Originally posted by: Nullvoid
Thanks for putting the panels up xtknight, it does make things a bit clearer. Yes I guess I did single out the P-MVA (or to a lesser extent the S-IPS) panels as being my best bet since every review I see about them talks of their abilities as all-round monitors, not only suited to just one particular area in which they excel.
I have to admit I have my own misgivings over the Viewsonic and Belinea models simply due to their age (and therefore possible lack of support), and whereas I thought the Dell might be an option, it has just jumped in price here from £249 to £320 which seems far too much as I would buy the NEC 20WGX2 if I had budgeted that high. Your doubts about the Asus screen are also enough for me to consider it no further (and it is more expensive than I had thought...£323).
I had only picked that Philips model since it seemed logical that the company who helped develop the 20" S-IPS panel might be able to implement it well themselves. Although as you say it appears to be a lottery between that and a P-MVA (not exactly as hard to bear as the S, A, C fiasco with the Samsung monitors). It also got a rather good write up from PC Pro (
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/10...illiance-200wp7es.html), Custom PC (
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/customp...?searchString=200wp7es) and Computer Shopper (
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/shopper...?searchString=200wp7es), although their collective approach seems more subjective than anything else. Their main objection of price is no longer much of an issue as you'll see below.
About the Acers. When I downloaded the latest price list (
http://www.acer.co.uk/acereuro...2/Monitor%20LCD_UK.pdf) from Acer's uk site, I found it to have a fairly detailed specification on both the models I'm looking at. The al2032wa is listed as a S-IPS panel not a P-MVA, it's actually also one of the cheaper models here for some reason, so I'm still giving it serious consideration. What I read about the al2051ws worries me though. I know it is meant to be a P-MVA panel and you recommend it quite highly, but on this same price list I was looking at, this is what it has listed:
"Panel Technology - TN film and CrystalBrite Technology"
Is it possible that they could have changed panel type to cut costs or suchlike? Or is it likely just a blunder on their part?
Anyway, after all that, I would be narrowed down to these:
Acer al2032wa - £196.54 [S-IPS/P-MVA, glossy]
Acer al2051ws - £240.35 [P-MVA/(TN...?), glossy]
Philips 200wp7es - £255.94 [S-IPS/P-MVA, glossy]
Sorry for the long post by the way but, for me, the buying of this LCD is quite a big thing and I don't want to go regretting my choice when I finally make it.