What to look for in a monitor?

[Das Bruce]

I'm sick of my heavy, squeeling 19" CRT. I've got a bit of money now and I want to upgrade to something ideally shiny, reliable and not too expensive. What do you guys recommend I look out for? Marketing gimicks to avoid, good deals atm etc.

For example, I'm considering this one. http://www.etccomputers.co.nz/shop/main ... p?pid=1133

[Petah]

I always buy the cheapest LCD I can get. They are really not 'much' different that any other, and a hell of a lot better than a CRT.

This is the one I just bought a month ago:
http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p ... ild-in-Spe

Its fine, the one minor thing is that the menu is all symbols (I'm guessing its for internationalization)

I had a view sonic before that. It had an ever so slight blue fuzz on it when playing high quality dark games.

The one you linked looks pretty good.

And http://pricespy.co.nz/ is your friend. You could get 2 x 20" screen for a little bit more.

[BaNa]

the panel type of the lcd can be important, they differ in viewing angle, color gamut, black quality and response time. Rule of thumb is that unless it is expressly stated that a monitor has an ips or a pvi panel, it has a tn+film one.

I have an ips monitor atm and i really like it, but it was pricey.

I would recommend going the 24 inch, 1920*1200 route or above that.

edit: if you are willing to spend this much money, here is a good ips monitor. It is the little bro of mine.

[koshi]

dell ultrasharp 20" 4:3 aspect ratio
Got two of those (older models) side by side, making for a 3200x1200 desktop resolution. Image quality is superb, got some nice connectivity options too.

[Machete234]

If it can be a bit more expensive, look for ergonomics
especially if youre tall.

[Beherith]

Buy cheap, get two.

[KaiserJ]

i'm +1 for buy cheap

but make sure to actually examine the monitor in-store, as well as look at reviews. something not often mentioned it seems (unless ofc the monitor does very well with it) is viewing angle; if you want the monitor to double as a screen for movies for example you want it viewable from angles other than directly ahead.

dead pixels can be a problem, sometimes cheap monitors ship with them (quality control in some companies allows for several dead pixels, how messed is that) but really the important thing is to find out how easy it is to fix dead pixels on that particular model.

often statements about response time are fabricated (esp in a non-premium brand) but at the same time, if you're coming from a 19" CRT, then you a) probably dont care between 3ms and 4ms b) will be crying with joy regardless

that monitor you've linked to has built-in speakers, surely you don't need those....

[Floris]

http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/product ... dellSearch

21.5 " IPS lcd from Dell, 8ms, it can pivot and is in hight adjustable
DVI & DisplayPort (no hdmi)
it costs 260 euro / 280 usa $ / 600 nz $

I'm using it myself now, i used to have 2 diffrent 24" monitors before but I actually find them too big and am happy with my 21.5 "one now. It's actualy pretty cheap for a IPS lcd panel too


(when i convert 600 nz $ it results 340 euro/467 usa $. whats up with that)
But in usa you pay 90 dollar less for it than in europe too but still the nz pay even more than that.

[Neddie]

I try to stay with solid brands - Acer, for instance - and buy on sale.

[BaNa]

i just linked a dell 23 inch ips for 499 nz. Seems like a better deal than the 21 inch one for 600. I dunno about double monitors, i had on use for a second one when i had it attached.

[Jazcash]

Personally, I'd get a real quality monitor of decent size regardless of cost. It pays back in terms of use and increased productivity in no time, at least, mine did for me.

My monitor

[very_bad_soldier]

In terms of productivity dual screen outperforms any single screen setup, no matter how large the single screen is. Just because you need two independent screens to be able really work with stuff.
If you also want it to look nice buy a monitor with aluminium/metal "feet" (dunno whats the term), those plastic crap gives a bad feeling on your desktop, but that may be my personal taste.

[Wombat]

basicly same i said about TV's (same components, different box). i got same BENQ since couple of years and no issues so far.

[KaiserJ]

BENQ

that's a pretty solid brand, they were real madrids shirt sponsor AND assisted the rearmament of germany after WW1. maybe if they're cheap its because they still use labor camps somewhere >_>

[Wombat]

:D tbh im suprised anyone know BENQ. never seen any other of their stuff.

[KaiserJ]

well, its benq/siemens... over here at least we have a lot of cel phones and small appliances (house phone, alarm clock etc) and in my old work the phone system was siemens too (so they are selling big over here, not on just an individual customer scale)

can't say i ever saw a benq label on anything, but i defenitely recognize the brand thanks to football

edit: zyklon B was a siemens product

[Wombat]

edit: zyklon B was a siemens product

one of these things u can impress ur friends with in the pub.

[MidKnight]

Buy cheap, get two.

+1

Ask for Aegis' advice, he knows a lot about these things.
Wait for deals. $250 displays occasionally go on sale for $180 or even less! That'll let you get 2 displays for a little over $300, and multiple displays is wonderful.

[very_bad_soldier]

edit: zyklon B was a siemens product

Source of that?

[Wombat]

wikipedia i bet !