What MONITOR should I Buy?

[Joshmcmillan]

Hi,

I need to decide on which monitor I should buy, My current 19" Samsung Synmaster 19" CRT is starting to go blurry therefore I need a new one so I can read what's written on the screen. . I want something VERY RELIABLE, like most things I buy, how long it will last is the MAIN factor.

Some monitors I were looking at are the BenQ 19" and 22" LCD's. It's $60 between them and the 22" has 100 less contrast. The 19" has 5ms response time and an 800:1 contrast. Is this a good monitor or not?

Another monitor I was looking at was the Samsung 19" LCD, but it seems like it has a few things a bit worse about it like 700:1 contrast and 8ms, yet it costs a reasonabl amount more.

Thanks, From Josh

 

[hercules71185]

during my journey

Hi,

I need to decide on which monitor I should buy, My current 19" Samsung Synmaster 19" CRT is starting to go blurry therefore I need a new one so I can read what's written on the screen. . I want something VERY RELIABLE, like most things I buy, how long it will last is the MAIN factor.

Some monitors I were looking at are the BenQ 19" and 22" LCD's. It's $60 between them and the 22" has 100 less contrast. The 19" has 5ms response time and an 800:1 contrast. Is this a good monitor or not?

Another monitor I was looking at was the Samsung 19" LCD, but it seems like it has a few things a bit worse about it like 700:1 contrast and 8ms, yet it costs a reasonabl amount more.

Thanks, From Josh

I stumbled upon a discovery in my quest to buy a monitor. I wanted to get it online since its much cheaper. I can't recommend my monitor since I can't find a price like I got it anywhere. but, things to keep in mine
contrast ratio don't listen to it. Yea you get the same brand some type of monitor the higher the contrast ratio the better but, I kinda figured it to be like clock speeds on video cards.
Overall it should mean more. Most companies realize people with half a brain know the contrast ratio being better since well it should be. So they get bogus numbers or the contrast is there but the vividness isn't.
What I did and learned
I took an sd card to best buy, office depot and circuit city. Loaded up a gorgeous picture on the monitors one that expresses blacks whites blues browns and reds. (it was a flower kinda gay but, hey its the best test) And got all the monitors they had that newegg tigerdirect and a few others such as frys. Loaded the pic and compared side by side to see what was actually better. response time I limited to 5ms gtg.
Samsungs entry monitor was the best pic out of the price range. better than acer hanns and envision. I forgot who else I tested since I was quickly narrowed down to them. I got my acer x221wsd from an open box item. Whether its retired or what I don't know but, it was better than the samsungs under 300.

quality is samsung then acer from what I've seen
Samsung was the clear winner in almost everything. BUT Acer is quite close its not a running lead. Either one of those will satisfy you I'm sure. In 5 mins I'll upload a pic using my monitor vs a laptop with a decent screen. I'll turn up the brightness for the pic so you can see a difference.
As I got the acer x22 series this was better than the 2220wm

 

[Joshmcmillan]

Did you compare with the BenQ's?? AUD$310 is pretty cheap for a 22" Widescreen LCD, 700:1 contrast, 5ms, 1680x1050 and 3 years on site warranty.

Is it worth $60 more to go from 800:1 to 700:1 (downgrade) but go from 19" to 22"??

 

[hercules71185]

pics

I don't use this background on either computer but, it shows the difference

 

[hercules71185]

yea the pics show a screen almost identical to the samsung only SLIGHTLY better. Like look close in person to see. I can zoom in or whatever I just wanted to show you the contrast difference. But, the BenQ was tested against too and one of the first ones knocked off. If you are going from something else you will be grateful I promise. But, in comparison its not in the same catagory as the acer al22 or samsung22 from what I've seen. I'm not to familier with AUD but, send a site that in for your country and I'll find something that I tested. If I don't see anything I will be honest I'm not making money from this haha. Just helping out
I'm not sure if you have sites like newegg I'm sure you don't since its one of a kind. But, the price of the good monitors on there are the same as what you are going to pay for the benQ.

