I'm finally coming down to the point where I don't simply WANT a new monitor, but I NEED one because my old one is starting to wear out. The backlight is starting to fade, and the power switch is breaking, among other things. And the thing is also straight-up 4 years old, and wasn't very good technology even for its time. So I'm well overdue for a new monitor.
Anyway, with the cost of 17" monitors (and the difficulty of finding good, 8bpp, fast panels) being prohibitive, and 19" having crappy pixel pitch, I've settled on a 20" or 21" size. I don't have a definite budget, although I also don't have infinite money and don't want to spend hundreds of extra dollars on marginal performance. The monitor is primarily for gaming/movie watching, but I'd rather have good colors and contrast than the absolute fastest response times. The monitor I have right now is so terrible that I can usually see 3 distinct images at edges of moving objects, which is godawful, but I'm not ultra-sensitive to ghosting like some people are.
The monitors I've been primarily considering are the ViewSonic VX2025WM, Viewsonic VP2030b, and the NEC MultiSync 20WMGX2. I'm not really looking at the Samsung 214T because it's still just 1600x1200 despite being bigger, and in my experience, smaller pixel pitch looks better although I'd be interested to hear what others think. I'm not too sure about liking widescreen aspect ratios, because the resolution is lower, as is the overall screen real estate. It does look nice for movies and it can look nice for games, but there's the CPU/memory utilization issue too. Then, the question between the two widescreen monitors is whether the 20WMGX2 is worth the extra $250 or not (thank God the price is down from $800). The high contrast coating on the NEC monitor is a mixed bag too, because I currently have my computer in a room with windows (so sometimes i get glare), but it seems like the overall concensus is that it's really nice if you can avoid glare.
One thing that I think often goes overlooked that's really nice about the 20WMGX2 is that it has S-video and Component video inputs, which would allow me to also use it with my game consoles in my dorm next semester. Can anyone comment on the extra inputs other than the DVI and D-sub, as far as clarity/performance/etc is concerned, and should this even be a consideration? Also, do any of these monitors besides the NEC support HDCP, and how much of a consideration is that, really? Nothing I own is, to my knowledge, HDCP compatible/enabled, but I'm looking ahead for the next couple years.
Anyway, some help and recommendation would be nice. The Viewsonic VX2025 is really tempting just because a local store has it for only $300 with mail in rebates, but I'd rather end up with the monitor that I want rather than just the affordable choice.
edit: forgot to mention, being an 8bpp panel (no 6-bit + FRC or anything) is a definite criteria, although I think all the panels I mentioned are 8bit.