Has the time come to buy a good LCD monitor?

[Winterpool]

I was relieved to learn my expected delivery date has been revised from the 26th March to the 17th. FedEx has picked up the monitor from Nashville. Here's hoping for an e-IPS panel (and one without failed pixels, excessive backlight bleed, etc etc )! I've still the nagging suspicion that Dell will flip these to PVA panels eventually.

Aaron, one of the reasons I moved on the 2209WA was my anxiety that new 'e'-IPS displays would not prove as economical as the 2209WA. There's been talk of excess H-IPS panels, 'bastard' model (ie that the 2209WA might be a one-time aberration of the current market), etc. I'd be very pleased if 1080 e-IPS monitors become available for comparable prices (let's say $300-400 for a Dell model), but I couldn't count on it. I think we made the right decision given the data available to us. :thumbsup:

 

[flyboy84]

I just bit the bullet and ordered two 2209WA's for 206.10 each

 

[yacoub]

Since I play FPS games occasionally, I can't tolerate noticeable input lag, and PVA/MVA panels have it in spades.

It's by far the primary factor in my decision making, but it's also one of the hardest things by which to find a good panel (aside from TN panels) because so FEW panels (aside from TN) have truly low input lag.

My current first-run 2007WFP is excellent in that regard. S-IPS panel, of course. But I haven't seen a display since that matches the price-for-what-you-get ratio and has low input lag.

In fact, to find the combination of widescreen 20+" low input lag, excellent color reproduction, and everything else a reasonable person would demand of a primary display device, is nigh impossible.

The Dell 2209WA is a reasonable budget option but honestly given how many years the tech has been around, ALL panels should be much better than they are and prices should be better (on the good ones). The quality control seems to be quite terrible on the 2209WAs and that has kept me from purchasing one.

It's frustrating that we still have to spend $600+ to get a decent 20+" -IPS panel with low latency and solid gamut/color/blacks/etc.

 

[exar333]

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem
Instead of spending so much on LCD monitors, get an LCD tv. They're way ahead of current high-end monitors. Newer LCD's are 10-bit vs a typical IPS/VA monitor's 8 bit. They have a response time of 2-4ms and display video and games great since that is what they are designed to do. A 1080p 32 inch might not be too bad.

You are way off on this one. Have you looked at a 30inch monitor compared to a 32inch LCD screen? There is no comparison of the two, and the pixel density is much in the LCD's favor. LCD's generally offer much better resolution at the similar size, and this is important to people who may do more than just game or watch movies on their PC. Try word processing on a TV versus a monitor, it is much different.

 

[bryanW1995]

thanks for spending my money winterpool...

in for 1

 

[Winterpool]

Literally two weeks later I find the HP LP2475w for $568. I wonder if I can return the Dell at this point.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: Winterpool
Literally two weeks later I find the HP LP2475w for $568. I wonder if I can return the Dell at this point.

Try it, its hard to beat the HP right now for what you get with that price.

 

[bryanW1995]

I dunno, with the 2209WA going for only ~ $225 shipped that seems to be the sweet spot atm. You could sell your dell on fs/ft, ebay, craig's list, etc and get a good % of the money that you paid for it I would think, but even if you could break out is that monitor really worth almost $350 more for the extra 2"?

No porn star jokes please.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
I dunno, with the 2209WA going for only ~ $225 shipped that seems to be the sweet spot atm. You could sell your dell on fs/ft, ebay, craig's list, etc and get a good % of the money that you paid for it I would think, but even if you could break out is that monitor really worth almost $350 more for the extra 2"?

No porn star jokes please.

IPS vs TN IMHO no doubt about it.

 

[bryanW1995]

um, the 2209WA is eIPS, so...

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
um, the 2209WA is eIPS, so...

Oh heh.

 

[Winterpool]

I wish I could see an HP LP2475w in person. My Dell 2209WA looks quite nice indeed, and my only real issue with it is the resolution (1680x1050); having physically more screen isn't as much of a concern. If I could get all my money back, I'd still be paying $340 more for the HP, and like Bryan I've to question whether that's worth several hundred thousand more pixels (I could buy an entire extra 2209WA for less money). If I'd been a little braver during this month's equities market rally, I'd be able to afford it easily, but right now I feel like I should err on the side of fiscal prudence.

Wouldn't it be nice if the difference between 22 and 24-inch IPS displays were, say, a 50 per cent increase in price rather than 150 per cent?

 

[Compuser008]

I would suggest buying whatever fits your budget. Monitors don't have to be upgrade as often as other components in your computer. I remembered I brought my first 21" CRT Sony back in the 1998 for $1000 bucks.......I used it for 8 years and it still performed great. I felt that $1000 bucks was money well spent. I finally sold it in 2006 for $150 to upgrade myself to a LCD monitor.....well I purchased the apple 30" .... for a lot more $$$$$ but I felt it was well spent as well. I figure you spent more time looking at it than any other parts of your computer, you should spend a little more and get what you want. Everything on this monitor look up great! I have been lovin it for the pass 3 years.

 

[squirrel9]

Originally posted by: Winterpool
I wish I could see an HP LP2475w in person.

I just got one via Amazon.com -- no problems at all. "Perfect" in all terms of "conditions" -- no color anomalies, no pixel problems at all. Adjusting it is no tougher than anything else these days -- everything is about ten times as bright as you need, especially if you work in low lighting. Once you understand that you just set the accurate "black point" with Brightness and the accurate "white point" with Contrast, and then crank down the three COLORS in order to subdue the retina-searing brightness, it's a piece of cake.

I came from a 21-inch Gateway S-PVA screen, and I tried a number of TN screens before I did the research to understand why on earth the TN screens were so AWFUL. I unknowingly walked into the S-PVA Gateway without knowing anything at all, and boy was I spoiled by it!

The LP2475w isn't "awsome" or anything -- it's just competent, that's all. I don't do any gaming at all, nor will I do any video watching as such -- I just want something that'll keep the same color and brightness and such across the whole screen -- is that too much to ask??

Of course, "it sure is, for TN." I actually see a little bit of that kind of stuff at the lower corners of this HP -- and I don't recall anything like that at all with the S-PVA Gateway. So, I'm slightly perturbed about that. Otherwise, I sure like the extra screen real estate, and the extra resolution. I think I've got pretty darn good brightness, contrast, and color configured now, and it's quite a sight to see my digital photos "full-screen" on this thing.

That's my main reason for getting a "quality" monitor -- photo editing. I can use all the screen and resolution I can get, and I sure don't want the brightness to go AWOL from the top of the screen to the bottom, like TN does.

I originally ordered the Dell 2408WFP, since it was an S-PVA just like I was used to, but I have ZERO tolerence for being screwed around on a shipping date. The original date was a whole week, with "next-day air" shipping, which was bad enough. But when the week was up and all I got was another week's delay, that was it -- I cancelled and ordered the HP via Amazon -- and with "next day air," I got the thing "the next day." Beats the heck out of me why Dell can't just say that they don't have the item you're ordering in stock.

That said, a co-worker ordered one the day after I did, after I showed it to her. And then she had buyer's remorse, so I'm doing a deal where I'll buy it from her. Should be here in a couple of days, allegedly. If that all works out, I shall report in detail.

 

[squirrel9]

Originally posted by: squirrel9
If that all works out, I shall report in detail.

And I did. At the end of the Sticky LCD thread. I much, much, much preferred the S-PVA Dell over the H-IPS HP. Go check it out, if you're interested!