Best overall LCD monitor for $600 or less

[PCMarine]

Hey all,
I'm looking to replace my aging 17" crt monitor before college and wish to migrate to LCD. I'm looking to spend no more then $600, and would hopefully like to get the best overall monitor for the money. I was looking at 19" LCDs, but I hear that the native resolution of 1280x1024 is stretched out and awkward. I also looked at the Dell 20.1" widescreen monitor, which looks awesome for desktop use, but I'm afraid that I'll always need to keep upgrading my video card to run games at the crazy 1650 x whatever native resolution.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated, thanks!

 

[shud]

Viewsonic makes a 19" 4ms model. I believe you can see it at www.viewsonic.com/xtreme

 

[MBentz]

I have a 17" LG Flatron Slim, and it's an excellent monitor. No ghosting in BF2, EEII, MVP Baseball '05, etc etc. I think the 19" can be had for under $600.

Product details.

I cannot recommend this enough. They look great and perform even better.

 

[PCMarine]

Originally posted by: MBentz
I have a 17" LG Flatron Slim, and it's an excellent monitor. No ghosting in BF2, EEII, MVP Baseball '05, etc etc. I think the 19" can be had for under $600.

Product details.

I cannot recommend this enough. They look great and perform even better.

Boy this really looks like a beautiful display. How does 1280 x 1024 look on a 19" display?

 

[PCMarine]

And how about the Samsung 193P?

 

[Cheesetogo]

I would get a 2005fpw (dell's 20inch widescreen, 1680x1050) when it goes on sale (~350). With the extra money you'll save, you can put it towards a card that can handle the resoulution. The viewsonic 4ms is supposed to be bs, I wouldn't go for that. If you don't like widescreen, dell also makes a 2001fp (1600x1200) which also goes on sale. For 600, don't go less than 20 inches. If you don't want high resoulution, don't spend more than 350 on a 19". The 1905fp goes on sale for ~250.

 

[MVasigh]

I have a 19" LG Flatron (don't know model) and this thing is fantastic. Little ghosting, and the display is so bright and nice.

 

[Mrvile]

Surprised more people haven't been suggesting the 2005fpw...

 

[ProviaFan]

I like my Samsung 213T, which is a 21" LCD at 1600x1200 and just a bit over your $600 budget. Remember that a 19" LCD is physically 5:4 in proportion, so a 1280x1024 resolution looks "right" (in other words, pixels are square and objects are not distorted). On a CRT, which is physically 4:3, using a 5:4 resolution (1280x1024) instead of a proper 4:3 resolution (1280x960) results in distortion - things getting "squished" - because the pixels are not square.

Again, this is not something you need to worry about on 17" and 19" LCDs. However, I see no point in getting a 19" as an upgrade from a 17", unless your eyesight has been getting worse, because you get no more room for applications for all that expense. Going from 17" to 20"+ is a fine upgrade, and well worth considering.

 

[Shlong]

Dell 2001fp or 2005fpw (only when the coupons are working).

 

[So]

Originally posted by: ProviaFan
I like my Samsung 213T, which is a 21" LCD at 1600x1200 and just a bit over your $600 budget. Remember that a 19" LCD is physically 5:4 in proportion, so a 1280x1024 resolution looks "right" (in other words, pixels are square and objects are not distorted). On a CRT, which is physically 4:3, using a 5:4 resolution (1280x1024) instead of a proper 4:3 resolution (1280x960) results in distortion - things getting "squished" - because the pixels are not square.

Again, this is not something you need to worry about on 17" and 19" LCDs. However, I see no point in getting a 19" as an upgrade from a 17", unless your eyesight has been getting worse, because you get no more room for applications for all that expense. Going from 17" to 20"+ is a fine upgrade, and well worth considering.

Agreed. There is no distortion on a 1280x1024 LCD since it is designed to run at that res, when you run games that don't support it @ 1280x960, the distortion is not noticable, IMO. And if you go w/ the 2005FPW, you get the ability to run in 1:1 mode which is nice for gaming, since it will 'turn off' all other pixels and run whatever resolution you set a game to mapped 1 pixel to pixel on the screen leaving a black border.

 

[MobiusPizza]

Originally posted by: Mrvile
Surprised more people haven't been suggesting the 2005fpw...

Because our OP

Originally posted by: PCMarine
Hey all,
I'm looking to replace my aging 17" crt monitor before college and wish to migrate to LCD. I'm looking to spend no more then $600, and would hopefully like to get the best overall monitor for the money. I was looking at 19" LCDs, but I hear that the native resolution of 1280x1024 is stretched out and awkward. I also looked at the Dell 20.1" widescreen monitor, which looks awesome for desktop use, but I'm afraid that I'll always need to keep upgrading my video card to run games at the crazy 1650 x whatever native resolution.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated, thanks!

has already talked about it

 

[MobiusPizza]

anyway for 2005FPW; 1600*1050 should run fine on even mid-range cards.
For Future games, even if you can't handle, you can use PIP picture in picture function to get 1:1 non-stretched gameplay using 1280*1024 on it

 

[PCMarine]

Originally posted by: Shlong
Dell 2001fp or 2005fpw (only when the coupons are working).

Anyone know when the next batch of coupons are due out?

 

[drifter106]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
I would get a 2005fpw (dell's 20inch widescreen, 1680x1050) when it goes on sale (~350). With the extra money you'll save, you can put it towards a card that can handle the resoulution. The viewsonic 4ms is supposed to be bs, I wouldn't go for that. If you don't like widescreen, dell also makes a 2001fp (1600x1200) which also goes on sale. For 600, don't go less than 20 inches. If you don't want high resoulution, don't spend more than 350 on a 19". The 1905fp goes on sale for ~250.

ditto.., throughly enjoy my 2005

 

[MobiusPizza]

Originally posted by: drifter106

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
I would get a 2005fpw (dell's 20inch widescreen, 1680x1050) when it goes on sale (~350). With the extra money you'll save, you can put it towards a card that can handle the resoulution. The viewsonic 4ms is supposed to be bs, I wouldn't go for that. If you don't like widescreen, dell also makes a 2001fp (1600x1200) which also goes on sale. For 600, don't go less than 20 inches. If you don't want high resoulution, don't spend more than 350 on a 19". The 1905fp goes on sale for ~250.

ditto.., throughly enjoy my 2005

you guys know... That monitor I am going to get but costs $750 in UK EVEN after 20% official discount

 

[SrGuapo]

Originally posted by: PCMarine

Originally posted by: Shlong
Dell 2001fp or 2005fpw (only when the coupons are working).

Anyone know when the next batch of coupons are due out?

Check here

Right now, there is a 20% sicount on the 2005FP. That isn't too bad, but I've seen them up to 40% (I'm waiting to get my 1905FP for 30-40% off).