Sony Trinitron CPD-E440 vs. Viewsonic p95f+ Which one?

[Sappster]

Hey Yall,

I need some help. I'm looking at getting one of these monitors, but suprisingly enough I can't seem to find many reviews on them. I did find out that the Sony seems to be REALLY good for gaming, has great color. But they don't talk about how it looks for text and Word. I looked for the Viewsonic and found pretty much the same. Not good for games as much, but nothing specific for me. I do know that the Viewsonic does MUCH more resolution, it gets 2048 x 1538!! Whereas the Trinitron only gets 1600 x 1200. So it seems that I would have more flexibility with the Viewsonic. Also, I'm not for sure if the Trinitron has plug in play. Anyways, let me know if you have either of these monitors, and which one you like. If there are any other websites you can give me that I can go to read up on these that would be great too. I have already been to Newegg, Neoseeker, and Tom's Hardware. But none of these had anything substantial. The price for these guys is only THREE dollars difference with Shipping! So it doesn't matter one over the other, which is wonderful. I'll end up buying them Newegg.

 

[Chaotic42]

My take on what's important:

At what resolution will it do 100Hz? The one with the higher answer wins (those are both quality monitors, I have the P95f and I love it).

 

[Sappster]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
My take on what's important:

At what resolution will it do 100Hz? The one with the higher answer wins (those are both quality monitors, I have the P95f and I love it).

I have read that the Viewsonic is fuzzy with small words like in Word Documents, and are fuzzy around the edges of the screen. Do you notice that too? And what res. are you running yours at?

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: BuffBoyBradley


I have read that the Viewsonic is fuzzy with small words like in Word Documents, and are fuzzy around the edges of the screen. Do you notice that too? And what res. are you running yours at?

The image could be sharper, but it's still quite nice (especially for a $270 monitor). Yes, it's slightly fuzzier at the edges. I was doing 1600x1200@85, but dropped it down to 1280x960@120. I like that better.

 

[Dulanic]

My p95f+ was fuzzy slightly left of center.... the text was sharp everywhere else tho. A few others had the same issue as me. I switched to a Sony G410R and am very happy.

 

[Sappster]

Well, I can't afford the Sony G410R, but I do know that the Viewsonic can do 2048 x 1538! I want to at least hit 1600 x 1200. Is it clear at this res? Or am I going to get a headache from the fuzzy text?

 

[SteelyKen]

If you are patient, Dell is a great place to get a monitor cheap. I got my Sony G420S for $317 shipped back in October. That was during one of their many 15% off sales and a $30 off code I found at the FW forums.

 

[Technik]

IMHO, Sony Trinitrons have no comparsion. I've played with their monitors in the stores extensively and I can never complain. You get what you pay for.

 

[onelin]

I have a Viewsonic P95f and the image is quite good, no fuzziness. I run 1280x960 @ 100Hz. * (note I don't have the P95f+ ...but I'm sure that's the same story)

Chaotic42, I hope you didn't mean to say 1280 @ 120Hz, that sounds like it might be bad for the monitor... IIRC I think the spec is 109Hz @ 1280x960 on this model?

I have friends with the Sony E series 19" and 21", and their quality is no better than my Viewsonic. I think your choice comes down to if you think the hi res offered by the Viewsonic will come in handy for you or not. Same deal w/ the refresh.

I have no idea why anyone would say the Viewsonic is "not good for games" as much as the Sony is.

My $0.02

 

[Sappster]

Originally posted by: Technik
IMHO, Sony Trinitrons have no comparsion. I've played with their monitors in the stores extensively and I can never complain. You get what you pay for.

You play with them in the stores huh? I can't seem to find any Trinitrons in any stores like BB or CC. So where could I find a Sony Trinitron to look at?

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: onelin0
I have a Viewsonic P95f and the image is quite good, no fuzziness. I run 1280x960 @ 100Hz. * (note I don't have the P95f+ ...but I'm sure that's the same story)

Chaotic42, I hope you didn't mean to say 1280 @ 120Hz, that sounds like it might be bad for the monitor... IIRC I think the spec is 109Hz @ 1280x960 on this model?

Indeed I did. The monitor recognizes it as a valid mode. Maybe I got a P95f+? I dunno. I'm probably joining the service soon, so I'll be without my system for months (maybe like 13 or 14 months), so by then, I'll probably just buy a whole new system from scratch.

When I try to run the monitor at something that it doesn't like, it says "Sync out of range" or whatever, so I don't think it's hurting it.

I have no idea why anyone would say the Viewsonic is "not good for games" as much as the Sony is.

My $0.02

I love my P95f for gaming. BF1942, Falcon 4, UT, Starcraft, it all looks great.

 

[onelin]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Indeed I did. The monitor recognizes it as a valid mode. Maybe I got a P95f+? I dunno. I'm probably joining the service soon, so I'll be without my system for months (maybe like 13 or 14 months), so by then, I'll probably just buy a whole new system from scratch.

