LCD Monitors

[evman150]

I'm in the market for a new monitor and am looking to go the LCD route. Right now I have a crappy old 17" CRT.

I want a monitor with decent quality but I don't want to spend a lot of money. I'm either looking for a <$300 17" model or a <$400 19" model (before taxes, shipping etc).

What are the best quality bargain brands? What are the best places to buy from, online and in store? What are your experiences with LCD monitors? Any helpful hints or "buyer bewares"? Is a monitor something that the price can be "dickered" like a car?

Any input is appreciated.

[Buff]

Look for something that can support 1280x1024, even if you won't use anything higher than 1024x780.

You want a good refresh rate 12 MS is awesome, do not go any higher than 16 MS.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Bizarre, was thinking the exact same thing.

This seems to be the best deals I've turned up:

Memory Express:
Samsung SyncMaster 712N (LCD, 17in, 12ms, Silver-Black) $309.95

FutureShop:
NEC LCD1735NXM 17" LCD Monitor 349.00

Any gurus care to comment?

[photon]

Agreed, RedFlagDeals is the best place to find good deals.

Dell has a sale on right now where they have a different deal each day for 10 days, and they're usually quite good deals.

http://www.dell.com/html/ca/en/segments/dh.../dell_main.html

They haven't shown any LCD's yet so they should come up with a few.

The 1905FP is one of the best 19" LCDs out right now, and if it comes up for sale on this 10 days of deals sale it'll be a great price.

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/productdet...ategory_id=4009

Otherwise, keep to the good brand names, and read reviews for any one you are considering.

The BIGGEST thing I can recommend is to get it from a place that takes exchanges or returns. Memory Express is great but you can't return an LCD there typically, and an LCD is something you have to use for a bit to see if you really like it or not. So I'd recommend getting it from FutureShop or BestBuy or Staples or Costco or something.

Otherwise, if you play games or watch movies look for that 12ms or lower response time. <12ms LCDs usually use 6 bit panels however so you usually sacrifice some in colour fidelity to get the lower response. If you don't game then anything with 16ms to 25ms is usually fine.

And if you want the ultimate: http://accessories.dell.com/sna/ProductDet...uctlisting.aspx

[photon]

Originally posted by Bend it like Bourgeois@Jun 6 2005, 08:05 PM
Memory Express:
Samsung SyncMaster 712N (LCD, 17in, 12ms, Silver-Black) $309.95

FutureShop:
NEC LCD1735NXM 17" LCD Monitor 349.00

The 712N is nice, though it doesn't have a DVI interface which does have an impact on the display quality.

The NEC isn't quite as bright or doesn't have as good a contrast as the Samsung.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

The question you have to answer for us here is what are you using the monitor for? Gaming? Quake / Doom and other high FPS games?

I have 2 of the 1905FP and run them in dual monitor. Awesome monitors, and they could be had at the last Dell sale for $399. I highly recommend them, but then again I don't game a whole lot.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally posted by photon+Jun 6 2005, 07:38 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (photon @ Jun 6 2005, 07:38 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Bend it like Bourgeois@Jun 6 2005, 08:05 PM
Memory Express:
Samsung SyncMaster 712N (LCD, 17in, 12ms, Silver-Black) $309.95

FutureShop:
NEC LCD1735NXM 17" LCD Monitor 349.00

The 712N is nice, though it doesn't have a DVI interface which does have an impact on the display quality.

The NEC isn't quite as bright or doesn't have as good a contrast as the Samsung. [/b][/quote]
I'm looking at that exact Samsung right now.

My first LCD, I'm quite happy with it. Quite clear, decent quality. So far, so good. No problems whatsoever. Had it for about a year now.

My parents got a Dell LCD monitor, I like mine better.

[evman150]

Originally posted by I-Hate-Hulse@Jun 6 2005, 07:41 PM
The question you have to answer for us here is what are you using the monitor for? Gaming? Quake / Doom and other high FPS games?

I have 2 of the 1905FP and run them in dual monitor. Awesome monitors, and they could be had at the last Dell sale for $399. I highly recommend them, but then again I don't game a whole lot.

I do play games, but definitely not hardcore. Not high framerate FPS like UT, Quake et al. More RTS and NHL 200x.

Mostly the monitor will be used for word processing, online poker, internet and some mild gaming.

