22" monitor suggestions

[me-at-tomshardware]

Hi there,

I'm currently looking for a decent 22" monitor. My daily interaction with the monitor can be divided between 50% watching movies, playing games & 50% reading online books and authoring documents.

HDMI is not a requirement since if required I'd be using the DVI-HDMI connector. Which resolution would be better? 1080p or 1200p? Oh, and btw, my graphic card is 8600GT.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, TIA.

 

[TheViper]

Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 1680 x 1050 - $169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009145

Anything higher resolution and your graphics card will cry.

 

[cjl]

Dell 2209WA. Excellent image quality, solidly built, and only $260. It has an IPS panel, which is unheard of in that price range.

 

[TheViper]

Where is it $260? Dell is showing $299 and up.

 

[cjl]

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=320-7825&cs=04&c=us&l=en

(It's actually $270 - I remembered wrong. Still a hell of a deal though for the image quality)

 

[TheViper]

Ah, the index page doesn't show the $30 discount so I only saw $299.99.

 

[me-at-tomshardware]

> Anything higher resolution and your graphics card will cry.

Hm..that's news to me. After a bit of research I was actually aiming for one of Benq G2200HD, Samsung 2233SW or dell p2210. So is it that getting a 1080p display burn out my GPU?

> Dell 2209WA. Excellent image quality, solidly built, and only $260. It has an
> IPS panel, which is unheard of in that price range.

What exactly does differ between the IPS or the TN [twisted nematic I guess] panels? Though I normally do a lot of typing and reading, I'd really like a monitor on which I can enjoy movies with my family. Which panel would be good for that? Does that kind of panel come really expensive? If so, I guess I'm OK with a 21".

Thanks and looking forward to your suggestions, TIA.

 

[cjl]

The IPS has a much more consistent image across wide viewing angles, has higher color accuracy, and in general will look better. It's also more expensive to produce, and consumes a bit more power. They are typically $500 and up, but the Dell 2209WA is the exception, at $270. You can get it from the link that I posted above. It is the monitor that I would recommend above pretty much anything else for less than $400 or so.

As for the GPU comment, you won't burn out your GPU with too high of a resolution, but it may struggle. You probably would have to turn down your settings in order to get a good, playable experience. This will even be true at 1680x1050 in some of the more demanding games, but not to as great of a degree.