not happy with my new LCD monitor

[vacuumtube]

Hi everyone,

I recently upgraded my CRT monitor and bought Acer X203W 20" Widescreen monitor. The monitor itself is great but everything appears too small. I'm running the resolution on manufacturer recommended 1680x1050. The font is too tiny to read. I will be returning this but this time around I need some advice before I pick another one.

My budget is $300 or less. I'm mainly looking for image and build quality. Since this is my first time shopping for LCD, please help me out here a bit .

I heard that 22" and 20" LCDs run at same 1680x1050 native resolution. So if I go for 22", things will look a lot bigger right or is there something wrong with my Acer 20"? Should I try and exchange it for Samsung 20" monitor or should I go for 19" or 22" instead? Personally a 19" is fine too. I opted for 20" since 22" may be too big for my desk.

I see Anandtech has often recommended AL series of Acer 20" LCD Monitor, should I try to get one of those instead? Please keep in mind my limited budget of $300. I'm willing to buy online as well. Before I go and return this monitor, I need you guys to help me pick a right one.

Again 19" and 22" are fine. 20" would be ideal but everything looks too small on the screen.

Just help me pick a good monitor please

 

[PurdueRy]

Why not just increase your computers text size?

 

[crimson117]

Keep your eye on this 24" Soyo LCD at Officemax. It often is discounted to $299 (plus shipping/tax, so it's like $325 shipped).

Do you prefer native resolution? If you don't care, you could always run at a lower resolution.

If you really prefer native, I hear the increase font size feature works well in Vista. It's inconsistent in XP, however.

 

[vacuumtube]

Why not just increase your computers text size?

Like how? Whenever I try to adjust it under Appearance tab, it looks all fuzzy and weird.

Tell me how to set this up properly. Also the windows xp icons look tiny too.

Oh and the taskbar is barely visible. Icons in system tray are too small. I thought the whole point of big screen was to sit back and use it but what's the point if the resolution makes everything soo small to begin with. I'm probably missing something, help me set this up . Screenshots, Video tutorial anything works.

24" Soyo LCD at Officemax.

24" will be toooo big. 19" to 22" is preferred.

Do you prefer native resolution? If you don't care, you could always run at a lower resolution.

I don't even know what native resolution is.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: vacuumtube

Why not just increase your computers text size?

Like how? Whenever I try to adjust it under Appearance tab, it looks all fuzzy and weird.

Tell me how to set this up properly. Also the windows xp icons look tiny too.

Oh and the taskbar is barely visible. Icons in system tray are too small. I thought the whole point of big screen was to sit back and use it but what's the point if the resolution makes everything soo small to begin with. I'm probably missing something, help me set this up . Screenshots, Video tutorial anything works.

24" Soyo LCD at Officemax.

24" will be toooo big. 19" to 22" is preferred.

Do you prefer native resolution? If you don't care, you could always run at a lower resolution.

I don't even know what native resolution is.

Try running a resolution ike 1280 x 800 and see if that suits your tastes better.

The point of a high resolution screen is to have more real estate to work in and to have more "detail" in graphics.

 

[vacuumtube]

Tried 1280x800. Everything looks blurry and unfocused.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: vacuumtube
Tried 1280x800. Everything looks blurry and unfocused.

Well...its sorta one or the other. If you run in a lower resolution to make your taskbar bigger...the already low resolution icons will be bigger...making them even lower in resolution and hench blurry.

If you run them in high resolution they will get smaller but look sharper. Take your pick.

 

[vacuumtube]

My friend's 22" runs at 1680x1050 which is the recommended as well and it looks just fine not tiny at all.

Should I return my 20" and either get a 19" or a 22"?

 

[PurdueRy]

Well in display properties->appearance->advanced you can change your individual font settings. See if that helps. He has a larger screen with the same resolution so of course it will be a bit bigger.

 

[vacuumtube]

But her's looks a lot better too. I mean she didn't have to do all that advanced setting thingy. Besides I just tried it and I can never get the settings to be ideal. If i make something bigger, then it just becomes inconsistent with something else (like icons).

Also is there a way to make system tray icons bigger? They are also very small.

 

[Skott]

I have a Viewsonic 20" LCD and a LG 22" and the 22" is easier to read text and such. Now some will tell you text doesnt matter but in many games you will have text to read. MMO games have chat windows and stats and so forth. FPS games will have text to read as well. And then of course there is the Internet browsing and surfing most of us do at some point during the day.

Is a 22" LCD easier on the eyes compared to a 20" LCD? IMO yes it is. The problem with 22" LCDs though for gaming is that they are all TN panels and only a small handful of the 22" LCDs are worth even considering due to ghosting and color problems that many 22" LCDs have. There's also viewing angle issues but if you sit in front of your monitor this shouldnt be a problem for any LCD IMO as far as viewing goes. The three biggest problems I think is color, bleed through, and ghosting. I consider Color and Ghosting to be the top two problems. But thats just me. But if you get a good 22" (price doesnt dictate quality from my experiences with 22" LCDs) you wont have these problems.

 

[Throckmorton]

24" isn't that big. You could always go with 22".

 

[myocardia]

Get a 19" non-widescreen, with a 1280x1024 native resolution.

 

[vacuumtube]

Alright guys, I returned the Acer 20" and got Samsung 920NW 19" Widescreen and I couldn't be happier. The difference is quite noticeable in terms of overall picture quality.

The only problem is that my 920NW doesn't have DVI. Is this something I should worry about? I currently have it hooked up as Analog since my computer doesn't have DVI anyway.

If you guys think DVI is important, then what are my alternatives? I'm not going to be getting Acer or Soyo so those are not an option. Any other manufacturer is fine.

Again my budget is $300 or less.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: vacuumtube
Alright guys, I returned the Acer 20" and got Samsung 920NW 19" Widescreen and I couldn't be happier. The difference is quite noticeable in terms of overall picture quality.

The only problem is that my 920NW doesn't have DVI. Is this something I should worry about? I currently have it hooked up as Analog since my computer doesn't have DVI anyway.

If you guys think DVI is important, then what are my alternatives? I'm not going to be getting Acer or Soyo so those are not an option. Any other manufacturer is fine.

Again my budget is $300 or less.

1. "I currently have it hooked up as Analog since my computer doesn't have DVI anyway."
2. "my 920NW doesn't have DVI"
3. "Samsung 920NW 19" Widescreen and I couldn't be happier"
4. "my 920NW doesn't have DVI. Is this something I should worry about?"
> No <

 

[j0j081]

you should have just changed the font DPI to something around 104. If you run Vista you can't even tell it's been enlarged everything looks just as clear as the default setting. 19 inch ws don't have enough height IMO, 20 is about right.