WAS HOT! Gateway has a 21" Widescreen Monitor for $599.99

[Skychan]

I just bought this monitor and it is truly amazing with all the advertised features! However, I am having problems with several things and Im wondering if anyone here bought this monitor and can help me.

First of all, it is advertised to be able to do 75hz refresh rate at native rez of 1680*1050, however i cannot exceed 60hz. The monitor does NOT come with drivers (even tech support admits this) and just uses windows drivers. I can force it into 75hz with Nvidia display drivers, but then it goes all blurry. Their tech support has been unable to help me.

The other problem is really a complaint i have about this display. It cannot do true black...i am used to high end CRT monitors and black is black on those things....i dont really like the looks of movies and games when black is just a dark grey. Are all LCD monitors like this? or if i got the highest end 19" LCD would it be true black? Their tech support could do nothing other than to generalize and say that LCDs often cannot do as good of black as CRT, but they said High end LCDs can do black very close to true black...but they didnt state if this monitor was a high end monitor.... *frown*

Thirdly, i am an avid video gamer and have the BFG 6600GT OC, but with alot of games out there running at 1680*1050 is not only too much work for it, but also many games do not support wide screen viewing and then the image is stretched (which the Faroudja does an EXCELLENT job of filtering the image...however it is not and never will be as crisp as running at native rez). So, there are two solutions... 1) find a way to make the game's camera capture a wider view, rather than just stretching or 2) find a way to force the monitor to only use 1280*1024 (yes i know thats not quite 4:3) pixels with a black border...understand what i mean? Essentially just trim the monitor back to a 4:3 ratio display for games that do not support widescreen or for games my card cannot handle the widescreen rez.

This last problem is one that must be solvable, otherwise im going back (to my dismay) to 4:3 ratio displays. I cannot stand a stretched image, i dont want to see the characters looking all fat!
But this monitor just brings widescreen DVDs to life like nothing else! Such crisp detail and vivid colors! (just that damn black!!!)

Tech support is useless, but i figured the geeks of the world might be able to help me out!

thx a ton you guys!

-Skychan ^_^

 

[imported_Dhaval00]

Originally posted by: Skychan
I just bought this monitor and it is truly amazing with all the advertised features! However, I am having problems with several things and Im wondering if anyone here bought this monitor and can help me.

First of all, it is advertised to be able to do 75hz refresh rate at native rez of 1680*1050, however i cannot exceed 60hz. The monitor does NOT come with drivers (even tech support admits this) and just uses windows drivers. I can force it into 75hz with Nvidia display drivers, but then it goes all blurry. Their tech support has been unable to help me.

The other problem is really a complaint i have about this display. It cannot do true black...i am used to high end CRT monitors and black is black on those things....i dont really like the looks of movies and games when black is just a dark grey. Are all LCD monitors like this? or if i got the highest end 19" LCD would it be true black? Their tech support could do nothing other than to generalize and say that LCDs often cannot do as good of black as CRT, but they said High end LCDs can do black very close to true black...but they didnt state if this monitor was a high end monitor.... *frown*

Thirdly, i am an avid video gamer and have the BFG 6600GT OC, but with alot of games out there running at 1680*1050 is not only too much work for it, but also many games do not support wide screen viewing and then the image is stretched (which the Faroudja does an EXCELLENT job of filtering the image...however it is not and never will be as crisp as running at native rez). So, there are two solutions... 1) find a way to make the game's camera capture a wider view, rather than just stretching or 2) find a way to force the monitor to only use 1280*1024 (yes i know thats not quite 4:3) pixels with a black border...understand what i mean? Essentially just trim the monitor back to a 4:3 ratio display for games that do not support widescreen or for games my card cannot handle the widescreen rez.

This last problem is one that must be solvable, otherwise im going back (to my dismay) to 4:3 ratio displays. I cannot stand a stretched image, i dont want to see the characters looking all fat!
But this monitor just brings widescreen DVDs to life like nothing else! Such crisp detail and vivid colors! (just that damn black!!!)

