LCD Buyer's Guide

[Akari]

anybody care to make a comment on which is better
LG 204WT or the Dell 2007WFP,having a huge headache picking one at the local Best Buy

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Luddite
I think I at least have decided on what size I want: 20 inch. But now I need to decide whether to get a widescreen or 4:3.

Could anyone please suggest to me what the pros and cons are with a widescreen? I won't be playing many games. My uses are mainly web surfing, office apps and photo editing...probably in that order. Plus the occasional DVD watching.

Widescreen is just a different aspect ratio so there really isn't any difference besides that. You get more horizontally which is more natural for the human eyes.

Do widescreens, for example, stretch website content?

It depends on the website. Many are still designed for 4:3.

Originally posted by: Akari
anybody care to make a comment on which is better
LG 204WT or the Dell 2007WFP,having a huge headache picking one at the local Best Buy

That's a hard decision. I guess I would go for the Dell 2007WFP since I know more people with it who like it. I haven't heard enough about the L204WT yet.

 

[Akari]

well i havent tried out the L204WT and despite the 16ms response times for the dell
i played cs source and a bit of prey on it and strangely i dont see the ghosting,maybe its my eyes or sth
regarding the contrast for 204wt,since its dynamic,any chances of knowing its fixed contrast like the dell's
the price for the 204 is definitely a steal,but dell's monitor stand and the bezel looks more stylish than the silver
im lost here

 

[littlefrank]

Originally posted by: Akari
well i havent tried out the L204WT and despite the 16ms response times for the dell
i played cs source and a bit of prey on it and strangely i dont see the ghosting,maybe its my eyes or sth
regarding the contrast for 204wt,since its dynamic,any chances of knowing its fixed contrast like the dell's
the price for the 204 is definitely a steal,but dell's monitor stand and the bezel looks more stylish than the silver
im lost here

I had a similar dilemma - but see if your Best Buy stocks the Samsung 215tw and try it out (not all BB's seem to have them in). It's a bit more money than the LG, not much more than the Dell (though my bet is you can get them to give you 15% off with the 'back to school' coupons). It really is an amazing display - and I thought it looked much better overall than anything else I tried, including the 204wt.

HTH

 

[ChuckUFarley]

I have to ask. Why does everyone seem to strongly recommend the NEC 90gx2 for gaming even though it's ranked on the first post as number 5?

Wouldn't the Samsung of BenQ be better choices? I'm just curious of the reasoning for that.

 

[imported_Cicero]

Originally posted by: xtknight

No, they really are pretty uncommon in the US. I've only heard that the Philips 23" is good. Isn't Samsung also a name brand in NZ? Samsung has plenty of good gaming monitors.

Samsung stuff is a very common brand here in NZ. Btw the Samsung 215TW are due here next week (I have one on order).

Finally xt thanks for the huge comtribution you've made to this great thread, it helped me enormously in making the decision to replace my aging 21" CRT with a 215TW.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: ChuckUFarley
I have to ask. Why does everyone seem to strongly recommend the NEC 90gx2 for gaming even though it's ranked on the first post as number 5?

Wouldn't the Samsung of BenQ be better choices? I'm just curious of the reasoning for that.

The NEC has dynamic contrast features for people who want higher image quality. One of the posters above was disappointed with the other LCDs for one reason or another. For pure gamers, the above ones are better. The NEC is not far behind in terms of speed.

Originally posted by: Cicero

Originally posted by: xtknight

No, they really are pretty uncommon in the US. I've only heard that the Philips 23" is good. Isn't Samsung also a name brand in NZ? Samsung has plenty of good gaming monitors.

Samsung stuff is a very common brand here in NZ. Btw the Samsung 215TW are due here next week (I have one on order).

Finally xt thanks for the huge comtribution you've made to this great thread, it helped me enormously in making the decision to replace my aging 21" CRT with a 215TW.

Smart decision.

 

[JETninja]

Ok, got the 19" LG L1970HR and I've very pleased with it. Though I don't where BB gets by with saying adjustable Height.

