LCD help?

[imported_MrMax]

hello all! this is my first post on the forum. I had a question about lcds. ive read the buying guide that xtknight posted and it was helpful. however, im a little slow when it comes to digesting large amounts af technical data. basically im looking for a new monitor. the one i have now is a 17" trinitron. it weights about 30 lbs and takes up most of my desk. some of my friends have lcds, and the colours look so clear and vibrant on them. ones an NEC and the others a Samsung. I just want an LCD that will look bitchin playing World of Warcraft as thats what i do when i on my computer mostly. ive read that lcds arent good for high frame rat FPS but does that apply to something like W.o.W. as well? I am a student and as such cannot spend more then $300(but the cheaper the better)

if you could help id be very grateful, even if its just a push in the right direction ie. a certain brand to buy, etc.

 

[nullpointerus]

Sounds like an LCD would be a perfect fit for you. A 17" LCD will give you more desktop space than a 17" CRT, plus the text will be clearer and the image free from geometric distortion. You may be able to pick up a decent 19" for $300 nowadays, which gives you the same resolution but with larger pixels. Some people actually prefer a 17", though.

EDIT: For recommendations, see krotchy's post in this thread.

 

[imported_MrMax]

so an lcd would work fine for W.o.W. then? i think id like a 19" for the bigger screen if i can afford it. are there any suggestions as to a brand name i should go with, even a model someone in a similar situation has that works good?


how will i know if my video card can support widescreen? i found a Hanns.g widescreen for about $200. i realize thats kind of 'no-name' brand lcd but has anyone heard of them?

 

[HardWarrior]

I bought a Samsung 204B 20.1 inch TFT-LCD last Saturday for about $400. I'm very pleased with it for everything I've tried so far. I don't play WoW, but Prey, BF2, 2k4, D3, Q4 and FEAR look fabulous on it. I've never heard of hanns, but be careful and review anything before you buy it.

 

[nullpointerus]

Originally posted by: MrMax
how will i know if my video card can support widescreen? i found a Hanns.g widescreen for about $200. i realize thats kind of 'no-name' brand lcd but has anyone heard of them?

I'm not sure which cards support widescreen displays OTTB, but probably all of them do. If not, you can use the drivers or a third party tool to add a custom resolution, which is a piece of cake IMO.

The only real problem with widescreens is game support. You should check out the widescreen gaming forums for information about your particular games. It's a fairly big trend, though, so next generation games should support it flawlessly.

 

[kmmatney]

All cards will support wide screen displays. My wife has an old ATI XPRT 2000 Pro card that's running an LCD at 1440 x 900. No problems there.

What video card do you have? That always helps when makinga recomendation.

Here are a few decent ones:

20" 4:3 monitor - larger pixels (1400 x 1050)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116008

20" 16:10 widescreen - smaller pixels (1680 x 1050)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824009085

Generally Best in class 20" widescreen - smaller pixels (1680 x 1050)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116381

Good low-cost 19" LCD ( I have this one - larger pixels 1028 x 1024)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824014090

Decent low cost 19" widescrren LCD - I have this one as well. Good for the money
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116373

I'm pretty happy with my 20" BenQ LCD in my signature. Playing Oblivion is awesome on it. However I recieved it for effectively a little over $200. It normally sells around $300, and at that price your better off getting the Viewsonic VX2025WM. My Viewsonic 19" widescreen is also not bad, but I felty that it was a little too short in terms of screen size. The extra inch really make a big difference when going from a 19" to a 20" LCD. Also you gain a lot of resolution in this jump.

 

[SunSamurai]

Generally Best in class 20" widescreen - smaller pixels (1680 x 1050)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116381



Best in class? Not even close. Good value? Sort of.

Be ready for banding and bad color with it unless they fiexed in in some rev, tried it at the store, way junk.

 

[imported_MrMax]

Those look pretty nice...BUT i live in canada and newegg does not ship there from what i understand


...ok i think ive decided to get this one, seems to get goo reviews and looks very tight and sleek

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824014105

does anyone know where i can get that monitor for approx that price that ships in canada?

 

[RampantAndroid]

I'd point you towards the Viewsonic VX2025, but you'd be hard pressed to find it under 300....

As for widescreen in general: it can be pain to get some games to work, and some might work in a way which they cut some off the top and bottom of the image (BF2)

Others need you to edit ini/config files (like Far Cry)

Others work fine with it (HL2, or any source game)

Lastly, some just don't. America's Army supports WS resolutions, but just streches the image instead of correcting the FOV, so stuff may look a bit "fat".

Would I recomend WS? Heck, yes! I love it. Even with fat looking people.

I do see some tearing while gaming (that's what the high FPS comment you made refers to I imagine) but its minimal...not enough for me to turn on VSync.

Places I shop at (don't know if they ship to canada): Mwave.com Zipzoomfly.com, monarchpc.com, frysoutpost.com Try those.