Tech support is useless, but i figured the geeks of the world might be able to help me out!

thx a ton you guys!

-Skychan ^_^

1) It won't do 75Hz, as 60 Hz is the native resolution. Don't force it to 75Hz or you'll ****** up the panel big time. The monitor does come with the EZTune software, and it is quite a good software. If you don't have it, then look in the box properly. If you still can't find it, download it from Gateway's website under their Support section.

2) No LCD on the face of this planet will be able to produce "true black." I would suggest to use your video card properties to tweak the colors of this monitor. If you are not good at such things, just use the EZtune software. I think the defualt contrast ratio for this monitor is as bright as the DELL 2005FPW's. So trim it down to 30. Bring your brightness to around 70. I think that's an optimal setting.

3) If your are an avid gamer, buy a new video card . I did point out the inability of this monitor (I think in some other thread) to not keep the aspect ratio in games like the 2005FPW. I have a 7800 GT, and before that I had an X850XT. It's been 3-4 months now since I last played a game at a resolution other than 1680*1050. Go to www.widescreengamingforum.com to get the hacks for games to make them capable of producing 1680*1050 images.

DVD's and their aspect ratio is maintained better by this monitor than the 2005FPW (I have tested them side by side). I don't regret paying the $150 extra, because when XBOX 360 comes out, I won't have to suck up to another monitor to connect my XBOX. This natively supports 720p.
Again, I don't think 6600GT is a good choice for any WS monitor that you may buy - upgrade your video card, hack your config files to setup your games to WS, and live the good life. Most games that I play support the 16:10 ratio natively, like Half Life 2, DoD, UT2004, etc. I use config hacks for BF2 and F.E.A.R.; I haven't bought COD2 yet, so don't know if it supports 16:10. WHen I say "hacks," all they are are things like entering "1680*1050" in a game's config file - even a 5 year old can do it.

Hope this helps.

 

[Skychan]

thx a ton,
that does help

Though i am aware u should never force a monitor to do settings it cannot do, but Gateway claimed this monitor CAN and SHOULD do 75hz, even their techi guys were telling me i just wasnt doing it right, which is stupid, anyone can change a refresh rate. And of course I installed the EZtune software, great stuff, just im used to having device drivers for new hardware. Anyways, fine i'll accept that it can only do 60hz, i just wish Gateway didnt lead us to believe otherwise.

So other LCD monitors dont produce a better black than this monitor? Cause its kinda bothersome.

I think my 6600GT is an AMAZING video card, best card i've ever had in my life. Had the GeForce 2MX then the Radeon 9600 (reg, not SE), and now the 6600GT. Its probly almost 3 times as powerful as that 9600. Anyways, next year i'll get a new mobo with two PCI-E so that i can do SLI, but thats more than a couple months away. I really appreciate the info on the www.widescreengamingforum.com. I was sure there would be an easy way to "hack" any game, i just simply dont know how to, but as u said, a 5 yr old could do it if pointed where to change the right config file.

So thx a ton!

-Skychan ^_^

 

[imported_Dhaval00]

Originally posted by: Skychan
thx a ton,
that does help

Though i am aware u should never force a monitor to do settings it cannot do, but Gateway claimed this monitor CAN and SHOULD do 75hz, even their techi guys were telling me i just wasnt doing it right, which is stupid, anyone can change a refresh rate. And of course I installed the EZtune software, great stuff, just im used to having device drivers for new hardware. Anyways, fine i'll accept that it can only do 60hz, i just wish Gateway didnt lead us to believe otherwise.

So other LCD monitors dont produce a better black than this monitor? Cause its kinda bothersome.

