Yet another 24" monitor thread - best under $700?

[knite]

I'm researching a 24" monitor purchase. Here's what I know so far:

- TN panels are out due to the viewing angle.
- I do a bit of photography work, so a nice panel is a plus.
- Input lag <40ms is fine. I don't game enough for extremely low lag to be a must-have.
- Budget is flexible, but shooting for <$1000 on a pair (<$500/each).

Here are the monitors I have my eye on:

- Dell 2408WFP, $500. Just missed a deal @ $400.
- DoubleSight DS-265W, $550.
- HP LP2475w, $550.

And here's a dark horse candidate I don't see on the current recommendations thread:

- LG L246WP-BN, $400. $300 refurb. A bit older than the monitors above, but the few reviews/posts I've seen seem positive.

Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[nitromullet]

EIZO refurb. http://www.eizo.com/purchase/direct/monitors.asp

Got my SX2461W for $375 shipped. Best 24" LCD for the money hands down.

 

[knite]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
Got my SX2461W for $375 shipped. Best 24" LCD for the money hands down.

That looks like a nice monitor, but I'm not seeing much information on it online. Why didn't it make the cut as a recommendation on the LCD thread?

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: knite

Originally posted by: nitromullet
Got my SX2461W for $375 shipped. Best 24" LCD for the money hands down.

That looks like a nice monitor, but I'm not seeing much information on it online. Why didn't it make the cut as a recommendation on the LCD thread?

Because EIZO tends to be really expensive new. The SX2461W is $1300-1400 new, so it's not really within most peoples' budget. EIZO is more geared towards professionals, as opposed to home users. While I really like this screen a lot, and I would have been more than happy paying $700-800 for it, the MSRP for a new one is too much for me to spend on a single 24" LCD.

Here's a review on the SX2461W's 27" (SX2761W) bigger brother, which is very similar. http://www.prad.de/en/monitore...view-eizo-sx2761w.html

I had originally called EIZO to order the 27", but they had sold all of the refurbs so I opted for the 24".

 

[knite]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: knite
Why didn't it make the cut as a recommendation on the LCD thread?

Because EIZO tends to be really expensive new. The SX2461W is $1300-1400 new, so it's not really within most peoples' budget.

Here's a review on the SX2461W's 27" (SX2761W) bigger brother, which is very similar. http://www.prad.de/en/monitore...view-eizo-sx2761w.html

Thanks for the review link.

There are other monitors (eg, NEC) on the recommendations list at this price point or higher. Does anyone else have experience with this monitor? How does it compare to the four monitors I mentioned in the first post?

 

[nitromullet]

I have no experience with the other screens on your list, but I picked up the EIZO after returning two Dell 2480WFPs. The 2408 isn't a bad screen, but I had issues with blurry text (greenish shadow) with one of them. Both were too bright and there aren't enough options to adjust the colors IMO to make the wide color gamut usable for non-color aware apps. The EIZO is also a wide gamut screen, but it has much better options for color management.

I also looked into the DoubleSight DS-265W, but after reading more user experiences with it I opted against it. I think there are a few guys on the HardOCP forum that have one IIRC, so you might want to hunt down some user impressions over there.

Another LCD you might be interested in is the Samsung 245T http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824001246 It doesn't do 1:1 pixel scaling at 1920x1080, which was a requirement for me, so it didn't make my cut. If you don't need 1:1 scaling then it would probably be a pretty nice LCD.

 

[Paladin]

Absolutely love my HP LP2475w. Cannot tell any input lag in games, fast response time. H-IPS panel.

 

[allies]

I have a DS-265W - Since you want QUALITY, I'd say steer clear of it, since they're notorious for their lack of quality control.

With that being said, my DS-265W is the best purchase I've made for my computer yet (probably will change when I get a SSD). Colors are awesome, might be a *tad* bright, no lag, fast response time, big enough to watch movies in my bed, all that great stuff.

If you roll the dice and get a great one like me, then you'll be more than happy. I don't know how much of a gambler you are though.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: allies
I have a DS-265W - Since you want QUALITY, I'd say steer clear of it, since they're notorious for their lack of quality control.

With that being said, my DS-265W is the best purchase I've made for my computer yet (probably will change when I get a SSD). Colors are awesome, might be a *tad* bright, no lag, fast response time, big enough to watch movies in my bed, all that great stuff.

If you roll the dice and get a great one like me, then you'll be more than happy. I don't know how much of a gambler you are though.

