Ya i'm getting a new computer and i wanted to have a great monitor to go with it. But i really dont' want to spend 1/2 the money i spent on the comp on just the monitor. So any and all suggestions are nice.
i am in a similar boat. i was thinking about going up to 20 inches for the resolution. i would like to perhaps add a few specifics to this post. how important are the following.
response time? what is good?
contrast ratio? what is good?
i currently have and older samsung 17inch (170s) and i dont like the way it looks when i play fear on full graphics. i am not sure what is boggin the game down. things almost look slightly blurry?when i move around etc.
Anyway back to the topic, price range maybe around $300?
Sorry, I haven't seen any with 400 cdm2 but isn't 400 too bright?!-A brightness of at least 400 cdm2 is a world of difference between many monitors that are only around 300.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824001230
samsung 940bf, ive heard good things i think im going to roll with this one.
btw anandtech has a great guide to buying lcd, i dont want to link cuz i dont know if that will be a problem since i imagine THG and Anandtech are kind of competitors.
So back to my vga dvi question, can i just unplug my current vga and plug in this dvi lcd and it will be fine without any settings
Im in iraq right now but want to order and have my wife set it up for when i get home in 28 days or so, plus to check on dead pixles etc and shes not very pc literate
-A response time of 12MS or better is what you want to try for... but many LCD's measure 6MS or lower, which is often flase. There is no standard test for response time, so details can be smudged.
The 6MS response time is usually measuring a gray-to-gray change as opposed to black-to-white. You can usually expect the actual response rate to be one and a half to twice the number they actually give you.
-I hope I helped a bit!
i said screw it and ordered the bf, after hearing great things about it

Definitely go widescreen: once you go wide, you'll never look back.
Most new games support widescreen, however not all of them provide 'true support.' In the case of even really new games (ex: Prey), you need to edit the config file in the game directory and force your monitor's resolution (technically Prey has a built-in widescreen option but it actually doesnt use the correct aspect ratio, i.e. what would normally be a circle still shows up in an oval shape.)
Go to widescreengamingforum.com for all your widescreen gaming needs.