 

[Specsaver]

iiyama make great monitors. Got my 22" wide screen exactly a year ago and have no complaints. 22WS is my model. I do not trust ACER in general for their built quality. They are affordable though

 

[hercules71185]

hmm I've never heard anything about acer being bad. Maybe its model or goes bad but, iiyama? I've never heard of them. What sites sell it? Anything in america?

ps I found it and seems to be pretty localized to the UK. What brands can you get?

 

[Specsaver]

To be fair I have no experiences with ACER monitors but enough bad experiences with ACER laptops. Possibly I should not generalize on brand quality, but that's what brands are for, arent they?

Iiyama is a worldwide company:
http://www.iiyama.com

They used to make pro monitors and visual equipment only, but they manufacture general use monitors now, too. They have several 19" and 22" models, look them up. My 22" has contrast of 1000:1 and costed me 300 bucks last year. It is ProLite series that is affordable, great value for the price. Even Germans gave it a few awards:
http://www.iiyama.com/us/default.asp?SID=&LNG=US&NAV=236&PCAT=2&PROD=6607&PARAMS=AWARDS

 

[hercules71185]

(when I said acer I meant the monitor line)
I have checked up some stuff since you said about iiyama and they do look like good monitors the reviews are awesome. and as for acer laptops.. Yea its like emachines lol. They are just made cheap. Every company usually has entry level that suck for some its worse than others. Then some companies skip the entry level and are known as better because the cheapest lines are always compared. But, if you up the cost its usually good. I can't really explain it to well if you understand good. If not sorry. I know what I mean but, can't get it out into words easily.

Simply put acer makes cheap laptops. You get what you pay for. They DO suck. They don't even really make good quality ones.

the brand iiyama. Made high line models that are really good. Then came down to a decent line of affordability. And are still good.
In generalization the 2 competition monitors in the 200-300 range is iiyama that I haven't got to see in person yet. And samsung. Acer does follow behind samsung tho they aren't bad. If anyone has seen the same price range comparisons then it would be a big help on those 2. For now your best bet is.
Try to contact customer support saying you have a problem with your monitor and something stupid like dead pixels. Whoever has the best support is a good way to narrow it down too. Just in case something actually happens to your monitor.

 

[JousteR]

Here is a big low down on monitors of all sizes..Mainly for any info needed..Click here.

 

[AsRock]

Well what i did is to visit all computer shops in your area then buy it of newegg saved me $80. I nearly did not buy mine due to how they had it set up wrong completely so talked them in to hooking it up on the DVI cable as well. Amazing when you show them ready cash what they will do.

All though wish i went for a 24"+ though just a size thing monitor is sweet ansd had np's with games what so ever.. o yeah mine was $299 of newegg at the time a saving of $100 compared to Compusa.

 

[hercules71185]

my 22"

I had a 19"crt. And not widescreen. I still find it hard to use the screen sometimes. I got my mozilla on the left a movie on the top right and the bottom right is my IM. If I close something out then I leave space. As before I always was cluttered and closing windows and feeling like I had no space.

 

[Joshmcmillan]

Hi,

umart.net is the shop I like to use, because it is close to my brother and I have other things I need to buy from there as well (Inno3D 8600gt).

That site you gave me says that for gaming, the samsung 940bw plus or any other monitor with a 4ms responce time is good. The Asus VW222U has 2ms response time and a 2000:1 contrast. It says that the contrast is from grey to grey, is this what other monitors are measured in?

How is ASUS in terms of making monitors in general. I don't think they even make there own monitors, does anyone know who makes them for them? Are they a reliable brand because remember, reliability is the MOST IMPORTANT factor whenever I buy something basically.

Would it be worth the $100 or so extra to go 22" over 19"?


Thanks, From Josh

 

[hercules71185]

the monitor

the monitor is one of the most important parts of the system. Altho it doesn't increase performance. It makes everything you put into your computer look like it can. When you get a monitor that looks great the games,movies,pics look better than ever and lets you truly see what you paid for. Don't slack on it. I never had a good one but, always had a nice comp since I never saw a reason for it until recently. Then I decided to just get one and I am glad I shopped around.

 

[Darknova]

I just bought a Dell 20.1" E207WFP and it's fantastic (I've only tested it out...my dad bought it me for Xmas and he wont let me have it until then ).

When buying a monitor never ever buy them online without seeing that exact model in real life.