I think my 6600GT is an AMAZING video card, best card i've ever had in my life. Had the GeForce 2MX then the Radeon 9600 (reg, not SE), and now the 6600GT. Its probly almost 3 times as powerful as that 9600. Anyways, next year i'll get a new mobo with two PCI-E so that i can do SLI, but thats more than a couple months away. I really appreciate the info on the www.widescreengamingforum.com. I was sure there would be an easy way to "hack" any game, i just simply dont know how to, but as u said, a 5 yr old could do it if pointed where to change the right config file.

So thx a ton!

-Skychan ^_^

It can do 75Hz. But is it natvie? NOPE
You can't blame Gateway for exaggerating the specs, because if you are into technology and know how most manufacturers play with numbers, I'd say Gateway isn't the worst. They have it on their website that the monitor can go 75Hz, but the native is 60Hz. Of course I have some experience with LCD's so I tend to read the fine print. Hopefully this will teach you a lesson . Their tech support sucks. LCD's CANNOT PRODUCE TRUE BLACK. 6600GT is not a good card to scale games to 1680*1050. Even with everything turned off (AA, etc.), you'll drag your luck big time. But of course, if you play games like Rome, and UT2004... you should be OK.

 

[HDTVMan]

What made it a hot deal at the time is it was a competitor to the dell series that was basically dominating the widescreen world. But now its pase and we should be looking for these to drop in price significantly soon.

 

[Skychan]

Originally posted by: Dhaval00

It can do 75Hz. But is it natvie? NOPE
You can't blame Gateway for exaggerating the specs, because if you are into technology and know how most manufacturers play with numbers, I'd say Gateway isn't the worst. They have it on their website that the monitor can go 75Hz, but the native is 60Hz. Of course I have some experience with LCD's so I tend to read the fine print. Hopefully this will teach you a lesson . Their tech support sucks. LCD's CANNOT PRODUCE TRUE BLACK. 6600GT is not a good card to scale games to 1680*1050. Even with everything turned off (AA, etc.), you'll drag your luck big time. But of course, if you play games like Rome, and UT2004... you should be OK.

Indeed indeed. The 6600GT WAS superb when i was doing games at 1280*960, but the 1680*1050 is 1.44 times the number of pixels, so yes, I will need a better video card down the road but im not getting a new one till i can use a PCI-E video card so I can do SLI down the road. For now I wish that some of those high end games could be displayed on this monitor at 1280*960 without the stretch. I dont mind that for now. The widescreen is mainly for movies and the extra viewing space in windows. Of course video games will be far superior with widescreen, but that can wait. As far as i know, i cannot force the monitor to only use 1280*960 pixels, the monitor just takes any source and stretches it to the max.

bummer

-MG ^_^

 

[imported_Dhaval00]

Found something: I have a 7800 GT, and I enabled 720p, 1080i, and 1080p support. The monitor doesn't support 1080p, but this resolution still works (because the only difference is 1080p works @ 60Hz while 1080i works @ 30 Hz). Then I loaded some 1080p trailers @ quicktime - I was amazed to see the vibrant colors of the panel. Thought some of you who own it may want to look into it /// Looks awesome! Though people like Skychan may want to check the videos @ 720p, because they have 6600GT's.

 

[50]

Can someone explain what's the deal with windows Vista and HDCP? Do you have to have a HDCP compliant monitor to use windows vista??

 

[Ferzerp]

There is no reason to change refresh rate on an LCD anyway. They don't work like CRTs where you need to up the refresh rate so that your head doesn't fall off in pain. The light is always on.

 

[dhkkim]

i read somewhere thatofficial xbox 360 monitor is samsung.

 

[BladeVenom]

Originally posted by: 50
Can someone explain what's the deal with windows Vista and HDCP? Do you have to have a HDCP compliant monitor to use windows vista??

No, but you'll need to have HDCP to view HD-DVDs, or Blue Ray discs, due to onerous copy protection. Or you'll have to wait till their copy protection is cracked.

