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2 17" LCDs or one 20" WS LCD?

ViviTheMage

ViviTheMage

Lifer
I game alot.

I have used a few 20" LCDs, and a few 17" LCDs.

I currently own 2 Acer 17" LCD. I have one setup right now being used and I was thinking of dual screening it? Would that be a good idea for games and such? BF2, CS, CS:S, WOW, MMORPGs, etc?

Or should I just sell em both to pick up a 20" WS?

EDIT : I occasionally hook up my PC or laptop to play some CS on my 37" LCD, love it...but thats mainly for TV.
 
I'd sell them both and get a 24" WS 😛 or a 21" WS (But then again i don't like WS monitors) so that makes none of your poll question valid for me xD ...except other
 
Depending on your budget and the amount of $$$ you're willing to take out of pocket after the sale of the 17" lcds, you can get anything from a benQ 20" WS to an NEC 20wmgx2. The former is $285 and the latter is $570. Huge disparity in price, but reflective of quality, both picture and gaming. Arguably the best gaming lcd out there. In the middle ground there is the cheaper viewsonic vx2025ws for ~$300 or the dell e2007fpw (or the newly released e207fpw $335 and $290 repecively) The NEC and DELL are 8 bit panels thus the colour will be significantly better. The dell e2007fpw is also very good for gaming. The viewsonic and the dell have their downfalls though, the vx2025 has DVI issues... kind of hit or miss and the dell has banding and backlight issues... more often than not. Hope this helped a little😀
 
$400 will not get you a good projector. It will not even get you a half decent one.
1/2 decent=~$800 usually vga
Good=~$1200-2000 usually xga
Full HD=$5000 (currently only the sony sxrd projector is available for a reasonable price though optima has one for $7000)
 
Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
I would probably get the DELL e2007fpw because i had the 2005fpw and loved it.

I Love dells stands...haha very sturdy!
Click to expand...

The 2005FPW is a higher quality panel than the e207WFP. Try the 2007WFP. There is no e prefix on the latter, and it also has one more 0. The NEC 20WMGX2 is the undisputed best 20" widescreen for any and all purposes if you're willing to pay for it.
 
Originally posted by: xtknight
Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
I would probably get the DELL e2007fpw because i had the 2005fpw and loved it.

I Love dells stands...haha very sturdy!
Click to expand...

The 2005FPW is a higher quality panel than the e207WFP. Try the 2007WFP. There is no e prefix on the latter, and it also has one more 0. The NEC 20WMGX2 is the undisputed best 20" widescreen for any and all purposes if you're willing to pay for it.
Click to expand...


sorry about the typos. I was watching a movie.

that was quick, got someone who may be interested for 300$ for both LCDs near by.
 
I've never understood two displays.. I only have one set of eyes and they can only be one place at once.. get one 20".. or better yet a 23/24"
 
Dual is sweet but 17" dual is to small.... If you had a 19" I would say go dual but in this case grab a single larger display.
 
A 17 is what I might set up for grandma to check her email, but I require real estate like a 21 ws. I did just buy a 19ws, but it was a deal and I still use a 22" crt to game on.
 
I couldn't live without my dual-setup and don't let those naysayers tell you that it's useless. Especially if you play a game like World of Warcraft, you will probably find it very advantageous to have two screens setup. This is mainly because unlike a game like a First Person Shooter, MMOs typically have downtime built in as a normal game factor. With such a relaxed environment in comparison, having something else to keep your attention is very nice.

I've watched TV shows, movies, anime, music videos and/or chatted on my second LCD while playing WoW. But don't get me wrong, your non-gaming productivity would also go up a lot from multiple monitors. While programming, I've always preferred two LCDs (or more) to add to my ability to reference any documentation be it specifications, language references or whatever I need. It's all in the ability to compare two things side-by-side.

Although, I used to use a 19" LCD and a 17" LCD, now I use two same-size Samsung SyncMaster 205BW LCDs and I love it, except my desk is small and the main LCD isn't positioned very well in comparison to where I sit.
 
I dont program often on my PC at home, that is strictly my gaming PC. I only have games on it and ventrilo, nothing else!

my laptop is generally what I use for coding if I have to for a class.

I really love the real estate of a 20"(or bigger) W/S , now that I am on this one 17" it looks all so tiny! I think I will pick up a 20-23" or so LCD. two Samsung SyncMaster 205BW would be hot, but I don't have the money for that 😛.
 
If possible, you could always just sell one of the LCDs, buy a WS LCD and use the 17" as your off-monitor? If they're used as two distinct desktops (like nVidia's DualView), having different sizes and resolutions *shouldn't* matter.

I've never personally used two different resolutions at once as I always used 1280x1024 and then 1650x1080. I'd say more real estate really only matters more in WoW when raiding and such. Or if you simply like a plethora of space.
 
2 screens are only really useful for FPSs (bf2, cs) if you plan to have a chat application or something similar running on your 2nd monitor. On the other hand, BF2 and probably other FPSs don't support widescreen so you'll be wasting the "wide" part.

For non-game applications the dual display is pretty sweet, you'll get a lot more pixels (1024x1280x2 = 2621440 vs 1600x1050 = 1680000)

Neither of your options is ideal for games... regular 20" would be best if your video card can handle the resolution.
 
Originally posted by: Zebo
I've never understood two displays.. I only have one set of eyes and they can only be one place at once.. get one 20".. or better yet a 23/24"
Click to expand...
I disagree wholeheartedly. I have two displays and would never go back to a single. When I play games in full screen I can still have e-mail or a browser maximized in the screen next door. When I play a DVD maximized on one screen I can still surf the web in another. When I Remote Desktop into my servers I've still got access to the Start menu on my desktop, and all I have to do to switch from desktop to server is slide the mouse across the screen.

A widescreen display is nice and all, and if I could afford two I'd buy them in a heartbeat, but I would never trade two displays for one.

 
I can't multi task like that and alt-tab works great for me. Ive tried it..had three at one time! And not only did the side LCD's shimmer and glare in oblique providing poor IQ, I found myself just using the monitor right in from of me most. Old habits die hard I guess. I do have two monitors now but attached to separte computers. One in front of me and with a 180 of the chair right behind me.
 
Originally posted by: Zebo
I can't multi task like that and alt-tab works great for me. Ive tried it..had three at one time! And not only did the side LCD's shimmer and glare in oblique providing poor IQ, I found myself just using the monitor right in from of me most. Old habits die hard I guess. I do have two monitors now but attached to separte computers. One in front of me and with a 180 of the chair right behind me.
Click to expand...

Well if you keep your monitors slightly off center so that no one monitor takes dominance and it's equally comfortable to look at both monitors then you won't have that issue. I've got dual monitors. One thing that it really helps with is doing school essays where I have word open on one monitor and the information I need on the other monitor, widescreens aren't a replacement for that.
 
I just went through the same "dilema" two weeks ago. I had a 17" samsung and was debating about getting a 2nd or a 20" ws. I ended up getting a 20" viewsonic on sale as Office Depot for 240 (vx2025wm). I now use this as my main monitor and turn on the 17" when I want some more real estate (very close in resolutions make it relatively easy to do 1680x1050 vs 1280x1024).
 
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