The specifications mean nothing at all. Every manufacturer uses different tests to get the specs they put on their websites etc so you can't compare them directly (well except for ones of the same brand and year, so you could compare all Dells of 2007 etc.).

I've never ever had a problem with Dells, they are pretty expensive, but IMO are worth the money. Especially as we still have 2 of the FIRST ever Dell TFTs (Now that's longevity)

 

[antzen]

i bought a LG L227WT last month :
LCD , 22" , contrast 5000:1 , 2ms , 330euro (in Germany)

http://www.lge.com/products/model/detail/l227wt_1_6.jhtml

 

[hercules71185]

330 euros?

isn't that over 430 dollars now? haha damn!!!! That better be a good monitor. But, LG do tend to be pretty good. 5000:1? I think that is dynamic not static. I could be wrong but, that is the old measurement.

 

[Joshmcmillan]

Ok, I understand about the quality now.

I need to know about reliability. I can't afford to be buying them over and over again. $310 is around 15 lawns for me to mow. That is 30 weeks and nearly a year for me to make that much money. I want something that will last. Can someone tell me the absolute BEST brands in terms of reliability.

 

[hercules71185]

both samsung and acer have the 3 year warranty. I'm not sure about iiyama. DO NOT GET ENVISION!!!!!!! DO NOT GET SCEPTRE!!!!! I've owned the envision and it went out. took 3 months to get them to tell me it can't be fixed only replaced and wanted 30 dollars for shipping back a new one. I ended up getting a credit back on my card for it. but, DAMN it was horrible. I've heard the same bad stuff about the sceptre.
LCD's these days aren't like the older reviews you will encounter. They don't really fade out like they used to and ghosting isn't bad on even the cheapest ones. If anyone has more experience with monitors and their lasting qualities write on here I am curious for myself

 

[hercules71185]

I just noticed something. You don't have a video card only integrated? Does it have DVI output?

 

[ex_reven]

Ok, I understand about the quality now.

I need to know about reliability. I can't afford to be buying them over and over again. $310 is around 15 lawns for me to mow. That is 30 weeks and nearly a year for me to make that much money. I want something that will last. Can someone tell me the absolute BEST brands in terms of reliability.

If you want to know quality, dont focus on the brand of the Screen itself. What you want to do is focus on the actual LCD panel used in the screen.
Wile E hooked me up a while back with this http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/.

Use it to search for monitors you like, you can then discover what panel the monitor is using, which allows you to find cheaper alternative monitors within the same specifications (generally). Example, the 24" Acer I just bought uses the same panel as a Benq monitor thats almost double its cost.

 

[Wile E]

Here's a good article to read to help understand that there are actually different types of panels, and what their characteristics are. http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/panel_technologies.htm

I also agree with others to ignore manufacturers contrast ratings, I'll go one step further and tell you to ignore response times as well. Almost all modern panels are fast enough for gaming now. The important specs are # of colors, and viewing angles. The better panels have 170+ viewing angles.

LG and Samsung make some of the best panels, and they're actually used in many other manufacturer's monitors.

I lean towards LG's top end panels. The color reproduction is second to none. These panels are used in the Apple Cinema Displays, some of the Dell Ultra Sharp monitors, and almost every 30" monitor you see on the market

 

[Joshmcmillan]

I just noticed something. You don't have a video card only integrated? Does it have DVI output?

Hi,
My integrated does have a DVI input, but I am buying an Inno3D 8600GT probably at the same time anyway.

That site didn't say the brand of the panel when I searched. It just said something like 22" TM Panel.
Are BenQ, Samsung, LG and Acer the 4 best brands? What order do people think they go in?

Oh, and on the product description on the Umart site about the BenQ FP222W 22" LCD Monitor, it says, "Viewing Angle 170/160 (CR>=10)".

 

[fairytale00]

Get a Samsung 226BW 22 inch Widescreen , it is great.

 

[hercules71185]

I'm getting rid of a leadtek 8600gt haha. If you play games then I wouldn't recommend the 86 anymore. It used to be great. But, all these new games are harder to run AND 1680 x 1050 makes it hard to even max out oblivion on the card. If you just want to be able to play the games on med settings then its a good card. But, most people won't play it if they can't run it full