 

[popeye44]

I've installed 7 of these bad boys in the last 5 days.. and I even managed to get one for myself. This has become the State's only 21+monitor and I won't go smaller than that for lcd's.. so this is our standard. I can only say WOW.... I haven't thoroughly tested these yet.. but So far not a single pixel have I found bad in any of them. There may be ups and downs to them.. but for our users they are absolutely perfect. my biggest complaint.. No DVI cables in the box.. that seems incredibly lame.

 

[OhHenry]

Originally posted by: southpawuni

Originally posted by: DPmaster
No people DO understand the greatness of widescreen. Only problem is 20-21" is small for a widescreen monitor. The fact is you do lose real estate when you compare a 21" widescreen monitor (1680x1050 = 1764000 pixels) vs a regular 20" monitor (at 1600x1200 = 1920000 pixels). If you're going to go widescreen for a monitor, go big and getting something like a 23" or 24"...get the Apple 30" Cinema Display if you can afford it.

You have to have the GPU horsepower to game on those 24"+ LCDs.

I'd rather have widescreen@1680x1050 than uglysquare@1600x1200. I dont miss the pixels, nor do I count them.
Regardless of "lost pixels" you see WAY more onscreen with a widescreen@1680x1050 vs 1600x1200. Take a look for yourself at even a way loser res here. Scroll halfway down.
Not to mention Vista is designed for widescreen.. and theres no way in hell most educated consumers would pick a 1600x1200 screen over 1680x1080 widescreen.

Also cant rotate that ugly square and get 1050x1680 res like the 20" LCDs can.

Widescreen LCDs in portrait mode= :thumbsup:

For newer games, a relatively modest 6800GT will push 1680x1050.
1920x1200 you are going to need a GTX, or more.

In my educated opinion, this Gateway and the 2005FPW are the way to go unless you have or want to spend the money to keep up on video cards.

I get sick of paying for video cards myself, I dont want to accelerate it even more by going to a 1920x1200 display.
For those who have the cash, or dont mind spending it of course the 24"+ screens are better.

Which is why I bought a 2005fpw. Don't have too much money to spend on on a superior display and card. There was just no jusitification of buying a 2405fpw using an a modded x850pro. Gaming at 1920x1200 would just be a impossible dream (for me at least). I sure wish I can though

 

[imported_Dhaval00]

Originally posted by: Ferzerp
There is no reason to change refresh rate on an LCD anyway. They don't work like CRTs where you need to up the refresh rate so that your head doesn't fall off in pain. The light is always on.

I don't know if you have tried to enable HDTV support from within your display drivers. I Know for a fact that 1080i runs @ 30 Hz, and 1080p runs @ 60 Hz. So when you force this panel to 1080p, you are actually making it support an option that it doesn't support natively. But anyway, after a few more videos, I conclude that videos @ 1080i run smoother than videos @ 1080p... at least on this panel. I also tested the videos on my X850XT machine and they seem identical. So I must say that none of the two powerhouses, ATI or nVIDIA, can brag about "their stuff" being better!

But KUDOS to Gateway for picking up where DELL left off, and offering us this panel. I may soon sell my 2005FPW, or archive it.

 

[klmcd27]

Just picked this monitor up at my local microcenter. Thus far the picture on my x800xt all in wonder has been awesome playing counterstrike source. At the native 1680X1050 resolution I am averaging around 90-100+ frames per second with no distortion to the video. Cannot speak for the difference between the dell and this one, but, I am enjoying this monitor immensely.

 

[RossMAN]

New BB 10% coupon this weekend, I might try and buy this.

 

[Herse]

Rossman and others,

I justed wanted to let everyone know that I was in Costco last night and they had a lot of these monitors. The price was $539.99. If you are a Costco member I would think that for the same price as Best Buy (with 10% coupon) Costco would be a better way to go because of their superb return policy.

