shopping for LCD $350US or under

[Kochab]

My 5-year-old LCD recently died. Here are my possible replacements:

- NEC 70GX2: 17", 1280x1024, AR 1.25, $257US
- Samsung 204b: 20", 1600x1200, AR 1.33, $360US -$60 rebate
- Viewsonic VX2025wm: 20" 1680x1050, AR 1.6, $316US

I like the 1600x1200 resolution, but the Samsung suffers from bad viewing angles. The Viewsonic is P-MVA which I really like. I'm not a huge fan of the 1.6 AR but it's better than 1.25 AR at least. I've been thinking about the NEC for awhile now... it has a somewhat high price for a 17" but has gotten high praise.

I'm currently in the process of building a new comp so the video card isn't certain, but I'm pretty sure I'll be getting an AiW X1900. I'm looking forward to the next-gen games UT2007 and Quake Wars, and playing on a high-res monitor is enticing.

 

[Zstream]

Viewsonic VX2025wm: 20" 1680x1050, AR 1.6, $316US

Best monitor for your money IMO. I own two of these and have 0 problems.

 

[Raptor45]

I'm kinda in the same boat as you, so I've been searching around for info on similar monitors. I was able to narrow it down to two monitors in about that pricerange, the Dell 2007WFP ($373, more than you said, I know) and the Viewsonic VX2025wm. The Dell has a lot of nice features, while the Viewsonic lacks just about anything extra. Before deciding I would check out the additional features on the Dell such as, 4 USB ports, 1:1 scaling, video inputs, HDCP, adjustability, etc... and see if you want them. If not, go with the much cheaper Viewsonic.

Also keep in mind the Viewsonic has issues with backlight bleeding, although it seems most people say you get used to it.

 

[Kochab]

$350 is the target. I'll go over if it's worth it. Dell hmm? ....doing a little research.... it looks like it can pivot too! It looks like a good monitor. I might be a little ashamed to have a DELL on my desk though :Þ Also gotta make sure it's a Rev A02 or later to eliminate the banding problem.

I overlooked that one. Looks good.

 

[farp96]

I have a 19 nec 90gx2 lcd for sale, perfect condition and no dead pixels. I'm looking to get $250 for it shipped. If your interested pm me

 

[Dkcode]

Does the VX2025wm have DVI problems?

 

[Kochab]

The DVI problems with VX2025wm are when paired with nVidia cards, it has to do with nVidia's software.

From the hinterlands of the interwebnet:

Originally Posted by selflove
I had the same problem, twice. The first time it happened to me 1 week after purchase and so I exchanged it. The second time was yesterday. I decided to call Viewsonic support and they gave me the solution to fix it:

1. With the computer on, plug in both DVI and VGA to the video card and the VX2025 monitor.
2. turn off computer
3. remove VGA connector
4. disconnect power to the monitor. Wait 5 seconds and then plug it back in.
5. restart PC.

Just to add to the possible solutions:

This did not work for me. I had to use the DVI recover utility, but that only got me part of the way there. Before I used the utility, I couldn't get signal at all on either analog or digital from my video card. The only time I could even see a POST was when I used the motherboard's on-board analog connector. When I used this connection, I could see a picture up until the Windows GUI was supposed to come up, but them I'd lose signal again.

What I had to do is use the DVI recover tool, reboot, hit F8 to get to the Windows boot options, and choose "VGA Mode." This got me into the Windows GUI. Once I was in the GUI, I uninstalled the nVidia display driver using Add/Remove programs, and rebooted again. Once back in the GUI, I downloaded the latest GeForce drivers from nVidia, installed them, then rebooted again.

Only then could I change my resolution to 1680x1050, take a deep breath, and begin to enjoy my monitor again. Thanks to all of the previous posters for leading me to this fix.

 

[Roy2001]

Add a little more and buy a 22' 1680x1050 LCD. Your eyes will appreciate your decision when you read text.

 

[nova2]

"Roy2001: Add a little more and buy a 22' 1680x1050 LCD. Your eyes will appreciate your decision when you read text. "

or he could increase his font DPI a little and increases the minimum font size in his browser.

 

[supastar1568]

Originally posted by: Roy2001
Add a little more and buy a 22' 1680x1050 LCD. Your eyes will appreciate your decision when you read text.

will they appreciate the increased pixel pitch as well....

 

[kmmatney]

Originally posted by: Roy2001
Add a little more and buy a 22' 1680x1050 LCD. Your eyes will appreciate your decision when you read text.

:thumbsup:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.as...Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&topnav=

Out of the monitors you have, the Viewsonic looks like the best one.

 

[kmmatney]

Originally posted by: nova2
"Roy2001: Add a little more and buy a 22' 1680x1050 LCD. Your eyes will appreciate your decision when you read text. "

or he could increase his font DPI a little and increases the minimum font size in his browser.

It sucks having to restart windows everytime you want to change the DPI setting. You can change the windows font size without restarting, but need to when you change the DPI. And things never quite look right, still.

 

[nova2]

@kmmatney: no significant problems here, the increased windows font DPI (set at 108% / 104 dpi) works good for me, but if you have some reason to change the DPI size often (why?!!?), then yes, rebooting would suck for you.