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

[batmanuel]

Originally posted by: 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

I saw it at the Kirkland, WA Costco. They had it as part of a $1499 Gateway Media Center computer bundle, though. I didn't see it priced individually, and it was hard to really tell how the monitor really looked as the PC they had it hooked to (via a D-Sub connector) only had the Intel GMA900 onboard video, so the quality of the image on the screen left MUCH to be desired.

 

[NoToRiOuS1]

Available at Costco for 550 or so.
Sacramento, CA area

 

[Kelvrick]

Originally posted by: faboloso112
Available at Costco for 550 or so.
Sacramento, CA area

Which one? I saw the same thing that batmanuel did at the arden fair one.

 

[NoToRiOuS1]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick

Originally posted by: faboloso112
Available at Costco for 550 or so.
Sacramento, CA area

Which one? I saw the same thing that batmanuel did at the arden fair one.

the one @ roseville

edit: i didn't see the package deal...just saw the monitor. this was just late last week. should still be there...but who knows...

 

[djnsmith7]

I spent some time checking out this monitor at BB last night, but couldn't really get a good feel for its graphics capabilities. It was hooked up to a general feed that was running on say...15 other monitors. I couldn't adjust or change anything, therefore I only got to see what was displayed.

Wish I had more feedback for those who haven't had a chance to check it out yet.

 

[mcmikemc]

Does this thing have a headphone jack?

I have my 360 connected to my 2005FPW and I have to turn my PC on to get sound since I run the sound through my sound card. If this thing had a headphone jack I would never have to turn my PC on.

 

[Auteur]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick

Originally posted by: faboloso112
Available at Costco for 550 or so.
Sacramento, CA area

Which one? I saw the same thing that batmanuel did at the arden fair one.

At the San Leandro and Concord Costco its $539

 

[Kelvrick]

Originally posted by: Auteur

Originally posted by: Kelvrick

Originally posted by: faboloso112
Available at Costco for 550 or so.
Sacramento, CA area

Which one? I saw the same thing that batmanuel did at the arden fair one.

At the San Leandro and Concord Costco its $539

Ah jeez. You guys see the 2005fpw for 395+? This is making the choice hard... I like the gateway more, and costco has a great policy. But then... 150 difference. Damn.

 

[NoToRiOuS1]

i guess there's a bit of a premium if you will on the gateway since its a "21" inch as opposed to the dell which is a 20(right?)
im just glad that this bad boy isn't on sale at BB or anything otherwise i would've had to decide if i want this or dell's 2005fpw

even though the first time i saw this, i had my mind set on it, now i think im going to most likely go for dell's 2005fpw. its cheaper. if i have much trouble with it(ive heard a few horror stories) then ill send it back and pick this bad boy up.

this whole HDCP thing is worrying me though :/

 

[VooDooAddict]

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

1) With LCDs the refresh rates that you are used to in the CRT (60hz, 75hz, 80hz, ect) world aren't a big deal. (I'm going to simplify things a bit for the sake of time. If others have more time they can feel free to fill in the gaps.)

CRT refresh rates delt with the monitor's constant refreshing of the image on the screen. Many times higher refresh rates (quicker redrawing of the images on the screen) would help reduce eye strain. This is why many of us in the CRT world were used to pushing our refresh rates up to 75+hz. In the LCD world however the image doesn't need constant rescanning to maintain an image.


2) The 6600GT is an amazing card. You will probably want to upgrade to something like a 7800GT eentually ... but in the meantime the 6600GT should do it for you. Nvidia also has some great drivers. If using DVI you can actually set the monitor scaling methods in the driver control pannel in the monitor settings. You should be able to lock the monitor into doing a centered 1:1 with black borders for most games. This way you can play games at something like 1280x1024 without scalling. 1280x1024 is also a little more friendly speedwise on the 6600GT.

 

[Skychan]

Originally posted by: VooDooAddict

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

1) With LCDs the refresh rates that you are used to in the CRT (60hz, 75hz, 80hz, ect) world aren't a big deal. (I'm going to simplify things a bit for the sake of time. If others have more time they can feel free to fill in the gaps.)