When I try to run the monitor at something that it doesn't like, it says "Sync out of range" or whatever, so I don't think it's hurting it.

I have no idea why anyone would say the Viewsonic is "not good for games" as much as the Sony is.

My $0.02

I love my P95f for gaming. BF1942, Falcon 4, UT, Starcraft, it all looks great.

True dat, man. I love my P95f for gaming too! Which is why I wondered why anyone would possibly say it's not good for games Q3, UT2k3, BF1942... SoF2, WC3... I actually amazed a friend w/ a Sony 21" (but he has a crappy videocard, so it's not a fair comparison.)

Wow, you got lucky then I think the P95f+ actually has a slightly lower refresh at 1280, so who knows. I guess you're probably right about the refresh ...I've never tried it though, the max mine lists is 100. At any rate, I definitely wasn't trying to be negative, if by chance I came across as such.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: onelin0
At any rate, I definitely wasn't trying to be negative, if by chance I came across as such.

Not at all man. 120 seemed kind of high to me, but it looks fine, and there aren't any signs that anything is wrong (like noise or weirdness or anything).

I wouldn't want to run my P95f at 2048x1536. There's just no way. 1920x1440 is very, very small. You're going to kill your eyes. Either the picayune text or the burning from the low refresh rate will do it. Maybe a combination of both.

 

[onelin]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally
I wouldn't want to run my P95f at 2048x1536. There's just no way. 1920x1440 is very, very small. You're going to kill your eyes. Either the picayune text or the burning from the low refresh rate will do it. Maybe a combination of both.

For sure, man. I could barely handle 1600, and 1920 is so small on a 19". It really boils down to which display quality he thinks is better...the optimal decision maker would be to see each monitor in action, but in my tour of stores last summer I couldn't find ANY stores with decent high end monitors in stock. Staples ended up hooking me up with a very fast order.

I need to go to sleep, curse this newfound forum addiction.

 

[Technik]

I see them in circuit city/bestbuy mainly (trinitrons)

 

[Montano]

Sony is the best, and most expensive. But they last a long time. I still have a CPD-220S who's picture is still perfect 6 years after buying it.

 

[Sappster]

Alright boyz. I decided. I use Viewsonics in my work office (dual monitor). But I'm going to have to go with the Trinitron. It doesn't have a higher max res. But I think it's going to be a better monitor for what I'm going to use it for. Not heavy on the games, but heavy on web developing and Macromedia Flash for movie making. Thanks to all for your opinions and suggestions.

 

[snidy1]

Sony is great. I've had several different monitors and this is my favorite one so far.

 

[AsianriceX]

I just got a Viewsonic P95f+ and I was wondering if this was normal. I know Aperature Grille monitors usually have those 2 damper wires running across the screen horizontally and that's normal. However, when I look at my monitor, there's also these vertical lines, about 6 or 7 of them mostly concentrated in the center of the screen. They're not on the outside of the screen so I can't wipe them off. It seems they're in there like those damper wires but run vertically. I really don't think that's normal and was thinking about exchanging it with another one. What do you guys think?

 

[Sappster]

Originally posted by: AsianriceX
I just got a Viewsonic P95f+ and I was wondering if this was normal. I know Aperature Grille monitors usually have those 2 damper wires running across the screen horizontally and that's normal. However, when I look at my monitor, there's also these vertical lines, about 6 or 7 of them mostly concentrated in the center of the screen. They're not on the outside of the screen so I can't wipe them off. It seems they're in there like those damper wires but run vertically. I really don't think that's normal and was thinking about exchanging it with another one. What do you guys think?

Yeah, this is normal. I have research a lot on these monitors before I came to my conclusion. In all the reviews I read the users stated that they could see two vertical lines as you have described. It's a normal thing. It doesn't bother most of them, they just kinda get used to it. This is another reason why I went with the Trinitron. Hope that helps. If you want to read reviews like the ones I read go to Neoseeker, or Newegg and type in p95f+ and read the reviews.

 

[AsianriceX]

Ahh, I know there are those two horizontal lines spaced about a third from the top and bottom and those I can deal with. It's these vertical running lines that bother me because they seem to be placed at random and fade away when you follow them from top to bottom. I don't think I've ever seen a trinitron tube with vertical lines like that, just the horizontal damper lines.

 

[onelin]

Glad you were able to come to a decision, BuffBoyBradley Honestly, you couldn't go wrong either way. I'm sure the Sony will serve you well!

FYI: Trinitrons have two horizontal lines just like all aperture grill monitors. As for whoever had vertical, well yeah that does seem odd.

 

[0roo0roo]

sony's generally overpriced for the quality given. my bet is the viewsonic gives u same or more at less cost.

i've also had two sony monitors die on me, and one viewsonic that has never glitched, so i'm a tad biased

 

[T9D]

..

 

[cmf21]

I have a Sony g410r and love it. Don't notice the lines at all. Got mine last October from Overstock.com for $210 shipped. Every once in a while they have great deals on monitors and also have coupons too.