20" Widescreen LCD - which one

[trueimage]

I am in the market for a new monitor and I'm gonna go with around 20" Wide LCD.

I am looking at a couple models:

$410 Samsung SyncMaster 205BW 20in Widescreen LCD w/ DVI, 6ms, Black, 600:1 Contrast

$440 LG Flatron L203WTX 20in Widescreen LCD w/ DVI, 8ms, 1400:1 Contrast, Silver-Black

$389 Viewsonic VX2025wm 20.1in Widescreen LCD w/ DVI, 8ms, Speakers, Black-Silver , 800:1 Contrast

The prices are all in CDN $ and before tax, at a local shop to avoid shipping. I think they pricematch, but their prices seem good for Canada.

I was leaning to the Samsung at first because I have a Samsung CRT and HDTV and I like them both. But I really want to get the best for my money. I don't want to go above $450 CDN.

Any other models in the price range will be considered and any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[essasin]

The sammy is always a good choice. You could always try getting a dell branded lcd. The 2007fpw is fairly cheap.

 

[trueimage]

Dell prices in canada ... suck

The 2007 WFP as it is labelled here, is $599.99 plus shipping and tax.

 

[Skott]

Best bang for buck is probably the VX2025wm My understanding is that the only thing better than it currently is the NEC but I admit I'm not really sure how the Samsung stacks up against it in performance. I have the VX2025 so I know its good. I'd say you can definetly narrow it down to the VX20225wm and the 205BW. I'd lean towards the VX2025 but thats just me. Is the lower 2ms worth the extra $21? Hard to say.

 

[tweaker54321]

i own a VX2025WM and the monitor is simply awesome. perfect for gaming.

 

[Noubourne]

Later this week I'll be buying a VX2025 myself, so chalk my vote up for that one. Not many frills, but a great LCD for a great price.

 

[RaiderJ]

I like my 2005FPW - you can find them used on the forums fairly regulary.

 

[trueimage]

So the VX2025 is nice... and 6ms versus 8ms, what does that affect?

 

[Gautama2]

Lower refresh rates ( The 6ms and 8ms ratings are refresh rates) prevent ghosting, though i have never seen ghosting on a 12 ms, so id say those are overkill.

 

[trueimage]

ok thanks...

so VX2025 owners... does it run at 1680x1050 @ 75Hz or what refresh rate?

Thanks

 

[Running]

i think all lcd's run at 60hz refresh rate.

 

[trueimage]

How is that for eye strain / gaming performance... or with LCDs is it just set 60 Hz and the refresh rate in ms rating is what you go by? 6ms, 8ms, 12ms... I have seen some 2ms and 3ms too.

 

[Skott]

I noticed with LCDs that they are typically brighter than a regular CRT on average so you may need to adjust the brightness down to keep from straining your eyes. Other than that though the view is sweetness! I'm never going back to CRTs!

 

[SparkyJJO]

60Hz on a LCD is different than a CRT.

60Hz CRT = whole screen refreshes 60 times per second
60Hz LCD = each pixel refreshes 60 times per second

I came from using a CRT @ 100Hz to an LCD @ 60Hz. I get less eyestrain on my LCD which by the way is the viewsonic VX2025wm Awesome LCD, 8 bit panel = perfect color, 8ms response time = almost non-existent motion blur/ghosting, wide viewing angles, I love it

 

[Noubourne]

Yeah LCD's don't really have a "refresh rate" per se. And those 6ms/8ms/12ms figures are usually measured differently, so they're pretty meaningless too. Read some reviews if you have concerns.

For the price, it's hard to beat the VX2025 in the 20" WS category though. There are better panels at 20" widescreen... for twice the price...

Seems silly to me to shell out more than a few bills for something that's likely to be worth next-to-nothing 3 years from now regardless of what size it is. If I had a grand to throw away though, I probably would. But I don't. Well, not on an LCD, anyway!

 

[trueimage]

Amazing response for the viewsonic, and its the cheapest! I think you've convinced me.

I think the thing I like most about LCDs is they auto config and adjust the picture size on the screen. My CRTs always have black space or get distorted or reset on their own... annoying!

 

[thescreensavers]

I am goign to get the Viewsonic VX2025wm 20.1in Widescreen LCD w/ DVI, 8ms, Speakers, Black-Silver , 800:1 Contrast

 

[roemer21]

Look at newegg for the VX2025. Nice prices there! I decided to go with the VX2025 as well, so we'll see how it does.

 

[tjpark1111]

im holding out for a 2007FPW to go on sale because
1)i actually need all those inputs
2)the thing has a scaler so I can play my old school games(starcraft, etc.) at 4:3 without any distortion, or if in the future I have to drop down to a lower resolution for better performance and still run it unstretched. This is the big problem of VX2025wm for me, and has been discussed extensively in the forums.

 

[acegazda]

another good thing about the above mentioned viewsonice is that it is often available at local retailers for cheap after MIR's usually $300 after MIR. Office depot had this a few weeks ago, hope it comes back around when I need one.

 

[ltcdata]

could you explain to me why the dell is better than the viewsonic?
i'm deciding on those two displays, and the scaler that you mention keeps me intrigued.

 

[tjpark1111]

I've said them already but I'll just point it out again
what i think the dell has over the viewsonic
1)the dell has many more inputs you could use including USB ports, a composite input, and an s-video input.
2)the dell is also HDCP compliant if you want to view HD videos on this monitor in the future.
3)backlight bleeding issue of vx2025wm may be annoying, it seems that people say if you move your head a bit to the side and look at the monitor you won't see the backlight bleeding as much, but I don't care. It's not like I would put my head to the side all the time. Dell's serious banding issues are now mostly fixed I think with a new firmware.
4)Faroudja DCDi technology for better picture through every mode except desktop mode to get rid of the banding.
5)Biggest factor - scaler. Standard videos can be viewed as 4:3 even on the viewsonic because of the media player, but apps such as games(4:3) that have a set resolution cannot display properly on the viewsonic and will be stretched. It seems that there is a solution using the video card, but recent 7900 series cards have been having problems using this solution, as well as ATI cards. The Dell can set it so that a game will display with its proper aspect ratio in 4:3, with black bars on the sides instead of everything being stretched. This is the biggest advantage for me since many games still don't support widescreen and some never will. I bet in some situations with videos it might help as well, and that's why I'm holding out for a sale. It may be $20-$30 more expensive, but for my case, it's well worth the extra money.

 

[broly8877]

Recently purchased a Dell 2007fpw ($352 shipped), and it's fantastic!

No banding from what I can tell. Good colors, no ghosting, no deal pixels.
Uneven lighting though :/

The biggest selling points this monitor had over the viewsonic were:

1) The stand. Height is adjustable, tilt, rotate, etc. Awesome.
2) USB Ports
3) Svideo/Composite
4) PIP/PBP
5) Scaling, 1:1/4:3, etc.

 

[Skott]

I havent heard of anyone complaining about the scaling with the ViewSonic. Tj is the first to bring it up that I have seen. I suppose it could be an issue if play older games. Of course if you dont then its a moot point. Might want to find out what games though are an issue before deciding. The Dell does have more features. It also has had alot of problems if you believe the threads about them posted in the Video section. Everything from backlighting problems, to dead pixels, to banding problems with the screen. I heard the banding problem was fixed though. No LCD is perfect. They all have their likes and dislikes. Check out the LCD thread in the Video section of these forums. I found it very helpful when I made my choice. Xknight has been keeping it updated.

 

[tjpark1111]

ftw!!!
get a windows 95 with blackheart board
its noice and amazingly efficient