Dual Gaming Monitors

[Myriddan]

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next month or two

Budget Range: $300-$500 after rebates

Monitor Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, watching movies, surfing web

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon, Newegg, TigerDirect

Country of Origin: US

Brand Preferences: ASUS

Physical Size (Diagonal): 24", but will consider 22"+ if reason is provided

Resolution(s) You'll Consider: 1920x1080 or greater

Computers and Other Devices To Attach: 1 Desktop (2x dvi), PS3 (hdmi), XBOX 360 (hdmi)

Panel Type(s) Desired: Probably TN due to response times and price

LED Backlight: Indifferent

Speakers: Indifferent (I have a 5.1 surround sound)

Wall-Mount: Indifferent

Stand Functions: Need height and tilt adjustment, Prefer swivel, and pivot adjustment as well

Additional Comments: 2 GTG response time preferred but not required, will consider IPS displays if you can convince me the price and better color is worth it. Definitely prefer the ability to plug my XBOX and PS3 into the monitors as well

 

[MauveCloud]

Okay, one extra question I have to ask here: do you need to be able to plug both the PS3 and the XBox 360 into the same monitor, or would one connected to each be okay? Monitors with multiple HDMI inputs and monitors with full stand functionality are a lot more expensive, so you may need to handle those separately, something like this:
2x Asus VH242H:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052
2x monitor stand:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824994001
1x HDMI switch (unless you're willing to connect one game console to each monitor):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812197007

 

[Myriddan]

Okay, one extra question I have to ask here: do you need to be able to plug both the PS3 and the XBox 360 into the same monitor, or would one connected to each be okay? Monitors with multiple HDMI inputs and monitors with full stand functionality are a lot more expensive, so you may need to handle those separately, something like this:
2x Asus VH242H:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052
2x monitor stand:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824994001
1x HDMI switch (unless you're willing to connect one game console to each monitor):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812197007

I looked at the VH242's two years ago, are they still worth getting? I've seen newer ones from ASUS at around that price?

I don't need the PS3 or XBOX 360 plugged into the same monitor, and I don't mind swapping cables if necessary. I haven't decided if I'm actually going to move them from the TV if I do get the monitors, I just want that option available. As for monitor adjustment, tilt is the most important to me. Height adjustment is preferred as well, but I could live without it. The others are useful but not required.

 

[MauveCloud]

I looked at the VH242's two years ago, are they still worth getting? I've seen newer ones from ASUS at around that price?

I don't need the PS3 or XBOX 360 plugged into the same monitor, and I don't mind swapping cables if necessary. I haven't decided if I'm actually going to move them from the TV if I do get the monitors, I just want that option available. As for monitor adjustment, tilt is the most important to me. Height adjustment is preferred as well, but I could live without it. The others are useful but not required.

The VH242s were just a suggestion to keep things within budget when also buying the stands and an hdmi switch. I understand the requirement for tilt, and I haven't seen a monitor without it. Swivel seems silly to me for a 24 inch or smaller monitor, since you can easily pick up and turn the monitor stand and all. Height can be compensated with a cheap plastic monitor riser under the stand, unless you need to repeatedly adjust the height. Pivot isn't always necessary either - if you intend to keep it in portrait orientation all the time, you can get a tall enough stand and mount it in that orientation.

I suggest u to go with this Asus ML239H 23" HDMI IPS LED LCD Monitor $210.00
http://www.dealstudio.com/searchdeals.php?type=id&q=d252668&ru=28905791
cool stuff, right? Hope u find the best bet. Good luck.

Some things to be cautious of with that monitor:
1. it only has one hdmi input (no separate dvi), so unless you use VGA to connect the computer, you won't be able to hook up the game consoles concurrently.
2. the static contrast ratio, claimed as 3000:1, is greatly exaggerated - you need VA to get a static contrast ratio in that neighborhood, not IPS (I suggest you just ignore the quoted ASCR (Asus Smart Contrast Ratio)). I looked up the panel for it at TFT Central, which is: 23"WS LG.Display e-IPS (LM230WF3-SLB1), listed in their parts database as having 1000:1 static contrast ratio.
3. the audio output from the hdmi is only 3.5mm stereo - since you mentioned you had a 5.1 surround system, I imagine you'd want to be able to use that for the audio from your game consoles as well, which would probably require S/PDIF over Coaxial or Toslink.

 

[Myriddan]

The VH242s were just a suggestion to keep things within budget when also buying the stands and an hdmi switch. I understand the requirement for tilt, and I haven't seen a monitor without it. Swivel seems silly to me for a 24 inch or smaller monitor, since you can easily pick up and turn the monitor stand and all. Height can be compensated with a cheap plastic monitor riser under the stand, unless you need to repeatedly adjust the height. Pivot isn't always necessary either - if you intend to keep it in portrait orientation all the time, you can get a tall enough stand and mount it in that orientation.