CRT refresh rates delt with the monitor's constant refreshing of the image on the screen. Many times higher refresh rates (quicker redrawing of the images on the screen) would help reduce eye strain. This is why many of us in the CRT world were used to pushing our refresh rates up to 75+hz. In the LCD world however the image doesn't need constant rescanning to maintain an image.


2) The 6600GT is an amazing card. You will probably want to upgrade to something like a 7800GT eentually ... but in the meantime the 6600GT should do it for you. Nvidia also has some great drivers. If using DVI you can actually set the monitor scaling methods in the driver control pannel in the monitor settings. You should be able to lock the monitor into doing a centered 1:1 with black borders for most games. This way you can play games at something like 1280x1024 without scalling. 1280x1024 is also a little more friendly speedwise on the 6600GT.

Sweet!!! When I tested it I didn't have a DVI cable...but if I had that and i get scaling options in the Nvidia drivers I will be sooo happy.

I actually returned the monitor but I am considering buying it after Xmas if it goes on sale...however I still have one rather MAJOR problem with this monitor. The lack of ability to have proper black! I have seen some rather cheap LCD monitors at university and places and they seem to be able to do black almost as good as a CRT...i can handle it if its not perfectly true black, but i am telling you the FPD2185W can only do a dark gray...not even that dark gray. Every picture and movie looks ASTOUNDING on this monitor, unless the scene is a dark scene, then it looks atrocious. I want this monitor soooo bad, but i cannot get over this huge flaw in it!

Help convince me that its ok....i would get over it if every other LCD was just as bad, but im pretty sure some can do pretty good black...

*cry*

thx everyone for supplying very helpful information

-MG ^_^

 

[imported_Dhaval00]

Originally posted by: Skychan

Sweet!!! When I tested it I didn't have a DVI cable...but if I had that and i get scaling options in the Nvidia drivers I will be sooo happy.

I actually returned the monitor but I am considering buying it after Xmas if it goes on sale...however I still have one rather MAJOR problem with this monitor. The lack of ability to have proper black! I have seen some rather cheap LCD monitors at university and places and they seem to be able to do black almost as good as a CRT...i can handle it if its not perfectly true black, but i am telling you the FPD2185W can only do a dark gray...not even that dark gray. Every picture and movie looks ASTOUNDING on this monitor, unless the scene is a dark scene, then it looks atrocious. I want this monitor soooo bad, but i cannot get over this huge flaw in it!

Help convince me that its ok....i would get over it if every other LCD was just as bad, but im pretty sure some can do pretty good black...

*cry*

thx everyone for supplying very helpful information

-MG ^_^

@ your college or your school, you have the freaking white lights shining on the panel 24/7. Have you ever looked @ the backlight of any of those monitor's with the white lights turned off? Moreover, you can't get true black on LCD's - if you want true black, buy a CRT. The other issue of "gray" can be reduced by altering the "Gamma" setting of your video card. Just like the 2005FPW, this monitor is also very bright out of the box. This brightness is cool in movies and games, but not for normal reading/browsing. You can easily create profiles like "Dark" and "Default" so that you can switch between them. It's something that can be tweaked using your video card drivers
I own a 2005FPW, too. I'd go for this monitor any given day, especially with the HDCP crap going around. If cost is an issue, and if you think you want to invest maybe another $400 for an HDCP enabled monitor when VISTA ships, buy a 2005FPW instead.

 

[Skychan]

Originally posted by: Dhaval00

@ your college or your school, you have the freaking white lights shining on the panel 24/7. Have you ever looked @ the backlight of any of those monitor's with the white lights turned off? Moreover, you can't get true black on LCD's - if you want true black, buy a CRT. The other issue of "gray" can be reduced by altering the "Gamma" setting of your video card. Just like the 2005FPW, this monitor is also very bright out of the box. This brightness is cool in movies and games, but not for normal reading/browsing. You can easily create profiles like "Dark" and "Default" so that you can switch between them. It's something that can be tweaked using your video card drivers
I own a 2005FPW, too. I'd go for this monitor any given day, especially with the HDCP crap going around. If cost is an issue, and if you think you want to invest maybe another $400 for an HDCP enabled monitor when VISTA ships, buy a 2005FPW instead.

