Help buying an LCD monitor

[Bean]

I am looking to buy an LCD monitor and wanted to seek help from those on CP.
I'm normally doing the word processing, excel sheets and a little bit of gaming on a 17" CRT and was wondering what some of your thoughts are on this particular model.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetai...231&newdeptid=1

I know that it is an 19 inch, but for 'only' $600. It is at the upper end of my spectrum and from what I've read so far it might be good. The only thing that I am worried about is the 25ms Response Time....and that I have a Geforce2 video card right now.

Sorry for the epic story, but can anybody provide any help?

- B

[photon]

A few things to keep in mind..

17" to 19" LCDs use 1280x1024 resolution, so while a 19" LCD is bigger, you're not getting any more screen area vs a 17", you're simply making the pixels bigger.

Now for some people 1280x1024 is too small on a 17" LCD and prefer an 18 or 19" LCD at that resolution. Others don't want to waste the extra $$ on simply a bigger screen, and opt for a higher performance 17".

Also the 912N doesn't have a digital input, only analog. Not a huge issue at 1280x1024, but out of the ones I've tried I prefer the digital interface; there's a visible difference. I have computers set up with dual 19" LCDs at work and the left uses DVI and the right uses analog, and you can tell the difference.

At work I went through five or six different 19" LCDs before deciding on a few models. I've got a 912N on the server; it wasn't up to snuff for gaming. The 25ms response just doesn't cut it. Since you only have a GeForce 2 card, gaming isn't going to be an amazing experience anyway, so it might not be a big deal. FS takes returns, so you can buy it and try it, and return it if you don't like it.

As for the models I decided on the Sharp:

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetai...231&newdeptid=1

and the Benq FP931 for $584 after rebate:

http://www.memoryexpress.net

The Sharp looks very nice and games quite well for a 16ms screen, though only having analog inputs hurts it a bit.

The FP931 isn't quite as good as the Sharp, but for the price was far and away the best value LCD I found. It has a digital input as well. It's 16ms as well and games nicely, though not as good as the Sharp IMO.

You might also check out the Benq FP937s-D for $679.95. It has a 12ms response and a 500:1 contrast ratio. I never got a chance to try that one, but the specs look good. Usually though the faster the LCD the "fuzzier" the picture.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetai...231&newdeptid=1
(Better price at Memory Express)

If gaming and movie playback are very low on your list though, that Samsung has a 800:1 contrast ratio and looks extremely good in Windows.

Hope that helps more than it confuses

[Inferno]

What's the best 17" LCD for about $400-$500? Or for that price am I not going to get a good one and should just stick with a CRT? I play alot of games so the response time would have to be good enough.

[Wookie]

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/dis...015/index.html

Review of BenQ 8ms 17inch LCD. Seems to have done well in their gaming review..

[Bean]

Well I didn't go for the 19" montor or the 8ms BenQ (can you find that in Calgary?)
So I got the FP757 - 12 at Memoryexpress. WIth rebate it is about $450 with taxes. So far so good, except there is one blue pixel right in the middle of the screen when all else goes black.

As a side purchase I also got the 9600Xt video card, and boy is NHL 2005 looking good. Heck, I didn't know there were so many flying C's during the opening sequence of the game. This is a highly suggested purchase/configuration with the unfortunate side effect of more time spent in front of the computer.

Thanks to Photon for the information, and I won't be able to help Inferno's question as I'm just happy with my setup which may not be the best but a much more improved experience than before.

Now back to Dynasty Mode.

- B

[Table 5]

I went through this whole process a few months ago. Im in the design field where I need a good monitor all the time, so you can bet i went through a LOT of research and questioning before I made my purchase ( which was an NEC model btw ).

What I recommend:

Sony
Viewsonic
NEC
Apple

I wouldnt by BenQ or Sharp myself, the quality of their screens are much lower....Go with the above brands and you will get an VERY high quality monitor ( and in the case of the NEC and Viewsonic, something that is about the same price as the others ). The Apple is the best out of all of them, but they are considerably more expensive.

[photon]

Very true, price usually equals performance with LCDs, and while the Apple ones are ungodly expensive, they're also the best looking things you'll ever see. For someone doing design work there's very few LCD's I'd recommend as colour consistancy and reproduction are important, and even very expensive LCDs usually suck at those things.

To kind of address Inferno's question, I did some research a bit ago on getting a 21" LCD for gaming, and I found that the Dell, Viewsonic, and Benq all had the same LCD panel. There are very few manufacturers of LCD panels and many monitor companies use the same LCD with different electronics.

I ended up getting the Viewsonic (had a nicer stand). Reviews and user feedback from many different techie forums had that it with the Dell was the best 21" gaming LCD out there. I got it and returned it after a week because it still wasn't enough for me. Everyone is different and the only way you really know is to try; for me even the 12ms refresh rates leave noticable ghosting and I can't play FPS games. So when my current monitor dies I'll probably get another CRT.

[Reggie Dunlop]

I have both a 19" ViewSonic and and a 15" Apple StudioDisplay. Happy with the colour fidelity of both. I still stick with my 22" LaCie CRT for serious work though.

[Otto-matic]

Im gonna be sticking with a CRT monitor for a long time. I just bought a 19 inch this summer.

ViewSonic G90fb Graphics Series. Very good monitor for me.

I did use a old 15' Dell monitor for about 10 straight years. Lost the brightness in color. But did its job till it stopped working.

[FireInTheHole]

Originally posted by Otto-matic@Oct 17 2004, 06:59 PM
Im gonna be sticking with a CRT monitor for a long time. I just bought a 19 inch this summer.

ViewSonic G90fb Graphics Series. Very good monitor for me.

I bought a G90fb about a year and a half ago when my last monitor died - and I have been very happy with it. It was worth the extra $$ to get a higher quality monitor such as this one - and kicks butt in games too!!