Recommended LCD monitor (Full Version)

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psaulm119 -> Recommended LCD monitor (8/2/2008 12:39:02 PM)

It looks as if my good ol' CRT (a Sony Trinitron that's over 9 years old) is about to kick the bucket. I'm seeing wavy lines for about 10 seconds at the bottom of teh screen, and it sometimes won't go on w/o a reboot (not sure if a reboot is required, or if it is just taking its sweet time). At any rate, I plan on giving it a proper burial.

And I'd rather not go without a monitor for long, when it does die, so I'm starting this thread now, so on that day I can ride over to Circuit City and come home with a new one just like that.

So--does anyone have a recommendation for a good monitor? I liked the fact that this one outlasted every other component that we have plugged into the computer. Are pretty much all CRTs good for 9 years, or was it just Sony? Does Sony also make good LCDs?

THe one we have is a 17-inch. I can't imagine why I'd want anything less than a 19-inch replacement; so lets consider 19-21 inches as the parameters there.

I would like to be out the door for less than $200, if this is possible. Like I said, I haven't gone shopping for monitors since the time when Windows 98 was the latest and greatest, so I'm assuming there's a lot I don't know about that stuff. I can go over 200 but only if there is a compelling reason.

Finally, this would be used really only for "home" use--no professional graphics work, just web browsing, chat, and occasional word processing.

Suggestions for particular monitors are ok, but things very well might change by the time I actually buy one.

OK now, to wrap up:
1. Is Sony the only maker of monitors that can last 9 years, or are there others?
2. Are there any monitors that I should avoid?
3. anything else I left out that would be of value to the basic "home" use of a monitor?



Miss Giggles -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/2/2008 1:00:00 PM)

1). Not sure if the newer LCD monitors last as long as the old monitors. Sony's are fine but they are always priced higher than any other brand.

2) No they are all pretty much the same if you aren't doing graphics or video

3). Not that I can think of. Some can double as Tvs if you have a tv tuner in your computer but probably not for under 200.00



MWD -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/2/2008 1:45:47 PM)

You may be in short-term trouble. Few of the newer monitors' native resolutions can be achieved by video cards that came "stock" with systems built as recently as even a few years ago. So Step One will be to find out all the video resolutions your video card can do (at the high end, of course) [1], and then try to find a monitor that matches one of them. Good luck -- you'll need it. Most monitors are of the [:'(] widescreen-foolishness type that require very high resolutions your video card probably won't achieve.

If you've already got a whiz-bang super-duper video card in your PC, one that is new enough to "do" these new widescreen high resolutions, then you may be in luck.

If you have a choice between two monitors of different size that run the same native resolution, choose the larger one for readability, unless your eyesight and that of the people who will be using the system is very good. Yes there are ways around the readability problem, but they can be irritating to deal with.

Another alternative is to try and find a used 17" non-widescreen LCD to run with your existing video card (a 17" LCD will have more screen real estate than your old 17" Trinitron). You can look around for a 19" non-widescreen LCD, too, but the problem with those is the large dot pitch. I don't recommend those for that reason. We're talking 1280x1024 on both those sizes; your video card should already be able to do that.

[1] Right-click desktop, Properties, Settings, Advanced, Adapter, List All Modes, but DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING. This works for nVidia, may be slightly different for ATI & others.



psaulm119 -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/2/2008 5:15:38 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: MWD
[1] Right-click desktop, Properties, Settings, Advanced, Adapter, List All Modes, but DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING. This works for nVidia, may be slightly different for ATI & others.


Hmmm don't know if this is good news or not.... but "List All Modes" (its currently set to 800x600--wifey likes it like that) goes up to 2048x1536. It has all the stats in between as well, including one I'd never heard of before (1920x1440); 1920x1200, 1920x1080, 1856x1392; 1600x1200, 1600x900; 1400x1050; 1280x1024. Each of these has options for high color 16 bit and True color 32 bit, as well as 256 colors; each of those options at a variety of refresh rates (Hz).

After reading your reply, I was worried b/c this was an entry-level Dell (Dimension 2350) that I just assumed would have the cheapest video card acceptable.

ANyways, the graphics card itself is the Intel 82845GL Graphics controller. Actually, the GL is the chipset--I don't know if that's different from the video card or not. But under device manager, I get 82845 G, GL, GE, GV, and one other I forget.



MWD -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/2/2008 6:33:13 PM)

This is XP and not Vista, correct?

The video is part of the chipset. The specs look pretty good on paper. The Intel spec for max resolution lines up with what you pulled from the system and posted here.

All you've got to do now is find a monitor with a native resolution that the Intel video subsystem and the Windows XP driver will support.

Thank you for bringing up color depth. That was an important point I forgot about.

Also on refresh rate, most LCD monitors are spec'd at 60 Hz, but I find some that look clearer at 70 or 75. So you may want to allow for that in your "matching exercise."



psaulm119 -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/2/2008 6:45:27 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Miss Giggles

1). Not sure if the newer LCD monitors last as long as the old monitors. Sony's are fine but they are always priced higher than any other brand.

2) No they are all pretty much the same if you aren't doing graphics or video

3). Not that I can think of. Some can double as Tvs if you have a tv tuner in your computer but probably not for under 200.00


Thanks for the reply. I'll keep an eye out for a big price gap. I've always been a practitioner of brand loyalty, but not if I have to pay too steep a price.



psaulm119 -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/2/2008 6:51:15 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: MWD

This is XP and not Vista, correct?


Correct--it is XP.

quote:


All you've got to do now is find a monitor with a native resolution that the Intel video subsystem and the Windows XP driver will support.