Ok, i hear you. Maybe the lights at university are brighter than the one in my room. But I notice the lack of black with my lights on in my room. I guess in the end I shall have to accept that its not gonna be as good of black as CRT, which is fine. Provided I can figure out how u managed to get a darker view without washing out or losing contrast in the image. I messed around with the actual monitor settings, as well as Adobe Gamma settings and I always found that I couldnt change the settings to get darker blacks without severe compromise in contrast and major washouts in the brighter colors. But you are talking about changing how the video card itself creates the image. I never thought to mess around with those settings. When I buy the monitor again in the new year I shall try that, though last time i messed with the video card color settings I didnt get much success in keeping it pretty, probably cause i didnt understand how the gamma curves worked and such.

so thx for the advice. I definately get the vibe that almost everyone thinks this is the greatest thing since sliced bread....and I have to agree.

thx

-MG ^_^

edit:
Here is my test for monitor blackness.

http://members.shaw.ca/skystrider/blackTest/

the circular image should blend into black with its gradient so that you cannot see a circular "line" at all between the edge of the image and where the black background begins...if you are on a properly calibrated CRT that is (i guess that depends on ur own opinion of "properly calibrated"). Other LCDs passed this at the university, granted I did not have the lights off. The 2185W failed with the lights on in my room. Does this test pass for other people? better comparison against other high end LCDs? Maybe it was just the one screen I had. *shrug*

sorry for dragging this issue on, Im just curious about all your opinions cause they matter to me, and I have appreciated the responses i have had so far, thx

-MG ^_^

 

[NoToRiOuS1]

its the damn HDCP that is really making this bad boy attractive. well and the fact that it has a better response time then the dell 2005fpw (8ms vs 12ms if im not mistaken)
BAH
i dont know what to do
560 out the door for this bad boy or 380 for or whatever for the dell....

 

[Bonesnap]

Hello,

I've been recently looking at getting an LCD monitor, and I saw this particular one in a Futureshop (I live in Canada) for $799 CAD. When I shopped around a little more on the Internet I found at Best Buy they're selling it for $599 USD which, at the current exchange rate, is much cheaper (especially since we pay 15% tax). Also while searching I found this forum and this specific thread, and have read the entire discussion regarding this monitor; however, one question remains for me:

On the Futureshop website, it lists the monitor as having a built-in TV tuner, but on the Best Buy website it lists it without one. I was wondering if anyone who has purchased this monitor can confirm either.

Further reading revealed that at Costco it's being sold for around $539 USD, which is even better. My mom is travelling to the USA in January and said she'd pick it up for me. Having the built-in TV tuner would be a great plus, but is not essential as I was planning on purchasing one anyway when I began looking for LCD monitors.

Thank you in advance for everyone's time; this thread has been a huge help in influencing my decision on this monitor.

 

[Shaotai]

Originally posted by: batmanuel

Originally posted by: 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

I saw it at the Kirkland, WA Costco. They had it as part of a $1499 Gateway Media Center computer bundle, though. I didn't see it priced individually, and it was hard to really tell how the monitor really looked as the PC they had it hooked to (via a D-Sub connector) only had the Intel GMA900 onboard video, so the quality of the image on the screen left MUCH to be desired.

Hey! It's at the Issaquah Costco. Last I saw, they had 5 in stock... It's a real beaut!

*EDIT* FYI: This is for the monitor by itself...

 

[RaiderJ]

Originally posted by: jnmunsey
"The only bug with the Gateway panel is its inability to maintain a 1:1 ratio for games at non-native resolution like the 2005FPW."

This sounds like it would be a serious concern for many..

