Need 2 17" LCD:s, on tight budjet!!! Viewsonic VE170??? edit: GOT 1!!!

[DaFinn]

Ok,

I am going to replace aging 21" screen with 2 TFT:s. My budjet is about 1500,- Euros (about 1500,- Dollars). That pretty much limits me to 17" LCD.

This is for serious graphics work/ publishing, mainly photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash...etc.

Any recommendations are welcome.

I have been looking at the Viewsonic VE170, does anybody have any experience w. them or other Viewsonic LCDs???

 

[vetteguy]

I don't think I've ever seen "tight budget" with "2 17" TFTs" in the same title before.

I don't have experience with the one you mentioned, but I have had a Viewsonic VP150 for about 3 years, and it is a good monitor. Although now that it's sitting next to my 18" Planar the colors don't look nearly as good.

 

[Chadder007]

TFT's and Tight budget don't belong in the same sentence.
Why not try to get another 21" CRT? Itll be much cheaper on you.

 

[Chadder007]

BTW....found a 20" LCD Dell monitor here for just your amount...1500 smackers.
Dell 20" LCD

 

[PlatinumGold]

I agree. wouldn't a GOOD 21" crt be better than a 17" lcd?

 

[DaFinn]

Je,

Thanks for your input. Going to 2x 21" CRTs would be great, BUT I dont have the space. Or... If I would remove a scanner and 2 printers from my desk and a drawing pad and...
yeah. No I really need more space, thats why I was thinking of going to 2 TFT screens.

BTW, Chadder007 thanks for the tip. I am also going to have a look of just one LARGE TFT...


Thanks!

DaFinn

 

[DaFinn]

Oh yeah,

With "tight budget" I meant, that I dont want the usual "This and That 24" TFT is the best" or "Get Parhelia and 3 Samsung 24" TFTs, I would" kind of crab. I have about 1500,-to spent, and thats that. CRTs are out of question because of the available space. And yes, I know I need a larger room but my boss just tells me to buy smaller stuff...


DaFinn

 

[subhuman]

I'd go for two Samsung 171P which is almost in your budget ($850 each). An awesome LCD with a case designed by Porsche. I'd probably save up the extra $200 and get these myself - they have DVI input too. Maybe you could find an even better deal on them where you're at?

You could also go with two Planar 17.4" screens, but they have the MVA panel and ghost a little in some FPS games (from what I read about them here and at Ars, anyway - some colors are better than others). With some Dell deals (10% or 20% coupon, you'd have to wait for one to come up), these are easily within your budget. Also the two Dell FP1702 panels might be pretty nice, and from everything I've read, NOT an MVA style panel (which is a good thing even with its "worse" specs according to people who have both the planar and the dell - they prefer the dell)- again sometimes available with coupons online. But probably only in the US...

If you only want/need analog inputs on your LCDs... two Samsung 171S's would easily be within your budget. Not quite as neat of a case design as the 171Porsche version ... but still nice screens.

...And then there are those 17" Sceptre monitors with decent specs (supposively also an MVA panel - probably the same one the planars use? I'd guess.)

 

[DaFinn]

Subhuman,

Thanks, I've looked at the Samsung ones also. They've done pretty good in tests. I can get 2 Viewsonic VE170 for about 150,- less than 2 Samsung 171S. Just wonder if those 150,- will buy me anything? The specs are about the same. Samsung has better response time, but since I am not playing games (Matrox G550, dont make me laugh ) I dont think that matters.

Planar and sceptre are not available here

Anymore suggestions! All are appreciated!

Thanks!

DaFinn

 

[RSMemphis]

I have the Samsung 171S and it's a very nice display. I use it for games and writing/programming.

One nice thing is the pivot feature, which I think the VE170 does not have.

On the downside, it only has an analog port (does not bother me too much).
If you have any questions, PM me.

 

[subhuman]

VE170 vs 171S? Not even close...

The Samsung actually has listed their response time (25ms) and their viewing angle (160º/120º (H/V)) These are IMHO, among the most important aspects of a screen - response time--Ghosting, and viewing angle--easy to see. The fact that ViewSonic doesn't list these is probably bad news for those aspects of the panel. You also get better contrast on the Samsung (330 vs 300:1) Subjectively speaking, the viewsonic's case is really ugly to my eye, and the Samsung looks a LOT better. So you get a better panel on the Samsung (better viewing angle probably, along with amongst the best response times you can get, decent contrast), and a nicer casing.

