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First Time LCD Gamer - Help Me Choose

K

krazyjosh

Member
Hello everyone,

I am a first time LCD gamer looking to buy my first 19"/20" LCD monitor.

Im coming from a Viewsonic UltraBrite A90f+ 19" CRT and Im looking to game on this LCD.

I primarily play Battlefield 2 but I want to keep my options open.

I dont have DVI, I just have the regular ol monitor connection thats been around forever.

I would appreciate all input.

I am going to stop starting all my sentences with "I".

Thanks.

EDIT:
Well from reading around it seems that system specs and gaming experience on LCD monitors go hand in hand since a LCDs image deteriorates at non-native resolutions. I will be gaming on a laptop with these specs:

Processor : Intel® Pentium® M processor 770 2MB Cache 2.13 GHz 533FSB>
Memory : 2GB DDR2-4200 (2x1gb)
Video Adapter : PCI Express Nvidia 6600-128MB

I hope to play Battlefield 2 on that with maxed out everything (as I do now) on this LCD monitor. I dont know how high the resolution can go in BF2 with my setup so thats why I included the specs above.

Also, 17" will suffice. Pricerange is $350-400 USD

Josh
 
I have a 15" Samsung 151s Syncmaster (LCD). I find it too small for gaming, I'm looking to get a 19/20" aswell, those seem to be awsome.
 
I don't recommend going with BenQ..:thumbsdown: I bought a new CD-RW to try out the brand and it broke within a week. Although you could put Viewsonic into consideration.
 
Anything that has 12ms response time or lower, should be fine. As far as brands go...most are alright. The best would be Samsung and Viewsonic, but Dell puts out great displays too.
 
16ms response times are perfectly acceptable (like the 2005FPW or the 2405FPW).

What's your price range?
 
Don't pay attention to the response times, only go on first hand accounts. From experience, I can recommend the Hitachi CML174 and the Acer 1731 17" LCDs. I wouldn't recommend a Dell 2001 or anything higher. I think 19" is the max you should go, granted it's got a fast enough panel not to ghost. LCDs don't scale resolutions well at all, so going for something with a 16x12 native resolution or higher isn't very future proof, unless you plan on spending mucho $ on a 7800 SLI setup.
 
Originally posted by: Inappropriate4AT
Don't pay attention to the response times, only go on first hand accounts. From experience, I can recommend the Hitachi CML174 and the Acer 1731 17" LCDs. I wouldn't recommend a Dell 2001 or anything higher. I think 19" is the max you should go, granted it's got a fast enough panel not to ghost. LCDs don't scale resolutions well at all, so going for something with a 16x12 native resolution or higher isn't very future proof, unless you plan on spending mucho $ on a 7800 SLI setup.
Click to expand...

The Hitachi is expensive as hell - out of the price range 🙁

The Acer on the other hand. You say that is a SOLID gaming LCD for CRT-spoiled LCD newbies like me?

I can only find it at one place... PriorityElectronics.com

Also, what makes it so good?
 
Well from reading around it seems that system specs and gaming experience on LCD monitors go hand in hand since a LCDs image deteriorates at non-native resolutions. I will be gaming on a laptop with these specs:

Processor : Intel® Pentium® M processor 770 2MB Cache 2.13 GHz 533FSB>
Memory : 2GB DDR2-4200 (2x1gb)
Video Adapter : PCI Express Nvidia 6600-128MB

I hope to play Battlefield 2 on that with maxed out everything (as I do now) on this LCD monitor. I dont know how high the resolution can go in BF2 with my setup so thats why I included the specs above.

Also, 17" will suffice
 
Originally posted by: krazyjosh

The Hitachi is expensive as hell - out of the price range 🙁

The Acer on the other hand. You say that is a SOLID gaming LCD for CRT-spoiled LCD newbies like me?

I can only find it at one place... PriorityElectronics.com

Also, what makes it so good?
Click to expand...

Yeah they're probably hard to find retail nowadays. I'd look for em used. I sold my Hitachi recently for $200 + shipping. The Acer is more favorably reviewed than the Hitachi. Both panels are very fast, I never noticed any ghosting with either, and both have DVI inputs. The Hitachi is one of the very few LCDs that can achieve a 75hz refresh rate using DVI, whereas the Acer is limited to 60hz, but with vysnc disabled it doesn't make much of a difference anyways. The Acer is also a true 24-bit panel, whereas just about every other LCD (including the Hitachi) are 18-bit and use dithering to display 16.7 mill colors, it's got A/V inputs too, which is nifty.
 
Originally posted by: Inappropriate4AT
Originally posted by: krazyjosh

The Hitachi is expensive as hell - out of the price range 🙁

The Acer on the other hand. You say that is a SOLID gaming LCD for CRT-spoiled LCD newbies like me?

I can only find it at one place... PriorityElectronics.com

Also, what makes it so good?
Click to expand...