You'd be surprised at what you can find... I've seen monitors without tilt (though to be fair they are really old LCDs). Like I said before the other features are nice, but not necessary (I'm still using a CRT, so I'm used to having swivel, but then again LCD's don't weigh half of what CRTs do so moving them is much easier).

Putting extras aside, I just want to get the best monitors I can for around $150-250 each ($300-500 total). That have at least one DVI and one HDMI port around 24" with good-great response time.

 

[MauveCloud]

You'd be surprised at what you can find... I've seen monitors without tilt (though to be fair they are really old LCDs). Like I said before the other features are nice, but not necessary (I'm still using a CRT, so I'm used to having swivel, but then again LCD's don't weigh half of what CRTs do so moving them is much easier).

I won't argue about CRTs needing swivel, though I imagine it would have been incredibly expensive to make one with height and pivot adjustments.
As far as LCD monitors without tilt, are you sure they weren't marketed as TVs? My family has a 37 inch LCD TV which doesn't have tilt, but all of our monitors have had tilt, including the first LCD monitor I bought for my family, a ViewSonic VG150.

If you want a good 24 inch monitor with DVI and HDMI in that price range, have a look at the other Asus models in this comparison:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=Property&N=100007617%20600030619&IsNodeId=1&maxPrice=250&OEMMark=1%2C0&PropertyCodeValue=3098%3A46872%2C3098%3A21328%2C3098%3A46873%2C1099%3A17843%2C1099%3A9240%2C1099%3A9242%2C1099%3A57803%2C1099%3A25153%2C2333%3A14219%2C2333%3A14220%2C2889%3A24671%2C2889%3A24674%2C2889%3A24672%2C2889%3A17878&bop=And&CompareItemList=20|24-236-052^24-236-052-TS%2C24-236-049^24-236-049-03%23%2C24-236-048^24-236-048-04%23%2C24-236-102^24-236-102-02%23%2C24-236-112^24-236-112-TS
There are also models from Samsung, Gateway, and LG that fit your specifications, but I hesitate to recommend them when they only have 1-year manufacturer warranties.

 

[jaguarskx]

If you want a good 24 inch monitor with DVI and HDMI in that price range, have a look at the other Asus models in this comparison:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=Property&N=100007617%20600030619&IsNodeId=1&maxPrice=250&OEMMark=1%2C0&PropertyCodeValue=3098%3A46872%2C3098%3A21328%2C3098%3A46873%2C1099%3A17843%2C1099%3A9240%2C1099%3A9242%2C1099%3A57803%2C1099%3A25153%2C2333%3A14219%2C2333%3A14220%2C2889%3A24671%2C2889%3A24674%2C2889%3A24672%2C2889%3A17878&bop=And&CompareItemList=20|24-236-052^24-236-052-TS%2C24-236-049^24-236-049-03%23%2C24-236-048^24-236-048-04%23%2C24-236-102^24-236-102-02%23%2C24-236-112^24-236-112-TS

To the OP,

The basic difference between the Asus VH242H and the VW246H monitors in the link above are as follows:

1. The VW246H total cost is $209 vs. $170 for the VH242H
2. The VW246H is slightly larger.
3. The VW246H is rated at 2ms response time as opposed to 5ms for the VH242. Generally, there is not much difference, but some gamers prefer to simply buy a monitor with 2ms response times.

Given the nearly $40 price difference between the two monitors, the VH242H appears to be the better value.

Here is my detailed review of the Asus VK246H (same as VW246H, but with a built-in webcam) if you are interested...

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/58336-3-official-flat-panel-monitor-reviews-thread

 

[Myriddan]

I actually had read that review awhile ago jaguar when I was originally looking at getting a single monitor.

I'm leaning towards either the vw246h or ve248h. They're both the same price but the ve248h has free shipping on NewEgg

 

[jaguarskx]

If you read the "1 egg reviews" on Newegg for each of those monitors (bad reviews), there are quite a few complaints about the VE248H regarding ghosting. It might be something you want to Google up for more info.

The VW246H does have one complaint regarding ghosting, but it came from a 1st time LCD buyer who was using a CRT monitor.

All LCD monitors have some level of ghosting. It is an inherent shortcoming of LCD technology simply due to how they operate. Since CRT monitors are no longer produced (at least for the consumer market), it is something you cannot get away from.

 

[Myriddan]

The vw246h is on sale this weekend for $185 with free shipping from newegg, so I'll probably get two of those... One other question I have is whether or not a GTX 275 is sufficient to game on both monitors at 1920x1080 (it's the bottleneck on my system) or if I should either pick up a newer card or get a second one and SLI it

 

[Myriddan]

Best answer selected by Myriddan.