No dead pixels that I've spotted. Had to turn the brightness waaaaaay down...and the contrast some too. Played my Racing Sim and it looked great. No issues at all. Will try some more games over the next few days, but I'm really happy with it so far. Only bummer was BB wouldn't accept any coupons on it.....but figure $309 aint too bad for a 2ms, 1600:1, 19" monitor!

I highly recommend it for anyone wanting a great gaming monitor. I figure in 6-9 months or so I'll build another PC and may go widescreen then, but for now this puppy rocks!

 

[Akari]

well the thing is im not in a position to be able to acquire the samsung 215...for some reasons
so basically i have my eyes strictly set on either the 2007wfp or the 204wt

 

[damocles]

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: damocles
Any feedback on any of the Philips 19" monitors? They don't seem to appear in US reviews very often.

Where I live they are the most common 'name brand' monitor and have the best warranties. I'm wondering if any of them are good for gaming (*ms or better @1280x1024) with nice 8 bit colour.

No, they really are pretty uncommon in the US. I've only heard that the Philips 23" is good. Isn't Samsung also a name brand in NZ? Samsung has plenty of good gaming monitors.

Cheers, Samsung is available here but a few friends have had nightmares with pixel defects. I ended up purchasing the Viewsonic VX922 and am very happy with it (well for the 30 minutes I have had it running). Seems to be a good option for gaming and will last me until the next generation of LCD screens.

 

[ChuckUFarley]

What made you decide on the LT 1970 JETninja?

I'm seeing Best Buy has the 90GX2 from NEC at $320 this week so I'm assuming it's not a price issue.

 

[ChuckUFarley]

And one more question.

Since even the best LCD still seems to not be perfect, is there a reason not to by a CRT instead (besides size)?

 

[JETninja]

Well, I've been watching LCD's for the past couple years. I've been using a Dell 19" Trinitron since when I bought it in '99. (for some big $$$) Since I like to game a lot, I was very hesitant to go the LCD route. Over the last year of so I've noticed my CRT was losing brightness. Since it's in a well lighted Kitchen right next to the patio...I needed a bright monitor.

Reading my posts in here I was bouncing all over looking for for something that would work for my requirements and be around $300. I really wanted a Widescreen, but none in my price range seemed fast or accurate enough.

So I (per some of xtknights recommendations and my homework) picked up the LG after seeing it in the BB ad. 19", 1280x1024, 2ms, 1600:1. I also had to pick a $20 DVI cable (LG is cheap there, only supplies a D-sub. Samsung does supply the DVI one too).

I hooked it, turned it on, and was blown away. It was TOO bright....I pulled up some calibration grey scale pics and adjusted it down. Now it just awesome. Surfed, did some Sim racing, overall I have "0" nits with it. It is in all ways better then the CRT that it replaced in all ways that I can tell so far. I only wish it was bigger!!!!! LOL!

I can buy used 20" Dell Trinitrons here at work for like $35.....I was tempted. But no more. (used to have one for my desktop at work, now its a Dell 1905 which is ok for work and love the adjustable stand.....that my LG does not have! It's sitting on a Alpine HU Box!)

Forget CRT's. LCD all the way..................

 

[ChuckUFarley]

I'm in the same boat. I have an old CRT I don't really want to give up but 17" is getting a bit small for me.

I hate the trade-offs necessary to getting an LCD.
Your experience with the LG is encouraging, only now I'm really more confused.

The VX922 has very good reviews almost EVERYWHERE.
The 90gx2 has fair to good reviews (yet seems preferred on this thread).
Word of that LG you bought is generally positive, but I haven't heard enough about it to warrant choosing that over anything else.

I so so so cannot make up my mind. And why do so many stores not have display models of what they sell or split a signal to so many montiors they all look like crap?

 

[Akari]

so anybody can give some comments over my choices?

 

[littlefrank]

Originally posted by: Akari
so anybody can give some comments over my choices?

Well if you are choosing between the 204wt and the 2007wfp I would probably go for the Dell ... but that's for my more general use, which includes only occasional gaming.

I didn't actually try the Dell on my home machine (as opposed to just about every other widescreen!), but it was very impressive (and also stylish) at the Dell store. The 204wt didn't look as good (as in image quality) as my new 215tw, and from what I read here the 2007wfp may be even better than that.

