HOT??? 18" LCD Monitor $398.97

[GreatBambino]

You can buy from costco.com and return it to any Costco around the world.. and costco has the best return policy too.

 

[skywhr]

believe me the name brand has nothing to do with my choice of which monitor to keep. the microtek is crap and its demonstrated in this thread and by my own side by side comparison.

 

[Engineer]

Well, I opted for the Dell deal too...and glad I did. I had a friend also buy this monitor.....his now has 4 large stripes (bands of off color) from top to bottom of the monitor. They are getting worse and don't go away as the monitor warms up!

Too bad...such a good price....but I guess many of them don't meet very good quality standards.

 

[ozziegn]

Originally posted by: Engineer
I had a friend also buy this monitor.....his now has 4 large stripes (bands of off color) from top to bottom of the monitor. They are getting worse and don't go away as the monitor warms up!

that is a shame. however, I havent had one single issue with mine and its usually running on an average of 16 hours a day with no signs of halos or these stripes that you mentioned. but, I dont know if the reason why I've had such good luck w/ mine is because I have yet to turn the monitor off. I just let it go into standby mode on its own.

BTW, I also went w/ the Dell 1800FP deal which will be here tomorrow. I'm hoping it'll be worth the extra $60 that it cost me over the Microtek.

 

[ozziegn]

anyone else expecting their Dell 1800FP tomorrow (1/29)?

 

[Jennerstein]

Well, I got my Dell 1800FP today, and here's a report on the monitor, and a comparison with the Microtek.

First off, I was wrong, I guess I don't have DVI output on my card, so I wasn't able to compare the DVI output with analog. I guess that'll have to wait until I get a new video card.

Although the Dell seems a bit smaller, because of a thinner bezel, the screen real estate is the same. What I noticed when first powering up the monitor, was that that the Dell seemed a little less bright than the Microtek,. That was a bit of a disappointment. Even at it's brightest setting, the Dell is less brilliant overall.

After booting up Windows XP and inspecting the colors of my desktop, noticed that ClearType did not display properly on this monitor. This is after I went to the Microsoft Website, and adjusted my cleartype settings for BGR, etc. The problem is that with small fonts (8pt or less), letters run together and give off a reddish tone. Quite annoying. The only solutions I found (after trying all 6 different cleartype settings on the website), was either to take off ClearType, or raise the DPI (Display Properties/Settings/Appearance/Advanced). It's also possible that I'll end up just getting used to it. The red is most prominent with a double LL's (i.e. Football). I believe this is a problem with the Dell 1800FP itself, as a poster on ArsTechnica mentioned the same problem with his monitor.

Up until then, my impressions were less than favorable. Then I decided to fire up Counter-strike, Unreal Tournament 2K3 demo, and Jedi Knight II to compare ghosting with the Microtek. This is where the Dell really shined. Ghosting was minimal, and Counter-strike was extremely playable. I compared the two monitors by unplugging my analog cable, and switching forth between the two monitors. On the Microtek, ghosting was so bad, you could see streaks of the player models up to a second after they'd moved. It was like the "haste" affect in Quake III, all the time.

The Dell was stellar, even though both monitors were in a non-native resolution of 1024x768. There was slight ghosting, but not to the extent of being distracting. Gaming was a much more enjoyable experience with less streakness.

Unreal Tournament 2K3 ended up being all right on both monitors, with the Microtek still having evident ghosting with player movement.

Jedi Knight II was also a good test, as I was able to run the game 1280x1024 and determine if the Microtek's ghosting was a result of being a non-native resolution, or the overall quality of the monitor. Ghosting was not as a bad as Counter-strike, but still present. I switched between the Dell and Microtek consistently, and to my eyes, the Microtek's after-image lingered considerably. Going back to the Dell was surprising, as the game seemed much smoother. Barely a hint of ghosting/streaks.

I also did a little bit of websurfing. Bluesnews and ArsTechnica, were my test sites. With the Microtek, the white text on blue would meld into a yellow mush when scrolling fast with the mouse wheel. ArsTechnica would be a light orange. However, the Dell was solid. No blurring of the colors, and text was crisp and readable (it's only in small small font type that you notice the red's with Cleartype).

The only drawback with this monitor, then, is the Cleartype problem. For some, it might not even be a problem. I'll spend time with it for a couple days, and if necessary, remove Cleartype and run it in standard font smoothing.

After comparing the two, the Dell was the clear winner. Ghosting was minimal, and there were no dead pixels (unlike the Microtek, which came with two). Although not an extremely bright monitor, colors are vibrant and I don't seem to miss the brightness level.

At this point, I'm planning on keeping the Dell. I have until Friday to return the Microtek. When comparing the two monitors side by side, running games without the significant ghosting of the Microtek really does make a difference. I'm also happy that there aren't any problems with dead pixels, or halos either. For those who got this monitor at $451, it's a steal.

