recommended monitors for linux?

[gazeglow]

i've been running linux for a while now with a fairly generic 17" CRT ("cybervision" - heard of it?), and while i enjoy the OS and strive to gain more experience with it, i'm forced to use lower resolutions due to my sucky monitor. so i'm currently searching for a 19" CRT that will work with linux, and i'm wondering what monitors you all have experienced to be okay for use with linux. i'm at my wit's end, guys. any suggestions of brand-name CRT's with flat trinitron-type screens would be helpful, and price is an issue... ah yes, also... i have a pretty decent TNT2 card, so i'm certain that the problems lie in my monitor and not something else internal to my box.

[message cross-posted to the hardware forum]

 

[Trimper]

My Optiquest - which is made by Viewsonic works great. The other I would suggest is Sony Trintron - they are nice. Also NEC makes some nice models - All else fails - look at the HCL for the version of Linux you want to run.

 

[Damaged]

Any monitor will work as long as you know the horizontal and vertical refresh rates. If you're buying the monitor manual will provide this info.

 

[TonyRic]

I have a CTX VL950 and love it... Great 19" monitor... High scan rates and excellent display quality...

 

[paulip88]

Before you buy anything, just try to make sure that it is the monitor and not the video card. In Linux there are always issues with drivers, which could be the root of your problem despite the fact that you have a TNT2.

Have you tried using the monitor on another OS? If you can run at higher resolutions on another OS using the same monitor then it is a software problem.

Just don't want you to make a $200+ investment and find out that it was something else that was causing the problem.

 

[gazeglow]

thanks for the comments. you're right of course, the drivers could be an issue. where can i find a good FAQ/tutorial/whitepaper on installing TNT2 linux drivers correctly? i want to be running at 1600x1200 (which i know my card is capable of because i could do it in win2000), and preferrably without hosing my kernel.

 

[Damaged]

Are you running XFree86 3 or 4? Which version of Linux? Do you have and exact model number for the monitor? And which TNT2 card is it?

 

[jkdude]

you want to run 1600x1200 on a 17" monitor???

boy, those are going to be some really small fonts and a tight screen.

Maybe you better get your new 19" monitor after all, if u want to go to that high of a resolution.

 

[gazeglow]

The distros I am currently using are SuSE 7.0 and Mandrake 7.1, both of which come with XFree86 4. My main problem is that I would like to use Slackware 7.0 (uses XFree86 3) because I want to hack a lot of code, and I need the stability that distro offers - unfortunately I can't get X to work in Slackware AT ALL. Same with Red Hat 6.2, surprisingly. My card is a 32MB AGP Diamond Viper 770 Ultra -- it's got a TNT2 architecture, and from what little I know, it's fairly common.

I don't have the model number of the monitor on me (I'm at work), but if I wrote it down, what information could it be used for? Are you saying there are probably market equivalents out there? You know, I've heard that although there are many monitor brands available, there are only a few makers of the critical internals. So that could help. Where could I find resources to help me find a "match"?

Yeah jkdude, I meant 1600 after I get the 19". Ouch
The problem is that I can't even get to 1024 on my 17" in a lot of cases, and that's annoying...

 

[Flighttester]

My computer at home has a Viewsonic GS790. I love it. It's 19 inch, but takes up the desk space of a big 15 incher. Good price, good performance, and good looking. It will run at any depth or update rate you're likely to choose.