Also, even on my 2005FPW when I rock my head back and forth left to right I notice the edges of the screen change intensity due to viewing angle limitations.. It is very very subtle but I notice it, so anyhting worse would not be a good thing. The 2005FPW is my 2nd LCD and as far as I am concerned LCD is the weakest technology out there for quality of picture, though not sure what else there besides CRT at ~20"...

That definitely caught my eye... but if the scaling with the Fara-something chip makes everything look good, then I don't mind.

 

[NoToRiOuS1]

Originally posted by: Bonesnap
Hello,

I've been recently looking at getting an LCD monitor, and I saw this particular one in a Futureshop (I live in Canada) for $799 CAD. When I shopped around a little more on the Internet I found at Best Buy they're selling it for $599 USD which, at the current exchange rate, is much cheaper (especially since we pay 15% tax). Also while searching I found this forum and this specific thread, and have read the entire discussion regarding this monitor; however, one question remains for me:

On the Futureshop website, it lists the monitor as having a built-in TV tuner, but on the Best Buy website it lists it without one. I was wondering if anyone who has purchased this monitor can confirm either.

Further reading revealed that at Costco it's being sold for around $539 USD, which is even better. My mom is travelling to the USA in January and said she'd pick it up for me. Having the built-in TV tuner would be a great plus, but is not essential as I was planning on purchasing one anyway when I began looking for LCD monitors.

Thank you in advance for everyone's time; this thread has been a huge help in influencing my decision on this monitor.

Welcome to the forums
to answer your question, the lcd that is available here in the US in costco and best buy do not include a TV tuner. they are simply HDTV compatible and has the ability to do picture in picture
in my personal opinion, why bother with with a built in tv tuner and pay hundred of extra dollars for it. just having one in your computer should do the job and you can find the tv tuners for about 50-100 dollars.
i hope this answered your question, if you have anymore questions, feel free to post

 

[Skychan]

In reply to all the talk about Costco selling the FPD2185W... I cannot find it on either the CDN or US site. For those of us Canadians who dont want to shell out the $799 to gay Future Shop...what are our other options? No one else sells it here... unless a local Costco would order in on request...? What about shipping from the states? Im worried about dealing with warrenty then...

Anyone confirm its ability to keep 1:1 pixel aspect ratio for non-native resolutions? Its been mentioned the Nvidia drivers can lock it. Confirmation?

Thx everyone, this thread really has been so incredibly informative!

-Sky ^_^

 

[CyberZenn]

Not that it will do you a lot of good at this point, but BB had this monitor on sale last week for $569. I was able to stack various discounts and do a little legwork and managed to pick it up for about $470.

On the whole, I am very pleased with this monitor. Black is not "true black", but I don't think that will bother most people, as it is still pretty good and backlight bleeding is quite mnimal. Also, My x800XL doesn't have any trouble running games at the default resolution for anything I have tried *so far*, but I do understand that in a generation or so I am going to have to upgrade my video card unless I want to scale from a lower res (which does admittedly look pretty good with the DCDi scaling chip). For those that don't know, the Faroudja DCDi chip is the creme de la creme of video scaling chipsets (except for some super-high-end pro grade stuff).

Coming from a relatively earlier gen LCD (25ms 19in Planar from about 3 years ago), the difference is night and day.

As of now I don't even intend to use any of the secondary features and I still feel this is a really good value.

Another bonus -- at least for me -- is that it's not a D E L L product. They are eeeeevil.

 

[NoToRiOuS1]

just saw this in a thread in general hardware forum

http://www.cdfreaks.com/news2.php?ID=12115

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000727051424/

POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!!!
hehe, i feel all tingly inside knowing there are people out there whose sole purpose is to piss the 'man' off and give the people what they want(and not make them buy a new friggin LCD because of this HDCP)
god bless these modern day robin hoods

currently the price for one of these things is very high...but as with all technology, price will eventually drop.
something worth considering.

i have to say though, even though the HDCP problem is (semi)out of the way, im still impressed by this lcd.
but also the dell's offering comes BACK into the picture since the HDCP isn't something i need to REALLY worry about.