-Jennerstein

p.s. I'll do some followup posts soon. I still need to test NBA Live 2003 and NOLF2, as well as non-native resolutions.

 

[TekDemon]

psst....the DVI on that Dell will rock =P

My school has way too many Dell UltraSharps running on 15 pin Dsub and it makes my heart cry...running an LCD that has DVI support without DVI should be a crim against humanity.

Trust me when I say this, DVI does to LCD graphics what 10 beers will do to that ugly chick(or dude if you swing that way or are female).

=P

 

[ozziegn]

Jennerstein

thanks for the informative reply.

my 1800FP will also be here today (1/29) so I'm hoping to have the same great results like you did minus the clear type problems. (hehehehe)

however, I'm wondering if that problem will be abscent on mine because I have a 9700 Pro which does have the DVI connection so we'll see.

either way, please post back any further comments so we can compare the two together.

 

[Jennerstein]

Ozzie, for your information, I'm running a G4 MX 420. I know, yuck! But it was the card that came with the $70 Dell Computer. I'm just waiting for the 9700 Pro to hit $250 and then I'll snag one.

One thing that I noticed, in comparison with the Microtek, is that the Dell scales very nicely without a lot of fuzzy interpolation. 1024x768 within games looks almost as good as the native 1280x1024. I was playing NBA Live 2003 and didn't seem to notice the lowering resolution. This is definitely a positive, since I've run across a few games that support 1280x960 not 1280x1024. I wouldn't recommend running your desktop outside of the native res though...it still is slightly blurry.

 

[JohnGer]

Hats off to the ones who got this monitor and love it.


cheers
JohnGer

 

[ozziegn]

Originally posted by: Jennerstein
Ozzie, for your information, I'm running a G4 MX 420. I know, yuck! But it was the card that came with the $70 Dell Computer. I'm just waiting for the 9700 Pro to hit $250 and then I'll snag one.

One thing that I noticed, in comparison with the Microtek, is that the Dell scales very nicely without a lot of fuzzy interpolation. 1024x768 within games looks almost as good as the native 1280x1024. I was playing NBA Live 2003 and didn't seem to notice the lowering resolution. This is definitely a positive, since I've run across a few games that support 1280x960 not 1280x1024. I wouldn't recommend running your desktop outside of the native res though...it still is slightly blurry.

well, I got my 1800FP today and it was love at first site.

all I can say is that the Microtek w/o having DVI doesnt remotely stand a chance and considering it was only $45 cheaper than the Dell, I feel as though the Dell is a MUCH better deal altogether. better looking picture, NO GHOSTING at all, and a thinner frame all equal a much better monitor.

LCD displays truely shine when using DVI vs. analog connections.

*on a side note*

I went to Wally World today to return the Microtek and you wouldnt believe the hell that they put me through.

first off all, the cashier at the electronics department said:

"well sir, we dont even carry that model at this store so I'm gonna have to a get manager to approve the refund."

I said:

"whatever. I have a Wal-Mart reciept meaning it was PURCHASED AT A WAL-MART STORE! now, I do know that Wal-Mart is Wal-Mart so I wouldnt give a rat's a$$ if I had bought this monitor here (central Florida) or in Anchorage, Alaska. Wal-Mart is Wal-Mart and thats all you need to know." - needless to say by this point I was really cooking...

so then the electronics manager gets there and says:

"well, if you bought it at the Orlando store (which is a store thats like 45 miles from our local Wal-Mart where I live) then why are you trying to return it here?"

I said:

"look, I'm not TRYING to return anything. I'm GOING to return something and thats this monitor. I have my Wal-Mart reciept, I'm within my 15 day return period so you're going to return this monitor."

finally, after making this clown (the electronics manager) look like an idiot for 15 minutes straight in front of a quickly growing crowd, he took the monitor and refunded my money. - unfreakin' real. you get some clown that gets a shiney yellow sticker added on to his name tag and he doesnt even know his own store's return policey.

good God...

 

[Jennerstein]

Hmm, interesting story there. I had to wait about 20 minutes for my refund. Cashier called electronics, who didn't come. They she called someone else, who had to call the manager to verify they could refund such a big purchase. THEN, another lady had to come by, and request a LOAN from another person so I could get my money. And they gave it to me all in cash because I'd paid with a check. My wallet was truly fat with that $400 in it. All in twenty dollar bills, LOL.

Anyway, do you have the cleartype problem I do? I wonder if DVI fixes it, or if Window XP's has cleartype issues with the Dell 1800FP.

I don't know how much longer I can hold out from buying a new video card, with my price point being $250. I really want to upgrade, but I know prices are falling soon with the advent of the Geforce FX (even if it isn't as stellar as people thought). I wonder if I should buy now, or wait until next month.