And it may not seem so important, but I find the height/pan/tilt/rotate flexibility of the stand very important for comfortable long-term usage, which you get with the Dell but not with the LG.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: ChuckUFarley
And one more question.

Since even the best LCD still seems to not be perfect, is there a reason not to by a CRT instead (besides size)?

Blurriness (analog), flickering, environmentally unfriendly, high wattage, distorted screen, unergonomic. Brightness isn't over 100 nits except on discontinued aperture grille models, so vibrancy on bright colors suffers. I can say I would never consider buying a shadow mask CRT after using LCDs. It's possible a DiamondTron would win me over if it had a higher refresh rate. Now only refurbs of those are available. I still prefer the clarity of an LCD, which even a DiamondTron can't offer, especially at high refresh rates.

Plus, many LCDs offer component inputs and other things that are simply missing on CRTs. CRTs are just dead and aren't evolving. Was that the case ten years ago? No, but it is now. The only thing I miss from CRTs is contrast, and LCDs are starting to make headway in that area.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: JETninja
Ok, got the 19" LG L1970HR and I've very pleased with it. Though I don't where BB gets by with saying adjustable Height.

No dead pixels that I've spotted. Had to turn the brightness waaaaaay down...and the contrast some too. Played my Racing Sim and it looked great. No issues at all. Will try some more games over the next few days, but I'm really happy with it so far. Only bummer was BB wouldn't accept any coupons on it.....but figure $309 aint too bad for a 2ms, 1600:1, 19" monitor!

I highly recommend it for anyone wanting a great gaming monitor. I figure in 6-9 months or so I'll build another PC and may go widescreen then, but for now this puppy rocks!

That's good to hear. Looks like LG has lots of winners with these dynamic contrast models.

 

[Akari]

Originally posted by: littlefrank

Originally posted by: Akari
so anybody can give some comments over my choices?

Well if you are choosing between the 204wt and the 2007wfp I would probably go for the Dell ... but that's for my more general use, which includes only occasional gaming.

I didn't actually try the Dell on my home machine (as opposed to just about every other widescreen!), but it was very impressive (and also stylish) at the Dell store. The 204wt didn't look as good (as in image quality) as my new 215tw, and from what I read here the 2007wfp may be even better than that.

And it may not seem so important, but I find the height/pan/tilt/rotate flexibility of the stand very important for comfortable long-term usage, which you get with the Dell but not with the LG.

ah,tts one thing i overlooked
anyway can the dynamic contrast of LG compensate the possible inferior image quality compared against the 2007wfp?

 

[wiredvibes]

thanks for the help xtknight

 

[ChuckUFarley]

Blurriness (analog), flickering, environmentally unfriendly, high wattage, distorted screen, unergonomic. Brightness isn't over 100 nits except on discontinued aperture grille models, so vibrancy on bright colors suffers. I can say I would never consider buying a shadow mask CRT after using LCDs. It's possible a DiamondTron would win me over if it had a higher refresh rate. Now only refurbs of those are available. I still prefer the clarity of an LCD, which even a DiamondTron can't offer, especially at high refresh rates.

So, uh, not a fan of CRTs than.

 

[ChuckUFarley]

JETninja, more Q's for U:

Do you know what panel LG is using in the L1970HR? Is it something new or have we seen it before?

Also, what other LCDs did you have the opportunity to compare this against?

I only ask because they seem to be fairly new and reviews are thin and difficult to find.

 

[xtknight]

The LG L1970HR and LG L204WT have been added to the recommendations for maximum speed. That said, it turns out they have good color as well.

 

[xtknight]

About Dell 2007WFP vs. L204WT: I've decided the Dell is superior but the L204WT is a better value. The 2007WFP does have a panel that's higher contrast by default so it should still be preferred over the dynamic contrast TN. The Dell actually has dynamic contrast through ACC too (in addition to its higher contrast panel). If you mostly game I'd actually go for the L204WT instead. For anything else, the Dell.

 

[ChuckUFarley]

So you now consider the LG L1970HR to be a better choice than the NEC 90gx2?

Comparing the two side by side the NEC seemed more vibrant (at least in a bright Best Buy).