IMO, it takes either a little bit of a gamble or a chunk of cash to get a decent LCD these days. Sadly, quality seems to be pretty inconsistent between LCDs. I was pretty skeptical when I pulled the trigger on the refurbed EIZO, but it worked out for me. I have no idea of what I received from them is typical for a refurb, or if I just got lucky.

 

[Winterpool]

The HP LP2475w is down to $505 on Provantage, which is awfully tempting, but a recent punter reported the dreaded uniformity issue, ugh. So it's still a risk at $500 whether one would get a qualite H-IPS display. If I could be certain that I would get a decent panel, I'd probably go in for the HP.

Also: the primary issue with the DoubleSight is the lack of real backlight (ie brightness) control. This actually rendered the 265 inferior to the previous 263.

 

[looper]

WinterPool...

That HP is $688. over there...
http://www.provantage.com/scri...ubmit.x=10&Submit.y=20

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: KevinC
Absolutely love my HP LP2475w. Cannot tell any input lag in games, fast response time. H-IPS panel.

I am happy with mine as well:thumbsup:

 

[Phew]

Might as well throw the Planar PX2611W in the mix. I paid about $600 for mine after cashback on Ebay, but there might be refurbs available under $500. It's a 25.5" screen though, so you do get some extra real estate over a 24".

As you probably saw in the LCD thread, it's a quality IPS panel with the lowest input lag of any non-TN panel listed in that thread. Absolutely no complaints with mine.

 

[Winterpool]

Mmm, Looper's search digs up two HP LP2475w entries on Provantage, with a big price difference... huh?! My old hyperlink connects to the current $510.34 price. It was $505 when I composed my previous missive, I swear! Provantage and similar sites appear to shift their prices every few days. Punters may want to revisit periodically; if it drops significantly below $500, I might pull the trigger myself.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: Phew
Might as well throw the Planar PX2611W in the mix. I paid about $600 for mine after cashback on Ebay, but there might be refurbs available under $500. It's a 25.5" screen though, so you do get some extra real estate over a 24".

As you probably saw in the LCD thread, it's a quality IPS panel with the lowest input lag of any non-TN panel listed in that thread. Absolutely no complaints with mine.

The Planar does seem to be a nice screen with some of the best response times around. The deal breaker for me was the gradient banding that appeared when running 1920x1080 1:1.

http://www.hardforum.com/showp...31245852&postcount=172

...if 1:1 isn't important to you, it looks like a winner.

 

[Hauk]

I had a Dell 2408wfp and loved it. Some buzz about poor input lag and response times but I never noticed. Gaming and graphics were great. Build quality was fantastic, inputs galore.

Two or three revisions out now, perhaps it's worth a look. Not many on the net. Maybe Dell Direct is the way to go. The rep I worked with recently matched an Amazon price on the 40" Samsung 1080p that replaced my Dell. Maybe he can work a deal. You are in the market for two after all..

Ricardo Calo
Ricardo_Calo@Dell.com
1-800-289-3355 x 2169483

 

[in64tel]

Personally, I own the Dell 2408WFP, just bought it a few weeks back for my new computer build. I highly recommend it, the input lag of 30 ms is not perceivable in the least (for me that is, I tried the older revision and it was definately there), but with revision A02 not discernable.

When calibrated it truly shines... huge upgrade over the old CRT and old TN panel I had.

That's my two cents.

 

[Soccerman06]

you can get the 3007wfp-hc refurb at dell for $800... Id spend the money there.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

I'm staring at dual 2408WFPs and I am happy with them.

Though they have this weird issue where sometimes after Windows loads or after I bring them back from Power Save they've scrunched the 1920 down to like 1600 width-wise. Very weird issue. They each do it on occasion, but never both at the same time. I have to change any display setting to fix it (I just change to 16 bit color, then tell Windows I didn't really mean to do that and it switches back to 32 bit). I disabled 1:1 pixel mapping on one of them to see if that one will quit doing it but neither of them have done it in the last couple days since I turned off pixel mapping on the one, so I'm not sure if that's fixed it or they're just behaving well for a couple days in a row.

I work from home and also do most everything else at my computer so I stare at these things all day every day, pretty much. They have a rich picture, and like I said I'm happy with them for the most part. Ignore people that say they're too bright, you just have to know how to tune the settings right and you can get them looking beautiful.

 

[Phew]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
The Planar does seem to be a nice screen with some of the best response times around. The deal breaker for me was the gradient banding that appeared when running 1920x1080 1:1.