 

[Engineer]

Well, after playing with the Dell 18" Ultrasharp, I would agree with the review (by Jennerstein above) 100%. The brightness was quite a bit less than the Microtek, but nothing that a little "video card" gamma and brightness/contrast setting wouldn't fix. The game play (UT2K3 mostly) was much better on the Dell than the Microtek. At non native resolution (something I almost have to do because this PC has an old Radeon Card installed...yuck), the Dell killed the Microtek. The ghosting/blurring was almost non exsistant compared to the Microtek. The Microtek tended to blur more than ghost (to my eyes) on a non native resolution....but the Dell doesn't. Also, the "ghosting" of the text (i.e. a white outline side by side with dark text) from the Microtek isn't present on the Dell. The ghosting is a result of the KVM switch installed (verified by hooking directly to PC, but would prefer to keep KVM hooked up because of the other two PC's ), but the Dell overrides this problem (probably a clock/phase adjustment).

One other note....another friend (now two out of 3) has a dead row of pixels. He, along with the 3rd friend, have also decided to return the monitor. It's just too much money to risk on a monitor that has stripes/lines on two out of four.

Good Luck to those of you who have this monitor and may it be of good service to you for years to come....I just couldn't risk it.

Oh, and thanks to Jennerstein for the excellent Dell review...it is right on.

 

[JohnGer]

LOL. enjoy your dells. I got better quality for cheaper. As for the red stripes and etc. I didn't know that you could screw up a monitor. LOL.

cheers
JohnGer

 

[007bond]

Originally posted by: JohnGer
LOL. enjoy your dells. I got better quality for cheaper. As for the red stripes and etc. I didn't know that you could screw up a monitor. LOL.

cheers
JohnGer

Are you for real? Several people have posted reviews stating that the Dell performs much better for them. The consensus seems to be that the Dell is a better LCD. You are entitled to your opinion though. And what's with the "LOL" every other word...you must laugh for no reason a lot.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: JohnGer
LOL. enjoy your dells. I got better quality for cheaper. As for the red stripes and etc. I didn't know that you could screw up a monitor. LOL.

cheers
JohnGer

I got the Dell for a whole $17 more (after tax, shipping, etc) than the Microtek. I don't mind the extra money for the extra quality. I'm not saying that the Microtek is bad...especially for the price, just two out of 4 have been bad here so far and others have issues also. I'm very happy to those who have great service from these units and are happy. Simply, I'm a tad happier with the Dell unti ($17.00 worth)!

 

[ozziegn]

Originally posted by: 007bond

Originally posted by: JohnGer
LOL. enjoy your dells. I got better quality for cheaper. As for the red stripes and etc. I didn't know that you could screw up a monitor. LOL.

cheers
JohnGer

Are you for real? Several people have posted reviews stating that the Dell performs much better for them. The consensus seems to be that the Dell is a better LCD. You are entitled to your opinion though. And what's with the "LOL" every other word...you must laugh for no reason a lot.

dude, dont pay him no mind and HOPEFULLY he'll go away on his own.

I have seen SEVERAL members who have gotten annoyed at his responses as so have I but I have opted to ignore them all. (well, 'cept for this one I guess....)

his mind is so set that his Microtek is the superior LCD and there's nothing else thats gonna be able to compare to it so there's no use in arguing with him.

as for my experience goes, I had both and you already know which one I sent back.

 

[deramon]

Originally posted by: JoshGuru7
Somebody on my floor has this LCD and i would not put it in the same class for gaming as a good flat 19" crt. There IS very noticeable ghosting in UT2k3, NOFL2 and Doom3... especially when sliding while looking in the opposite direction. I've tried it and it just doesn't "feel" right to me.

Just my 2 cents.. if you have this LCD and are happy with it then more power to you.

Well that settles it for me ...

 

[dethman]

Originally posted by: JohnGer
LOL. enjoy your dells. I got better quality for cheaper. As for the red stripes and etc. I didn't know that you could screw up a monitor. LOL.

cheers
JohnGer

imagine what it would be like to sit next to this guy. cackling all the time while staring at his computer.

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: hc000
lol calling someone with 343 posts lame.

what does number of posts have to do with lameness?

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: Yo2

Originally posted by: JohnGer
I forgot to mention that my system was running a geforce4 4400.

As for the rudeness well stupidity doesn't deserve respect. If respect was given for stupidity then we wouldn't be going to war with Iraq.

Oh..as for the 1/2 gig of ram..well when you have 7 computer it spreads the resources thin..so I hope I am still your hero.

Btw, the monitor looks just as good this morning.

cheers
JohnGer

I like your attitude - you must have been reading this board for a while. Welcome to this forum.

Yo

I kind of like it alos. It's abrasive, but it's nice to have someone not take crap from all the know it alls.

 

[ghetto buck]

Seems OOS around AZ.

 

[ozziegn]

Originally posted by: ghetto buck
Seems OOS around AZ.

my local Wal-Mart has like 4 of them in stock.

I'd be willing to get you one if you're willing to do the whole shipping expense.

let me know...

 

[jimmypop]

none around minneapolis, MN