewsonic Otiquest Q19wb's for $130. I got a great deal on a great monitor. They are now going for $190. compusa.com has free shipping!

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=BROWSE&N=200011&product_code=344441

Picture quality is great. The case is not oversized so they are great for a dual monitor edit bay. The resolution is great at 1440 x 900.

I'm probably just as big a computer geek as FulciLives and my eyes are doing fine. Monitors are about size, pricing and brand/quality. Viewsonic is quality and I shop for price.

There really are no high end specs, just smoke and mirrors. Any Viewsonic monitor sold today is a great unit. I don't pay for refresh rate because I am not a professional animator. I puy my money in my Nvidia Quadro FX 3000 video card.

(Also, I would never buy a refurbished monitor.)

[incrediblej]

I would definately go for WIDESCREEN (so it will last for years to come, as widescreen is the new 'version' of aspect for dvd, and will be for all), and also LCD if u have enough moolah. A Brand, well it does'nt really matter i have found, just something that does what you want it too, brands dont matter, i am in the import/export industry and believe it or not over 80% of the monitors are made in the same facory and are identical except for the brand stuck on the front.

[Firewire60]

I am in OZ and just bought a 22in Widescreen Benq FP222W for $345 Au dollars.
Would be less for you at a similar PC discount chain. I never buy online. If the ViewEra 22in. is $240 Benq probably similar price. We do not have ViewEra label in Oz.

There are several 22in WS monitors of this similar price and picture quality. They mostly have the CHiMei panel. I am not sure about panel in this Benq.

This Benq 22in WS is an excellent panel for the money. If you can stretch your dollars to get this one certainly audition it. It is 1680x1050 and 6 bit and 5 ms. Good even illumination, no dead pixels and is used in engineering offices for hours continuously and found to be good for this.

These 22in are a great price. The 24in panels such as Dell may be 8 bit (not 6 bit) but are much more expensive and not much bigger and display is only slightly better.

Benq unfortunately has a poor dead pixel policy but I bought if for the neat black bezel and quality of the picture.

[J. Baker]

Hey guys, I've had a couple of lcd's and there's always a brightness at the top or bottom. This bothered me when trying to get the correct colors or brightness when creating art, animation or video editing. So I'm using my crt now. Are there any lcd's that have true brightness or black levels?

[Epicurus8a]

Whatever you decide to purchase, make sure you can have it repaired locally. If repairs are needed, shipping it off to a repair center is time consuming and expensive.

[Firewire60]

J Baker,

The 22in WS Benq I described above has very little bleeding of the backlight at the edges but I tend to prefer lower brightness and contrast settings so this bleeding is not at all noticeable to me in daylight or under light at night and illumination is quite uniform. With my preferred settings this is the first time I have seen an LCD panel that approaches the appearance of a cathode ray tube monitor.

I have tried it briefly playing a DVD movie and did a good job with nice colours.
It is much better with movie colours than a 19in WS Viewsonic LCD 5 ms monitor that I have that I bought last year but all panels are getting better each year.

Just a few thoughts.

[J. Baker]

J Baker,

The 22in WS Benq I described above has very little bleeding of the backlight at the edges but I tend to prefer lower brightness and contrast settings so this bleeding is not at all noticeable to me in daylight or under light at night and illumination is quite uniform. With my preferred settings this is the first time I have seen an LCD panel that approaches the appearance of a cathode ray tube monitor.

I have tried it briefly playing a DVD movie and did a good job with nice colours.
It is much better with movie colours than a 19in WS Viewsonic LCD 5 ms monitor that I have that I bought last year but all panels are getting better each year.

Just a few thoughts.

Thanks Firewire60, I'll have to look into Benq then.

[videobread]

Got my two Samsung SyncMaster 731BF 17" LCD's in from compusa.com. WOW! What a deal. I paid $99 each with free shipping. 2 ms reponse time. They are not wide screen, but I only use them as monitors on burning workstations. Now they are going for $200.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=BROWSE&N=200011&product_code=344271

Labor Day weekend is the next best time to buy. I'm in the market for a big monitor. I have found that Labor Day pricing is better than turkey day and Xmas and new years. Sometimes the best pricing is days before or after the holiday itself. I watch the compusa.com site daily. The Samsung's sold out within 24's which is the norm on a deal. I have seen Best Buy raise prices on the holiday weekend. I swear by compusa.com for computer stuff. Good luck shopping.

(By the way, just picked up a second Nvidia Quadro FX 3000 for $65 delivered. I'm always shopping parts.)

[MJA]

bestbuy this week got the Westinghouse 22" for $179.free pickup

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1170290375913&skuId=8268466&type=product

[edDV]

Anyone have feedback on the 22" Samsung 226BW? On sale at Staples for $319 after $30 rebate. I have another $40 store credit I can use.

This is the best review I've found
http://www.behardware.com/articles/667-1/samsung-226bw-a-and-s-series-the-verdict.html

One nice feature is it supports HDCP over DVI-D (i.e. will play encrypted HD/BD discs).

[MJA]

three versions? thats like playing lottery .lol

[aedipuss]

i've been using it's little brother the 206w 21" for a week now. nice lcd. just not as nice as the sony 21" crt it replaced. i just can't get used to the slower refresh - in fast games it gives me headaches even though at 2ms there isn't any lcd faster.

[edDV]

three versions? thats like playing lottery .lol

Staples was good about it. They verified it was an "S" for Samsung panel before I bought.

[videobread]

$130 at Best Buy - Westinghouse 19" Widescreen Flat-Panel LCD Monitor Model: L1975NW

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8268527&type=product&id=1170290376114&re...=07-29423046-2

I was pricing the Canon GL2 and found multiple sites listing it for $619? Sounded too good to be true. Found this great site which rates sellers:

http://www.resellerratings.com/

Thank God for the internet. The $619 sellers are all frauds.

Also found the $130 19" Westinghouse and a 22" Westinghouse for $180.

The resellerratings site is a great resource!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[edDV]

Pleasant surprise !

The Samsung 226BW, a 22" computer monitor with HDCP on DVI-D accepts 1280x720p directly from my Comcast HD cable box over DVI-D and displays as upscaled 1680x1050 in proper aspect ratio but with about 5% overscan. The Motorola 6200 HD cable box can be set to scale all channels to square pixel 720p out. 4:3 material appears properly with side pillars.

I tried this with my non-HDCP Viewsonic LCD monitor and the cable box shut down displaying "HDCP" on the front LED panel.


PS: Actually the aspect ratio is slightly tall. 16:9 would be 1680x945. The 226BW displays as 1680x1050.