 

[Bonesnap]

Thank you for the warm welcome.

The absence of the TV tuner isn't a problem, I just needed confirmation. Thank you for answering that question. I'll mostly be using this monitor for movies. I rarely have time to watch TV at all, so I probably won't get a TV tuner card for a while anyway. This sort of leads me into my next question, and I apologize if it has already been answered:

When playing fullscreen movies and TV shows (I own a lot of TV seasons), will the picture be stretched, or will the monitor allow the video to be viewed within dimensions that won't make it look... odd? This is basically my only concern with this monitor (and any widescreen monitor for that matter). Gaming isn't an issue as I almost never play.

Thanks for everyone's time.

 

[NoToRiOuS1]

Originally posted by: Bonesnap
Thank you for the warm welcome.

The absence of the TV tuner isn't a problem, I just needed confirmation. Thank you for answering that question. I'll mostly be using this monitor for movies. I rarely have time to watch TV at all, so I probably won't get a TV tuner card for a while anyway. This sort of leads me into my next question, and I apologize if it has already been answered:

When playing fullscreen movies and TV shows (I own a lot of TV seasons), will the picture be stretched, or will the monitor allow the video to be viewed within dimensions that won't make it look... odd? This is basically my only concern with this monitor (and any widescreen monitor for that matter). Gaming isn't an issue as I almost never play.

Thanks for everyone's time.

I have seen this bad boy in action. What happens when you're watching regular TV type of things is that the monitor shows two black columns on each side so the picture is a 4:3(regular TV style display).

 

[imported_Dhaval00]

Originally posted by: Bonesnap
Thank you for the warm welcome.

The absence of the TV tuner isn't a problem, I just needed confirmation. Thank you for answering that question. I'll mostly be using this monitor for movies. I rarely have time to watch TV at all, so I probably won't get a TV tuner card for a while anyway. This sort of leads me into my next question, and I apologize if it has already been answered:

When playing fullscreen movies and TV shows (I own a lot of TV seasons), will the picture be stretched, or will the monitor allow the video to be viewed within dimensions that won't make it look... odd? This is basically my only concern with this monitor (and any widescreen monitor for that matter). Gaming isn't an issue as I almost never play.

Thanks for everyone's time.

The monitor has the Faroudja chip built into it - this chip enables you to scale a 4:3 image to 16:10 with minimal loss of quality. This scaling is only possible when you have the video source connected to the S-Video input. I haven't tested the scaling feature using the Composite Video-In, so have no idea; I don't remember, but I think I connected a TV source via the Composite Video-In which showed the image from edge-to-edge. As far as recorded shows go, if the original content was 16:9, the screen will show you a 16:9 image (with two thin black bars at the top and the bottom, respectively). You can't scale any source that you have connected via DVI input on this monitor, so the original format remains as it is. I did connect a 1080i upconverting DVD player, and the picture was, simply put, breathless. On the same front, I haven't connected a true 1080i source to this monitor like a satellite dish (observe the subtlety, though, that the monitor SUPPORTS 1080i and NOT 1080p). There were some other posts in this same thread that covered which graphics card support which feature (vis-a-vis ATI & nVIDIA).
Other than that, if money is an issue, I'd suggest you buy this monitor just for the fact that most of the future digital content that will use DVI will be HDCP enabled. M$ is already in bed with HD-DVD, and it shouldn't surpise me if they have similar functionality support in VISTA. Sure, Dell is selling the 2005FPW @ ~$340, but I am sure it is getting rid of its stock for a reason. Possibly it is coming out with a newer HDCP capable monitor? I'd feel sorry for people who shelled out ~$350 for the 2005FPW, only to realize 3 months later, that their monitor won't be supported by VISTA.
Since you don't play PC games much, I'd suggest you buy this monitor. Moreover, you have the option of returning it anyway if you don't like it

 

[wetcat007]

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 ^_^

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?

You can do that in the settings for nvidia video cards. Works great.