My first LCD purchase

[konakona]

I brought home a 15'' monitor I got for free, but unfortunately it is pretty much dead with the physical damage it received. No biggie, my rushed and inadequate packing was done with that in mind. In worse case, I would had to toss it away and get a new one, which is what is going to happen now.

Personally, I wasnt completely satisfied with any LCDs I have seen, but as it seems to be nearly impossible to find a used AG tubed monitors locally, a used LCD seems to be the only viable choice for now. The LCD (or the computer it is going to be paired up with for that matter) will be mainly for my parents, though I would use it time to time whenever I visit their place.

Obviously, my parents would never play fast paced FPS games, neither do I these days. Not really hellbent on text clarity, rather indifferent about that to be frank. What I am after is a rich, vibrant colors with beautiful contrast and truer black color level. As stated above, gaming is a non-issue; however, I spend most of my time on computers watching anime, and my parents are planning on doing some moview viewing as well. As such, too much ghosting would be frowned upon.

Last but not least, price matters the most. You would have guessed that, seeing how I was trying to get them a free, no frills 15'' shadowmask at first. Now that we have to shell out a not insignificant chunk of money anyhow, might as well get something halfway decent. Perhaps a 19'' if price is right, or just a 17''.

So in a nutshell, what I want is a cheap, barebones LCD with good colors. Any suggestions?

 

[Trader05]

I was always a fan of Dell's Ultrasharp LCDs, especially with the coupons they have, you can get a 19" for a price of a regular retail 17". Check the the hot deals forum. My friend just picked up a 19" for $232 shipped and taxed, some people were getting them cheaper. Knowing that in mind, the 17's are even cheaper.

 

[konakona]

Are xxx7 series much better than xxx5 with my criteria? I heard dell uses panels from multiple different manufacturers, so should I expect some variation among units?

 

[Trader05]

im not really sure about the newer revisions, but my friend has 2 1907's one is a samsung screen and the other is an AO, there really isn't a difference between the two that he could see using DVI connection.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

19" is good but not the 1907.

Viewsonic VP930b. Best all around.

 

[NuroMancer]

Go to the video section and check out the massive buyers guide on LCD's.

 

[roemer21]

Originally posted by: NuroMancer
Go to the video section and check out the massive buyers guide on LCD's.

Excellent recommendations here nuro!

 

[wpshooter]

Consider the Samsung or Viewsonic models.

I give a slight edge to Viewsonic, but either is good LCD.

Good luck.

 

[imported_Imp]

I have an LG L1750S which I'm pretty satisfied with (analog). However, someone else in the house just got a Samsung 740B with DVI and I can say that it's pretty secksy in terms of colour. Price is pretty average $300 CDN which is about the norm for 17 inchers. So Samsung panels are pretty nice. But if you can, just go for 19" so you'll be super satisfied; I just got had 17" for a year and I want bigger now. If you want cheapest, LG 1750 1950 models are pretty good. From what I've seen, Acer is the cheapest and not bad, but the one I use at work has somewhat screwy colours(AL1916).

 

[thesix]

Originally posted by: Trader05
I was always a fan of Dell's Ultrasharp LCDs, especially with the coupons they have, you can get a 19" for a price of a regular retail 17". Check the the hot deals forum. My friend just picked up a 19" for $232 shipped and taxed, some people were getting them cheaper. Knowing that in mind, the 17's are even cheaper.

I second it. Happy owner of two Dell Ultrasharp LCDs.
Looking for more good sale since Dell had a tough quarter and their strategy is to lower the price further 🙂.

 

[konakona]

Originally posted by: NuroMancer
Go to the video section and check out the massive buyers guide on LCD's.

Thanks! I wasnt aware they had a guide there, went over there and checked. Most things in the misconceptions section was no news to me, but I learned about different types of panels and their pros and cons. Supposedely, I should look for something based on S-PVA or A/AS-IPS. The only thing is though, the cheapest one on the recommended list is priced at $240 and sports a $200 price tag 🙁 The most I was thinking of shelling out for was a little over $200 or so, the lower the merrier.

As for dells, I have seen a bunch of 2405s, 2105s and different 19 - 24 inchers from dell at the school's multimedia lab. They looked alright, but not so stellar compared to my diamondtron - not something I would go all out on. Hopefully there is something with more vibrant colors and cheaper at the expense of other virtues like input options, text clarity, speed and whatnot? But then again, I just want something relatively good for price. This is not to replace my top of the line display, just something I and my parents could use without major issues.

I was more of looking at those Hans G series and such in the HOT deals forum. In fact, I would have jumped right on it handt it been for the onrebates.com bit. Something tells me they wouldnt have the nicest panel, perhaps I need to go and do some more background research.

 

[konakona]

Originally posted by: Imp
I have an LG L1750S which I'm pretty satisfied with (analog). However, someone else in the house just got a Samsung 740B with DVI and I can say that it's pretty secksy in terms of colour. Price is pretty average $300 CDN which is about the norm for 17 inchers. So Samsung panels are pretty nice. But if you can, just go for 19" so you'll be super satisfied; I just got had 17" for a year and I want bigger now. If you want cheapest, LG 1750 1950 models are pretty good. From what I've seen, Acer is the cheapest and not bad, but the one I use at work has somewhat screwy colours(AL1916).

As for the size, I always need some time to adapt every time I leave my place for a while; sucks to live without that 22incher 🙁 but I have done that enough times to grow used to that process by now. The laptop I am typing this on (and which is gonna end up taken by me) is equipped with a 15.4'' (compaq nx8220) and I do feel we could use something larger. 17'' might be ok though.