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New monitor, Need your input
- Thread starter xit
- Start date
acewarlock
Technical User
I don't like the wide screen LCD, I gave my wife mine and got myself a 17" standard LCD. Now I'm happy.
This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.
This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.
Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.
This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.
This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.
Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.
Nelviticus
Programmer
LCD monitors have come on in leaps and bounds over the last few years and there are now lots of good ones. If you're not going to be using it for photo editing then even a cheapo one should be good enough as they tend to have bright, vibrant colours. What they don't tend to have is a good colour range, so in very dark and very bright areas of photos you will lose some detail.
At home I have a good-quality main monitor and a cheapo secondary one and although photos look great on the second one, it really does lose contrast at the bright and dark ends. I was looking at a photo of a forest and on the cheap monitor and the shadowy places looked black; drag it over to the good screen and you could see all the bushes there.
That said, if I only had the cheap one I would have been very happy with it as it does look good.
I prefer widescreen as it's a more natural aspect ratio for your eyes - human vision is widescreen after all. However you have to bear in mind that a 19-inch widescreen monitor will be considerably shorter vertically than a 19-inch 'normal' monitor since the 19 inches are measured diagonally. To get the same vertical height as a 19-inch 'normal' monitor you'd need to go for a 22-inch widescreen.
Regards
Nelviticus
At home I have a good-quality main monitor and a cheapo secondary one and although photos look great on the second one, it really does lose contrast at the bright and dark ends. I was looking at a photo of a forest and on the cheap monitor and the shadowy places looked black; drag it over to the good screen and you could see all the bushes there.
That said, if I only had the cheap one I would have been very happy with it as it does look good.
I prefer widescreen as it's a more natural aspect ratio for your eyes - human vision is widescreen after all. However you have to bear in mind that a 19-inch widescreen monitor will be considerably shorter vertically than a 19-inch 'normal' monitor since the 19 inches are measured diagonally. To get the same vertical height as a 19-inch 'normal' monitor you'd need to go for a 22-inch widescreen.
Regards
Nelviticus
acewarlock
Technical User
That's why I don't like the Wide screens, I have to scroll down to much to see everything.
This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.
This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.
Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.
This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.
This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.
Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.
Nelviticus
Programmer
Yup, I have my secondary monitor in portrait mode and it's great for reading documents and viewing most web sites.
However if you only want one monitor and want it for "general use, internet & email mostly", portrait mode wouldn't be ideal.
For that kind of use I'd recommend a cheap 19-inch normal monitor or a 22-inch widescreen one in landscape mode. Just check the user reviews on the site you buy it from to make sure the one you're buying isn't a horrible turkey. My cheap one is a HannsG and I'm very happy with it.
Regards
Nelviticus
However if you only want one monitor and want it for "general use, internet & email mostly", portrait mode wouldn't be ideal.
For that kind of use I'd recommend a cheap 19-inch normal monitor or a 22-inch widescreen one in landscape mode. Just check the user reviews on the site you buy it from to make sure the one you're buying isn't a horrible turkey. My cheap one is a HannsG and I'm very happy with it.
Regards
Nelviticus
Check the resoultion before you buy. Many wide screens (even enormous ones) are only 1440x900. This has less vertical height than a standard 1280x1024. May be OK for some things. Check the resolutions before you buy. The current ones are
1280x800
1440x900
1680x1050
1920x1200
2560x1600
Some of them can also be rotated, which is great for word processing. Hitachi or Sony or some Japanese make brought out rotating monitors 20 years ago but they didn't catch on.
Before you get the 2560x1600, make sure the graphics card can take it.
Also, check what the shop will take back when n pixels don't work. Find out what n is. I know that Iiyama won't take a monitor back unless more than 10 pixels are dead.
1280x800
1440x900
1680x1050
1920x1200
2560x1600
Some of them can also be rotated, which is great for word processing. Hitachi or Sony or some Japanese make brought out rotating monitors 20 years ago but they didn't catch on.
Before you get the 2560x1600, make sure the graphics card can take it.
Also, check what the shop will take back when n pixels don't work. Find out what n is. I know that Iiyama won't take a monitor back unless more than 10 pixels are dead.
When I bought my monitor I did the math and determined the ACTUAL size of the monitor (Pythagorean theorem, thanks marketing folks) and then made a paper template that exact size. I taped that over my existing monitor to see the difference.
A technology you should be made aware of is LED backlighting on some of the newer models...it is the way of the future. Currently LCD monitors use Cold Cathode tubes to illuminate the screen from the sides/top. LED backlighting replaces the CCF tubes with an array of white LEDs directly behind the screen. This gives better, stronger, more adjustable backlighting and allows for truer blacks. It also eliminates the "stuck pixels" or "bright dots" that can occur with CCF backlighting.
I also recommend a mounting arm like this:
It makes moving the monitor (including rotating into portrait mode) much easier and I won't have a monitor without one, just make sure your new monitor is VESA compliant, most are.
Tony
"Buy what you like, or you'll be forced to like what you buy"...me
A technology you should be made aware of is LED backlighting on some of the newer models...it is the way of the future. Currently LCD monitors use Cold Cathode tubes to illuminate the screen from the sides/top. LED backlighting replaces the CCF tubes with an array of white LEDs directly behind the screen. This gives better, stronger, more adjustable backlighting and allows for truer blacks. It also eliminates the "stuck pixels" or "bright dots" that can occur with CCF backlighting.
I also recommend a mounting arm like this:
It makes moving the monitor (including rotating into portrait mode) much easier and I won't have a monitor without one, just make sure your new monitor is VESA compliant, most are.
Tony
"Buy what you like, or you'll be forced to like what you buy"...me
I've bought probably 20 19in Hanns-G Monitors from Newegg and they have been excellent for general use. They also have a 3 year warranty, but I have not had to try and make use of it.
For budget monitors, best reviews I have read (and I own two) are the Samsung SyncMaster BW 22xx series. I have the 2205 and 2225. These are old tech but reasonable.
If you're looking for the latest and best look for LED backlighting, my next LCD will have it.
Tony
"Buy what you like, or you'll be forced to like what you buy"...me
If you're looking for the latest and best look for LED backlighting, my next LCD will have it.
Tony
"Buy what you like, or you'll be forced to like what you buy"...me
Tony just recently discovered that Samsung use some
Chemei panels with their SyncMaster series
for example my model number is 940BW [R] C
C being for Chemie S for Samsung I have had a
horrour run with a Polyview V398 (Chemei panel)
and have vowed never to buy another which as
it would seem is exactly what I have done
Chemei panels with their SyncMaster series
for example my model number is 940BW [R] C
C being for Chemie S for Samsung I have had a
horrour run with a Polyview V398 (Chemei panel)
and have vowed never to buy another which as
it would seem is exactly what I have done
- Thread starter
- #15
Thank you all for your replies as they guided me to make a choice of what to purchase. I went with the Hanns 19" non-wide screen due to reviews I have read & the three year warranty.
I am sure there are many good monitors available, I just had to choose one.
again thanks all
xit
I am sure there are many good monitors available, I just had to choose one.
again thanks all
xit
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