Yeah they're probably hard to find retail nowadays. I'd look for em used. I sold my Hitachi recently for $200 + shipping. The Acer is more favorably reviewed than the Hitachi. Both panels are very fast, I never noticed any ghosting with either, and both have DVI inputs. The Hitachi is one of the very few LCDs that can achieve a 75hz refresh rate using DVI, whereas the Acer is limited to 60hz, but with vysnc disabled it doesn't make much of a difference anyways. The Acer is also a true 24-bit panel, whereas just about every other LCD (including the Hitachi) are 18-bit and use dithering to display 16.7 mill colors, it's got A/V inputs too, which is nifty.
Click to expand...

Dithering? Vsync? Uh oh. Big words.

Sorry I dont know what those mean. Excuse my noobness
 
Try and find a Samsung 172X. I just sold my old one on ebay for $235. I think the guy got a pretty good deal since the monitor was in perfect like new condition.
 
Also, I will be using this for a school computer that Im going to have to stare at for many hours a day. Dont I want an LCD panel that has a high refresh rate? Like 70Hz+ (for regular computing)?
 
The 2005fpw actually looks very good at non-native resolutions. It is an awesome gaming LCD, I notice absolutely no ghosting, even in UT2004 or HL2: DM. Check out Anandtech's review of it and you'll see how impressed they were too. You can pick it up for $427 right now plus an extra 3% cash back if you use fatwallet.
 
Originally posted by: Elfear
The 2005fpw actually looks very good at non-native resolutions. It is an awesome gaming LCD, I notice absolutely no ghosting, even in UT2004 or HL2: DM. Check out Anandtech's review of it and you'll see how impressed they were too. You can pick it up for $427 right now plus an extra 3% cash back if you use fatwallet.
Click to expand...

Thats still pretty far outside of my range:
$350-400
The given range above is higher than I really want to go but Ill break the bank just a little bit on this purchase 😉
 
Originally posted by: krazyjosh
Also, I will be using this for a school computer that Im going to have to stare at for many hours a day. Dont I want an LCD panel that has a high refresh rate? Like 70Hz+ (for regular computing)?
Click to expand...

Refresh rate isn't an issue for LCD's. They don't flicker like CRT's do. My Dell only runs at 60Hz, and it's great to work/play on for hours. Overall, LCD's are generally superior to CRT's for 2D work tasks, since there is no flicker and text is much sharper.

You mentioned your system specs, but what resoltuion are you running BF2 at?
 
Originally posted by: krazyjosh
Originally posted by: Elfear
The 2005fpw actually looks very good at non-native resolutions. It is an awesome gaming LCD, I notice absolutely no ghosting, even in UT2004 or HL2: DM. Check out Anandtech's review of it and you'll see how impressed they were too. You can pick it up for $427 right now plus an extra 3% cash back if you use fatwallet.
Click to expand...

Thats still pretty far outside of my range:
$350-400
The given range above is higher than I really want to go but Ill break the bank just a little bit on this purchase 😉
Click to expand...

Well, up front it would be exactly $27 over your range. If the cash is the problem than I can see why you'd hesitate, but the monitor really is the best bang for the buck right now. Besides if you go through fatwallet than you'd be out $414.90 total.
 
Originally posted by: nitromullet
Originally posted by: krazyjosh
Also, I will be using this for a school computer that Im going to have to stare at for many hours a day. Dont I want an LCD panel that has a high refresh rate? Like 70Hz+ (for regular computing)?
Click to expand...

Refresh rate isn't an issue for LCD's. They don't flicker like CRT's do. My Dell only runs at 60Hz, and it's great to work/play on for hours. Overall, LCD's are generally superior to CRT's for 2D work tasks, since there is no flicker and text is much sharper.

You mentioned your system specs, but what resoltuion are you running BF2 at?
Click to expand...


Um.. Doh. Its right above 800x600. Its 10xx x xxx (the first dimension is a 1000 number i know that). Its something like 1020x670 maybe?
 
The problem is that many good 19" monitors will cost around 350. Off-hand, I can't think of any models I would recommend for less than 350 that come with multiple inputs and nice stands. (btw, never underestimate the power of a nice stand)

Dell has a decent 19" monitor which can be had usually for around 350. Viewsonic has an awesome 19", the 191b or somesuch that will cost around 400. Many other companies make acceptable monitors for that price point too.

For just a little extra (I believe after my sales/shipping the difference between a 19" and a 20" widescreen dell is 70 dollars) you get more resolution 1680 by 1050 rather than 1280 by 1024. More screen area (mostly in the "wider" sides) which helps significantly for school work (and for the various IM programs to be sitting at the side and still have full pages/excel sheets). You also get an IPS panel, which is generally better for gaming that the VA in the 19" dell.

Add in that I believe the 20" widescreen would display a 1280 by 1024 picture centered (which would be barely smaller than that viewed by a 19" monitor) and its hard to recommend someone to buy a 19" monitor.

That being said, if ~350 is the hard budget, the Dell 19" does have decent picture quality and super ergonomics... the Hyundai L90D+ is also very very good. I have used both and the L90D+ is better for straight gaming, and the Dell is better if you need the warranty coverage.
 
I don't game but my husband does we both have Samsung SyncMaster 193P and he just loves it for gaming . I really like mine very much also.
 
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