looking to buy an lcd monitor

memory

memory

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Right now I am in the market for a good lcd monitor. What kind of brands should I look for? I have heard that Dell's are pretty good. I would like to have a 17 inch.

What kind of numbers should I look for? I know that higher the contrast ratio, the better. But I don't know about anything else. This will be used for gaming, surfing the internet and other stuff.

I would like to keep the price under around 150 or less. I will probably buy it off ebay unless there is a cheaper place that sells them.
 
I agree with samsung, however, I will not buy a monitor I have not seen with my own eyes, stats don't always mean it looks good to you.
 
Question, will I notice a difference in between VGA and DVI hookup? I heard that DVI is better. I noticed the last link I posted does not have DVI. Should I try and get one with DVI or is it no big deal?

How good will the link above be for gaming and could I mount this one on a wall or do I have to buy something else? I am really thinking about buying this one.

On the contrast ratio, the higher the better right? For example would 1000:1 be better than 500:1 or is it the other way around?
 
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memory said:
Question, will I notice a difference in between VGA and DVI hookup? I heard that DVI is better. I noticed the last link I posted does not have DVI. Should I try and get one with DVI or is it no big deal?

How good will the link above be for gaming and could I mount this one on a wall or do I have to buy something else? I am really thinking about buying this one.

On the contrast ratio, the higher the better right? For example would 1000:1 be better than 500:1 or is it the other way around?
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Yes 1000:1 is better than 500:1 and as far as DVI or VGA there is not a noticeable difference in quality, most will say that, however, it is said that DVI is better. DVI is becoming the standard though. An adapter is quite easy to find and cheap.
 
I have been looking at 19 inch monitors and notice the resolution is different than 17 inch. On the 17 inch it is 1280 by 1024 and the 19 inch is 1440 by 900. Which resolution would be better? That may be a dumb question but I want to make sure I buy the right monitor.

Also I noticed that the response time is quicker on 19 inch models. Why is that? I would have thought it would be slower because it has more space to cover than a 17 inch.
 
memory said:
I have been looking at 19 inch monitors and notice the resolution is different than 17 inch. On the 17 inch it is 1280 by 1024 and the 19 inch is 1440 by 900. Which resolution would be better? That may be a dumb question but I want to make sure I buy the right monitor.

Also I noticed that the response time is quicker on 19 inch models. Why is that? I would have thought it would be slower because it has more space to cover than a 17 inch.
Click to expand...

1440X900 is actually a widescreen resolution, at 16:10 ratio. I think you are looking at 19in monitors like this one-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824254005
(which is what i have, would highly reccomend if you want widescreen). Most 19in normal aspect ratio monitors are still at 1280X1024.
 
My dad just got acer monitors for his office that look pretty decent.

I use sceptre's at home, and they look amazing. Much better than i expected, honestly.

They might have something in you price range after rebate.
 
I found another I am interested in that is widescreen. Is widescreen better than normal or is it just a personal perfence?
Also, how would I check to see if my video card supports widescreen? It is a nvidia 6800gs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824254001

Also, which stores would be the place to go and look at them before I buy? Would Best Buy have a good selection to look at? I would like to look at them before I buy.

Which other brands do you recommend besides Viewsonic and Samsung? I am really considering Hanns G because of the warranty.

Right now I don't know if I want widescreen or standard. What about playing games? Will games take up the whole screen? This may be a dumb question but on the widescreen will I see less up and down and more sideways? For example, on a spreadsheet in Excel, will I see less lines vertical and more to the side?
 
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I am considering buying the widescreen model of the Hanns G but I don't know if my video card will support the resolution. I assume it would because it is not that old of a card. How do I find out if the card will support the resolution?
 
Your video card probably does support 1440x900...what brand is it (not Nvidia...but like evga, asus, etc).

I personally have both the Samsung 730B and the HannsG 191DPB (which is nominated for a Newegg customer choice award, btw). The picture quality in both are superb.

As for DVI vs VGA, I did notice a big difference on my Samsung when I switched it from VGA to DVI. Previously, when I set my monitor to 1280x1024, it looked fuzzy and gave me a headache. When I switched it to DVI, it looked crystal clear, and no headache, just superb picture quality. Since the HannsG is on VGA, I cannot say the same thing, although it is currently on 1440x900 with a VGA input, and when web browsing on that monitor it's fine.

As for your question regarding widescreen in games, all you do is in the display configurations settings for the game, you select the resolution that the monitor is running at (1440x900) and it will format the video appropriately.

Best Buy might have a decent assortment of monitors, but most likely they won't have HannsG...they'd have well-known brands such as Samsung, Sony, etc.

As for your 16" Dell CRT, you won't get much for it, considering it's a CRT. Your best bet is probably to list it on ebay, where you will get about $50 for it, and maybe a little extra in shipping ;).
 
Well I made my decision and went with the Hanns G 19 inch widescreen, there is a link for it above. I just hope I did not make a mistake buying widescreen over standard. One reason I bought it because it was the cheapest. Should be here by tommorow:) Can't wait.

As for my video card, it is a PNY Verto.

One other thing, I was looking at 15 inch models(not for me) and I noticed the response time is a lot slower than 19 inch models. Why is that? I figured the smaller the screen, the quicker the response time because it has less area to cover.
 
Probably because the people buying larger screens expect or need better performance, considering the average user is probably most likely to buy a smaller screen, as compared to a gamer or graphics engineer.
 
The speed difference is probably because of different materials composing them...or it's as ETSA said, because 15" monitors are small and the average gamer is going to get something bigger.

As for your graphics card, it supports flat-panel display with resolutions up to 1920x1200, with a maximum display resolution of 2048x1536 @85Hz. So yes, the monitor's resolution is supported by your graphics card.
 
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