Which means that as long as it will support one of those numbers I gave you above, I'll be ok, correct?

And I should obviously try to get one that supports as high a resolution as possible--correct?



MWD -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/2/2008 7:13:46 PM)

> as long as it will support one of those numbers I gave you above,
> I'll be ok, correct?

Yes. Bring those numbers with you to the store, show them to the salesman, and tell him how you got them off your system. They do not want to sell you a monitor that won't work with your video subsystem. They will probably ask for those numbers anyway if they're on the ball. No one wants to see a monitor come back because a customer's video subsystem couldn't drive it to its native resolution.

> I should obviously try to get one that supports as high a
> resolution as possible--correct?

Don't worry about resolution in any context other than that having to do with what the Intel graphics and XP will support. If you're going to worry about anything, worry about pixel pitch -- make sure it's 0.27 or less. This is where the 19" jobs do a face-plant on the concrete. One of my monitors is a 20" Dell widescreen with something like 0.24 pp and it is SWEET. Your two big concerns will be price and physical size. You may also want a monitor that will spin 90 degrees on its base to portrait mode but only if your video will support rotating the displayed image to compensate. I have zero experience with Intel graphics so I can't answer this for you. There may be something in your desktop settings that you can change. Portrait mode works better for web pages, text editing, etc. Landscape for widescreen content if you can find anything these days in that format that's worth your time.



psaulm119 -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/2/2008 7:27:44 PM)

Great. Thanks for the feedback. I wasn't really looking for a particular model, so much as parameters, so this is good.



psaulm119 -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/2/2008 11:41:59 PM)

One more thing. I'm noticing monitors in the same size as having very different aspect ratios--some lower than 1000 to 1; others at 3000 to 1.

1. Is this important or relevant?
2. Which is better?
3. Is there a watershed (like, try to stay at least 2000 to 1, b/c all the others tend to blah blah blah)?



psaulm119 -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/2/2008 11:43:39 PM)

Also, at Newegg, the two brands that have the highest customer ratings there are Samsung and Acer. Month after month, the monitor that gets the highest rating has been one of them, although Newegg sells several other brands of monitors.

Just a thought. Comment if you wish...



MWD -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/3/2008 7:00:54 AM)

Forgot something really obvious. Make sure your new monitor will actually plug into your system. You'll probably want a monitor that has an analog interface, if your system as a 15-pin (DB15) VGA connector. Some monitors have both analog and digital inputs. Some may have digital only.



MWD -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/3/2008 7:10:07 AM)

The numbers you quoted were for contrast. I don't use my systems for multimedia or photo editing, so those numbers are meaningless for me. Maybe someone else can hop in and explain for you. My gut tells me to pay more attention to the reviews than to the contrast specs. It also tells me we're "99 percent there" WRT contrast when we get up into the 2000 range, but I could be all wet on that statement.

Trust the ratings but check the ratings at other vendors as well.

Also pay attention to warranty and specifically to what the warranty covers. Dead pixels are where some warranties are better than others. It's not only how many dead pixels but also where they are in relation to each other. Three dead pixels separated by inches may be tolerable. Three in close proximity may be intolerable. One manufacturer may cover the first. Another may not cover even the second. Watch the fine print. Last time I checked, HP had the best pixel warranty, but that was two years ago. On the other hand, I can't remember the last time I saw a dead pixel -- LCD fab has matured & is far better quality-wise than it was several years ago.

Didn't intend for this to turn into How To Buy A Monitor, but I keep thinking of things. Sorry.



psaulm119 -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/3/2008 11:40:36 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: MWD
Didn't intend for this to turn into How To Buy A Monitor, but I keep thinking of things. Sorry.


Oh by all means let's keep it rolling. How To Buy a Monitor is exactly what I'd like. I'd rather get this all down now, so that in a month or so I won't be under duress of buying something that is cheap and looks good, b/c I have no clue to how evaluate them. Thanks again.

Yeah I forgot about the connectors as well. I'll have a look see when I've had more coffee in my system. [:)]



psaulm119 -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/3/2008 8:54:15 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: MWD

Forgot something really obvious. Make sure your new monitor will actually plug into your system. You'll probably want a monitor that has an analog interface, if your system as a 15-pin (DB15) VGA connector. Some monitors have both analog and digital inputs. Some may have digital only.


Yes it has the 15-pin vga connector (my system does). Now it has plenty of USB ports--do modern monitors use those (everything else seems to). Not too sure if modern modems have these.

OK wait I just found a 19-inch for 140 at Bestbuy. It says under accessories, VGA and audio cables, which means that it comes with a VGA 15-pin cable, correct?



Miss Giggles -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/3/2008 8:57:39 PM)

It should although it may come with the dvi cables too.

The USB is optional. It means you can plug your jump drive and other items into the monitor instead of crawling on the floor to do it. (the monitor can act as a usb hub)



psaulm119 -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/3/2008 9:02:09 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Miss Giggles

It should although it may come with the dvi cables too.

The USB is optional. It means you can plug your jump drive and other items into the monitor instead of crawling on the floor to do it. (the monitor can act as a usb hub)


What I meant was the monitor uses usb cables to connect to the computer itself, as opposed to the 15-pin cable. Is this still the standard way of connecting monitors?



Miss Giggles -> RE: Recommended LCD monitor (8/3/2008 10:05:56 PM)

Monitors are still connected with the VGA or DVI connectors

The usb cable (if it comes with it) is just a standard usb cable that you plug one end into the monitor and the other end into your pc.



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