OP didn't mention watching Blu-ray or other 16:9 content on his PC. I, like many people, watch movies on my TV.

If your PC monitor doubles as your home theatre, then indeed, the Planar is not for you.

 

[knite]

I started with four monitors under consideration. Now I have six. I can't decide whether you guys are helping.

The Samsung 245T is out. It's at the high end of the price range, doesn't do 1920x1080 1:1, doesn't provide other perks in return, and isn't ranked.

Blu-ray/other 16:9 media is optional. I have a separate HT theater setup for when I really care about PQ/sound/experience.

I'm still having trouble deciding between the other models. Here's what I know from this thread and around the net:
(rank taken from LCD sticky multimedia section)

- Planar PX2611W. $600 (eBay CB). Extra 2". Banding @ 1920x1080 1:1. Most expensive. #6 rank.
- Doublesight DS-265W. $550. Extra 1.5". No brightness control, known QC problems. #7 rank.
- HP LP2475W. $550. Known QC/color uniformity problems. #8 rank.
- Dell 2408-WFP. $500. Mixed reviews. Some people love it, others hate it. Possibly bad QC, or variation between revisions? #11 rank.
- LG L246WP-Bn. $400 ($300 refurb). Cheapest. Few reviews/opinions available. No rank.
- Eizo SX2461W. $375 refurb. Few reviews/opinions available. No rank.

How much weight should I place on the LCD thread rankings? Why didn't the LG or Eizo make the cut?

Does anyone have additional feedback on these monitors? Right now, it feels like a coin flip between the DS and HP. I'd jump on the Planar or Dell if either had a hot deal. I don't (yet) know enough about the LG or Eizo to be comfortable with a purchase.

 

[Winterpool]

Knite, I don't think it's really a contest between the HP and the DoubleSight. If backlight control matters to you at all, then you shouldn't get the DS. Whereas with the HP, there's a risk you might get unacceptable variation, but if luck is with you, you'll have a superb monitor for the price.

To me (and most other punters -- see XTKnight's main thread), the primary choice is between the HP and the Dell 2408WFP.

LG monitors (at least in North America) don't seem to use LG.Philips IPS panels. Eizos are generally too expensive for most non-specialists, and I'm not sure why one wouldn't get the NEC if spending the big bucks anyhow.

 

[knite]

Originally posted by: Winterpool
LG monitors (at least in North America) don't seem to use LG.Philips IPS panels.

Does this mean LGs should be avoided when not made with a Philips IPS?

Eizos are generally too expensive for most non-specialists, and I'm not sure why one wouldn't get the NEC if spending the big bucks anyhow.

The Eizo suggested by nitromullet is only $400, vs $1000+ for the NECs. Since the LCD thread includes monitors at any price point, I'm wondering how good the LG and/or Eizo are given their omission from the list.

 

[looper]

Winterpool...

If this theoretical 24" monitor for knite(original poster) was strictly for gaming, would those still be your top two?

If you see my below sig, I now have a 20" Dell model 2001FP. It has been great. This computer is pretty much strictly the gaming machine in the house for son and I. We also have been considering the BenQ G2400WD 24".

 

[Winterpool]

I don't hear a lot about LG monitors in the States, and as you've noted, there don't seem to be many in the sticky thread. LG.Philips (or LG.Display nowadays, I believe) was a co-venture between LG and Philips to manufacture IPS LCD panels. Unfortunately, Philips in the US also doesn't use these panels (I think one of the problems is that the Philips brand is licensed to Funai here); there are Philips IPS displays overseas.

(The other big IPS fab is IPS Alpha, but they make purely TVs -- Panasonic, Hitach -- at least for US consumption.)

IPS panels are considered the best overall, but they're not the best at everything. IPS lag is generally better than PVA, but some people find the current production run of Dell 2408WFPs acceptable (the original rev was awful). TN panels are the fastest, and I expect most hardcore twitch-gamers would want TN.

So far as IPS goes, I believe the Planars and DoubleSights are faster than the HP LP2475w.

Update: as to Eizo, I don't know why they're not in the sticky (it's XTKnight's thread, heh), but they and LaCie do tend to be very costly and limited to graphics professionals. Interestingly I think most of their panels are PVA? Not sure how well refurb displays work out; I've never used one and might feel a little uneasy about it, but they seem to have worked out well for others.

Reflecting some more, I suppose I'd feel more comfortable with a refurb that was treated by the company like a new product (for example Apple's warranty coverage).