Need New Monitor-Any Suggestions?

[OAG]

Well after 7 years my CRT 21 Inch Monitor is starting to act up. Does a unsolicited Degauss about every 4 minutes and sometimes just does a series of them. Had to hook up a really old (9 years) 17 Inch CRT that was lying around. Looking to go to a LCD/TFT at 22 Inch. Have seen some in the $300 range - Samsung - Gateway - HP and Toshiba. Anyone recently purchased one they like? (I do have a Video Card that will support one - ATI/AMD Radeon X1300).

[peggy]

I bought a Samsung SyncMaster 940B a while back and love it.

[wabmester]

Samsung makes some of the best panels, IMO. If you can afford a little more, get this 24" beauty from Dell:

2407WFP

I have the previous version of this LCD, and it is the brightest, cleanest, fastest high-res panel I've ever used. And I've used a bunch of them. Lots of useful input ports, too.

[JB]

Think about whether you want a wide aspect ratio or a traditional 4:3 monitor. The wide aspect ratios are dominant now. I have a Samsung Syncmaster 191T that's worked great for almost 3 years. Also pay attention to the native resolution relative to the monitor size. You probably want the highest resolution that you can get while keeping things at a readable size.

[JohnP]

OAG - This week Staples has 17" LCD special buy for $159 AR (After Rebate) and 19" LCD for $179 AR. They also have a 22" LCD for $250 AR.

Check out this link - 17 & 19"

Check this link for 22"

These will let you recover the deskspace that the 21" CRT took and should be nice performers. DS has an IBM 21" CRT for gaming - it takes a lot of space!

JohnP





MODERATOR EDIT: Shortened URLs

[Non sequitur]

I bought this one on sale last year and it has workrd well.

http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/.../imagePopup.do

[wabmester]

Some aspects about LCDs are subjective matters of taste, like wide-screen vs 4:3 aspect. But there are quantitative differences between panels as well, so a side-by-side comparison is always useful.

Make sure you're getting an LCD with a DVI input. It just doesn't make much sense to drive a digital display with an analog signal.

Response time and panel technology will dictate whether the panel has a "ghosting" effect after fast changes.

The backlight should be bright and even.

The LCD should obviously be free of stuck or dead pixels, and the anti-glare coating shouldn't cause any weird artifacts (like moire patterns). Some panels are available with glossy coatings as well -- some people like them.

Color rendition varies considerably across panels. Samsung LCDs tend to run warm, which I like. LG's tend to run cold (colorwise).

The larger the panel, the hotter it'll run (mostly due to the backlight and inverter). Avoid LCDs with noisy inverters.

Go with at least 1920x1200 resolution if you get a >20" display unless you have really bad eyesight, in which case a lower-res/larger-font might be appropriate.

Different viewing angles, both veritcal and horizontal, to consider as well. And consider the available inputs if you plan to hook different devices up.

Like I said, the Dell 24" is superb in all of these areas. I've heard that the Dell 30" is even better, but that's a BIG monitor and requires a lot of videocard horsepower.

[OAG]

Thanks everyone, especially WAB, and those that sent links. I think I will go with one of the Staples units (have to go see) or the Samsung 226BW via Buy.com. Thanks again, this site is great!

[Nords]

Originally Posted by JB

I have a Samsung Syncmaster 191T that's worked great for almost 3 years.

I'm about to plug one of those in. How do you like the ability to rotate the display from landscape to portrait? Any other surprises?

Originally Posted by wab

Make sure you're getting an LCD with a DVI input. It just doesn't make much sense to drive a digital display with an analog signal.

It has both DVI and analog video inputs, which tempts me to plug the Mac Mini into the DVI and the PC into the AVI. But that's probably a very bad idea without some sort of break-before-make switch in the middle. I guess that's what KVM switches are for.

I'll run them side-by-side for a while but eventually, due to space constraints, I'm going to have to choose between the Sony and the Samsung. Both have the same display area but the Samsung actually takes up less space.

[calmloki]

Just saw a 22" lcd at Costco for about $250 - looked like a goodun.

[TromboneAl]

I'm selling my 18" Viewsonic LCD monitor for $130 on Craigslist -- no interest, so I'll probably drop the price to $90.

Now might be a good time to consider buying a laptop. I'd never go back to a desktop after my switch.

[Michael Moore]

If you go LCD make sure you are comfortable looking at it when it is running at the "native resolution".

So far, I've found that tends to be too tiny for my comfort level. But they seem to have the quality of the image degrade as you move off of that "ideal" spot.

So I'm sticking with my dual 19" CRTs for now.

cheers,
Michael

[JB]

Originally Posted by Nords

I'm about to plug one of those in. How do you like the ability to rotate the display from landscape to portrait? Any other surprises?
It has both DVI and analog video inputs, which tempts me to plug the Mac Mini into the DVI and the PC into the AVI. But that's probably a very bad idea without some sort of break-before-make switch in the middle. I guess that's what KVM switches are for.

I'll run them side-by-side for a while but eventually, due to space constraints, I'm going to have to choose between the Sony and the Samsung. Both have the same display area but the Samsung actually takes up less space.

I tested out the rotation function when I first got the monitor, but never found a use for it so I removed the software. The Samsung has been trouble free and the video quality is good. I've used the DVI input as well as VGA. Using both at the same time is no problem.

If you have two computers with two monitors you may find Synergy useful. It's free open source software that allows you to share a keyboard and mouse amoung two computers. One computer acts as the serverand the other a client. To switch you just move the mouse over to the other screen. You can configure the screens left/right, or top/bottom. Just make sure the computers are behind a firewall.

[OAG]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions on the new monitor. Just wanted to let everyone know I found a good one it is a SAMSUNG model 226BW (S-version). Purchased on-line and arrived in 3 days. Good price ($20 rebate and $30 new VISA sign-up bonus). Total cost including sales tax will be $299. Wide screen (22 inch) and it came with BOTH the VGA D-Sub cable and the DVI-Digital cable (Note that most of the information available for this monitor says the DVI cable is NOT included). Saved a few bucks by the DVI cable being in the box.

Again thanks for the input regarding a monitor.

[Mwsinron]

Just purchased a MultiSync 90GX2 19 inc LCD. It has a great picture for gaming and desktop stuff.


Oop seen you already bought one..