Also keep your eyes out for newer Samsungs based on the 171P, but without the Porsche styling - 172T - to arrive shortly...

 

[subhuman]

BTW you may want to edit your thread title to include the words "LCD" so people can find this info easier

 

[DaFinn]

subhuman,

thanks, edited the thread title...My bad (Mui englese nou sou gut!)

BTW, Samsumg 171P seems to be on pricelists, just not in stock yet. Anyway its about 70,- more expensive than 171S. My problem is, that this 21" screen is making a high "whining" noise. It may be the psu thats going bad. This thing can die on me anyday so I need those replacements quick. I am going today to have a look at the Samsung 171S. If it seems good I may just take 2 of them.


Thanks for your help!


DaFinn

 

[DaFinn]

Damn,

I went to buy 2 LCDs, and walked out with only 1. Namely Samsung 210TFT 21" beauty... Ahhhhhhh

They had this beauty on display, and were willing to let it go for a bargain price... couldn't resist. They also let me test it for 14 days, and I get to return it if not happy!
Talk about service!

>Looks at the screen and shivers...< "Where have YOU been all my life"! >Drools all over the keyboard...<

ME LIKES...

 

[subhuman]

NICE!!

Could you give us a mini review?
1. Ghosting in games, particularly First Person Shooter style: a) dark figures against light backgrounds b) light figures against dark backgrounds c)other color combinations - any ghosting? How bad, which colors?
2. Contrast - Black is black? White is white?
3. Brightness - do you see an uneven black on a fully-black screen? Can you see where the backlights are?
4. Viewing angle - does the screen look good even when you are off center, etc?
5. How many dead pixels did you get?

Thanks for your words, this would help me quite a bit as that is one LCD on my short list. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay?

 

[RGN]

I just bought a NEC1220M. Its a 17in LCD with 20ms refresh, 350:1, 1280x1024. Its freaking awsome. No ghosting, I can't find dead pixels, black is 99% black all other colors are as vivid as I have ever seen them. Viewing anglw is jsut as good as my 19" Samsung Flat tube.

I will not be giving this monitor up.


Did mention its like 3 inches think? hheheheh

 

[vetteguy]

While we're talking LCDs...
When you say ghosting, what exactly do you define as ghosting? You mean the image remaining shortly after it has moved?

Also, I have an 18" Planar LCD, and I have noticed that when playing games, occasionally the image will get a little jagged, like half of it refreshes and the bottom half takes another split-second (so a body in a FPS looks like they're cut in two). Is that a sign of poor response time?

 

[BigPotato]

MUAHAHAHAAHHAHAHA

 

[DaFinn]

OK BigPotato, you win!

Subhuman,

OK, I can give a real minireview. I still havent really paid so much attention to detail, just barely wiped off all the drool from my keyboard, heh...

1). Ghostin in games, uuh... tough one, like I mentioned I have Matrox G550 in this rig (at work) but I guess it will run Q3. I'll get back to that. I can say that there is absolutely NO ghosting in Civ3 (I was working LATE last night...) This baby also scales VERY nicely to different resolutions...

2). Black and white, You pet. Black could maybe be more black, but that also depends on lighting. (Which is horrible where I sit!)

3). When I look directly from front, the black is solid. Only when looking from an angle one can see that the sides are slightly "brighter".

4). Viewing angles are the best I've seen in any lcd. Only directly upwards it doesnt allow too big an angle.

5). I've found only 1 so far. And its in the upper left corner, so it dont really bother.

Great display, I can warmly recommend!!! (That 19" Nokia crt at home is going to have to go... I'll never buy a crt anymore!!!)


I'll get back to FPS games when I get Q3 installed (tomorrow).


DaFinn

 

[DaFinn]

Oh, the price you ask...

This baby just fitted into my budget... (mind you, they ask for 2800,- euros (=dollars) here for it).


DaFinn

 

[subhuman]

vetteguy - yeah sounds like ghosting. most the planars have excellent response times, what you are probably seeing is more a byproduct (side effect) of the MVA technology - it is optimized for fast changes from white <-> black, but other colors are slower to change, hence the ghosting...

i'd buy a planar in an instant for office work, they are great bang-for-buck