Herse

P.S. The monitor looked nice.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Herse
Rossman and others,

I justed wanted to let everyone know that I was in Costco last night and they had a lot of these monitors. The price was $539.99. If you are a Costco member I would think that for the same price as Best Buy (with 10% coupon) Costco would be a better way to go because of their superb return policy.

Herse

P.S. The monitor looked nice.

Awesome, thanks!

 

[nguyendot1]

Wrong, 1080i is 60hz (twice as many 'half' frames per second) and 1080p is 30hz... (since each frame is whole). Otherwise 1080i would be one choppy mess...

However, 1080p 60hz is a standard, but in video terms it won't be around for a little while as it is bandwidth intensive..

HDTV standards

Originally posted by: Dhaval00

Originally posted by: Ferzerp
There is no reason to change refresh rate on an LCD anyway. They don't work like CRTs where you need to up the refresh rate so that your head doesn't fall off in pain. The light is always on.

I don't know if you have tried to enable HDTV support from within your display drivers. I Know for a fact that 1080i runs @ 30 Hz, and 1080p runs @ 60 Hz. So when you force this panel to 1080p, you are actually making it support an option that it doesn't support natively. But anyway, after a few more videos, I conclude that videos @ 1080i run smoother than videos @ 1080p... at least on this panel. I also tested the videos on my X850XT machine and they seem identical. So I must say that none of the two powerhouses, ATI or nVIDIA, can brag about "their stuff" being better!

But KUDOS to Gateway for picking up where DELL left off, and offering us this panel. I may soon sell my 2005FPW, or archive it.

 

[knoxweather]

I was just on bestbuy and it is 569 and free shipping

 

[dew042]

I bought it. I like it. My life is fulfilled now.

dew.

 

[Kelvrick]

Any more word on Costco carrying this?

 

[imported_Dhaval00]

Originally posted by: nguyendot1
Wrong, 1080i is 60hz (twice as many 'half' frames per second) and 1080p is 30hz... (since each frame is whole). Otherwise 1080i would be one choppy mess...

However, 1080p 60hz is a standard, but in video terms it won't be around for a little while as it is bandwidth intensive..

HDTV standards

Originally posted by: Dhaval00

Originally posted by: Ferzerp
There is no reason to change refresh rate on an LCD anyway. They don't work like CRTs where you need to up the refresh rate so that your head doesn't fall off in pain. The light is always on.

I don't know if you have tried to enable HDTV support from within your display drivers. I Know for a fact that 1080i runs @ 30 Hz, and 1080p runs @ 60 Hz. So when you force this panel to 1080p, you are actually making it support an option that it doesn't support natively. But anyway, after a few more videos, I conclude that videos @ 1080i run smoother than videos @ 1080p... at least on this panel. I also tested the videos on my X850XT machine and they seem identical. So I must say that none of the two powerhouses, ATI or nVIDIA, can brag about "their stuff" being better!

But KUDOS to Gateway for picking up where DELL left off, and offering us this panel. I may soon sell my 2005FPW, or archive it.

Quit playing with words and read the first sentence of the post properly. I told you to observe the settings in your video card driver's properties. I have an X850XT and a 7800 GT and both specify the 1080p standard in terms of 60Hz. So you are correct when you say that it is a standard, but it is the only standard that your high end video card will support. I am sorry if I confused you .

BTW Costco is still selling these @ $539.99, but quantities are limited. The only thing now remains to be seen, is how XBOX360 looks on this panel ... if someone has tried it, do post the pictures.

 

[NoToRiOuS1]

Someone over at Hard Forums bought one just to test it out. Take a look. Quasi-informative....

LINKY

we have one at our best buy and i can probably get my hands on it for about close to 500. but after what i saw over at Hard OCP, I might have to rethink that. But so far I have only read the first page, so who knows...

 

[Herse]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
Any more word on Costco carrying this?

I saw them in the Frederick, MD Costco, if that helps at all. Maybe some others will confirm that their local Costco has them too.

Herse