good brand, ect?

[kenshindono]

hey guys, i need a monitor for one of my older ocmputers its an athalon 64 with a raedon 9800XT, the older crt i was using is kinda dying on me, so i need something new. i was thining a 20" lcd would be nice but havent really looked into them in a while i generaly prefered CRTs, but i actually need something smaller for where this ones being placed. One thing i always hated about lcds was the resolution. crts usually suport high res's where a year or so ago lcds went like 1600 max. Whats the top end they hit now, i think i saw some that do 1980X1200 or so is that the top end? also whats a good delay i should look for, i know they have some kinda lag rating

finally dead pixels.. whats the policy on this these days is this even a problem? a few years ago it was a reasonable concern and some stores wouldn't let you return it depending on where it was at. Whats goin on with that these days?

any particular brand i should look at getting? I checked frys and circuit city and stuff around here but their selection sucked so i may have to buy online and for stuff like that i cant actually see the picture unfortunatly so i need sugestions

tnx

 

[rab05]

19" LCD's do 1440x900 widescreen or 1280x1024 4:3.
20" LCD's for the most part do 1680x1050 widescreen or 1600x1200 on 4:3 monitors. Some crappy 20" panels will be 1440X1050 or something like that, but better monitors (like the Samsung 204) does 1600x1200.

22" LCD's do the same as the 20" widescreen resolution, and you'll probably only find widescreen 22"s

24" and above LCD's do the 1980x1200 resolution.

Anything below 8ms is fine for the response time IMO. It's common now for most LCD's to have 5ms or 2ms response times. So don't let that affect you too much.

Check contrast ratio, and don't get anything less than a 800-1000:1 panel. Samsung and LG put "3000:1 dynamic contrast ratio" in their specs, but its really just a fancy marketing term with true 1000:1 panels or so...

As for dead pixels, you probably won't get any... Quality control is getting pretty good on LCD's now and it's rare to get dead pixels, but if you do, take it back to the store within the return policy.

I don't know what the hell you're talking about with Fry's having a poor selection on monitors. They have the single largest selection of any retail store I've ever seen... They should have all the major players in LCD's... Samsung, Viewsonic, LG, NEC, even HP.

I also know Fry's will let you exchange/return for just one dead pixel, so that's a plus. They also beat the piss out of Circuit City, CompUSA, or Best Buys prices (at least around here in Austin, TX), so it's been my experience that it's better to buy my LCD from Fry's, even if I buy the majority of my other components from places like Newegg or ZipZoomFly... And if you have any doubts, make the salesman pull you one out of the box and set it up for you... You are the customer paying the money afterall.

 

[kenshindono]

hrm really? my laptop lcd screen does 1980X1200, thats what i have it set to right now and its 19"

tnx for the info. Do you have any particular brand that stands out?

maybe its just my fry's they usually ahve a great selection of stuff but they honestly had like 15 monitors out there, most of them crapy 4:3 with their widescreens being mostly gateways and garbage like that, and all of them were off

i was pretty surprised, dont really have a brick and mortar store to get one at now which is a problem id ont wanna do it online cuz of the dead pixel thing. good to know its less of a problem but exchanges online can really suck if im unlucky enough to get one

 

[EXT64]

Laptop montiors don't follow the pattern.

One other thing that hasn't been mentioned (I think) is response time. LCDs range from 2ms to 25ms. If you do anything with moving images, I would suggest 8ms or less.

A good 19 inch is the LG L1933TR-SF (new release, I just got it).

I have bought 3 LCDs, 2 17inch Samsungs and the above mentioned. None have ever had dead pixels or any other major problems.

The 3000:1 DFC claimed by Samsung and LG is attained by the montior adjusting brightness as you play. It normally works very well, however sometimes you do notice it. As mentioned, these monitors really are only 1000:1(approx.)

 

[kenshindono]

hrm.. no thats a 4:3 im lookin for a widescreen monitor and with a higher resolution

so sammy's and LG's, viewsonic, are all good then?

im assuming gateways are crap? their computers are so i was assuming the monitors are, a friend got one though and says hes been happy with it

 

[EXT64]

Yes, it is a 4:3, but that is what I wanted. I am pretty sure either LG or Samsung has a similar monitor in widescreen. I have personally had both brands (LG and Samsung) and have not been disappointed. From what I have heard, you can't go wrong with Viewsonic either. I have never had a Gateway monitor, so I can't comment on them, but I think that they are pretty good.

 

[Hose]

19" monitors are almost never 4:3 (Planar had one once, but that's about it)... 19" @ 1280x1024 = 5:4.

4:3 is UXGA (20")... 1600x1200... The cheapest ones are about $350 except the Planar PL2010M, #997-3469... it's about $260 at Buy.com.

 

[EXT64]

Sorry, I meant non-widescreen.
As for widescreen versions, LG has

19 inch widescreen, 3000:1, etc. - L196WTQ-BF
22 inch widescreen, 3000:1, etc. - L226WT

I am sure you can find more, but these are basically the wide/bigger version of mine, so I know they are good. I know you can find these at Best Buy.

 

[kenshindono]

tnx. i refuse to shop at best buy they totally screwed me on an HD tv once, with my fry's having such a crappy selection though im probably gonna have to go online or osmething

quick question, anyone know if Acer is any good? i glanced at walmart when my friend was there to buy a game and actually found a decent 20" there that did the 1680 rez, had 5ms response time, ect. for only like $245 they didnt' have any on display though so i couldn't personally see the picture quality

 

[Newf]

I just bought a 22" Viewsonic VX2235WMB monitor at Costco for $250. It looks great using native 1680x1050 and is rated at 5ms. If you find reviews on monitors at the low $$$ end they are always panned because there are $1000 and up 22" monitors that are simply better. Set brand name aside for a minute. It's the type of LCD and what you use it for that makes a difference. Spend a few minutes reading this article. But remember, gamers tend to like the cheaper TN monitors due to their response times and lack of ghosting:

http://www.lcdresource.com/lcdtech/