[evman150]

One more thing, does it matter that my video card is kind of crappy? Is it a bottleneck at all?

64MB Nvidia GeForce4 MX420.

[photon]

In theory no, but I've seen it can happen. I had a server with an old ATI mach64 video card and if I hooked up a newer 17" LCD it looked like crap, but if I used an older LCD it was ok.

But that's probably pretty rare. If in doubt, buy from somewhere that lets you return them if you really don't like it.

You have to look at your monitor day in and day out, don't settle for something you aren't happy with.

EDIT: It might also be an issue with games; LCDs look worse if you run them at a non-native resolution. 1280x1024 is pretty standard for 17" and 19" LCD's so if you play games at a lower resolution than that it will "stretch" the image to fit, making it look fuzzy. Again one of those things you have to try to see if it really bothers you or not. Some people don't notice it until you point it out, some can't stand it.

[flamingchina]

Originally posted by evman150@Jun 7 2005, 04:40 AM
One more thing, does it matter that my video card is kind of crappy? Is it a bottleneck at all?

64MB Nvidia GeForce4 MX420.

The video card would really only be a problem if you're playing games. If you have a halfway recent computer (with say, 3 years) You'll be fine just in windows.
And about the resolution.
LCD's are rated at a certain res, (1024x768, 1280x1024, etc)
Generally running it at any other resolution causes it to look like crap.
Look at it this way, the usual resolution is:
15" 1024x768
17" 1280x1024
19" 1600x1200
Generally you won't want to go any lower than that on the resolutions, or else your letters are going to be like 2 cm high.

[photon]

Originally posted by flamingchina@Jun 7 2005, 08:01 AM
19" 1600x1200

Actually most 19" LCD's are at 1280x1024 as well.. You usually have to go to 20" or 21" to get 1600x1200.

[flamingchina]

I find 1280x1024 at 19" to be to big.. need the 1600x1200.. gotta love young eyes.

[BlackArcher101]

Here's a question...

Is there a big difference between picture quality between the DVI and Analog connections?

[evman150]

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku....&affixedcode=WW

This monitor looks good and it's a pretty good deal after rebate/coupon, but it is out of stock. How long are these things typically out of stock for? And will the rebate deal be over by then? Also, can you use more than one coupon at a time ie use one $30 coupon and one $20 coupon to get $50 off total?

It sucks that this monitor is out of stock because it looks like the perfect combo of price/quality and there are nothing but good reviews of it on the future shop web site.

[photon]

You might check in-store to see if they have it available; the web site only tells you about stock for their online store.

I find 1280x1024 at 19" to be to big.. need the 1600x1200.. gotta love young eyes.

I tend to agree with that, that's why I skipped 19" and went a bit bigger.

Here's a question...

Is there a big difference between picture quality between the DVI and Analog connections?

At 1280x1024 I've read that in theory the analog connection has enough bandwidth that it shouldn't make a difference. But in reality I've seen it both ways.

I have two Samsungs in the office and I can hardly tell the difference between the two using DVI vs Analog. However I've got a bunch of workstations set up with dual Benq 19" LCDs and they all run one DVI one analog, and the difference is VERY apparent; the DVI is much better.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

It's HUGE.

Feeling inadequate looking at a wimpy 17" monitor after this thread, I got a 19.

Sweet freaking lou. How do people have 2 of these things? Never mind, don't tell me. If I succumb to peer pressure again I'll need a bigger office so I can sit further back.

Thanks for the advice though.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally posted by Bend it like Bourgeois@Jun 8 2005, 07:44 PM
Sweet freaking lou. How do people have 2 of these things? Never mind, don't tell me. If I succumb to peer pressure again I'll need a bigger office so I can sit further back.

Thanks for the advice though.

Rotate both of them to portrait mode With the two of them, I'm working on a 30" diagonal. It's great if you work with a lot of documents like I do, and you can read Calgarypuck with a minimum of scrolling! I usually have messenger / outlook / ticker / browser running on one and use the other as a "main" monitor.

Give dual monitor a shot with your old one before you sell it - you'll likely get hooked!

[evman150]

Thanks for the help guys. I finally bought one the other day and recieved it yesterday.

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku....&affixedcode=WW

After coupons it came to $370 + tax. Very good deal and I am extremely pleased with the monitor. It looks great!