The best 21 inch monitor out there!!! What is your opinion

[whateveryasay]

Lets make this the reference thread for anybody (like myself) who is looking to purchase the best 21 inch monitor available, no matter the cost. I've read so many reviews, and have no idea. One person will rate a monitor as the best, and the next reviewer says its garbage.

I can't shop around and compare because I'm in Hong Kong and for some reason they don't display many in their shops. Lack of space and all that I guess.

So could a few people reply with their personal thoughts about the what they think is the best out there, given no limit to the budget. I plan on using it for the next 10 or so years, so its like an investment I guess.

 

[sov05]

Sony GDM
or Iylamma

 

[PCAddict]

Mitsubishi 2020u.

 

[SyriuS]

Sony F500R, .22 AG or you could buy one of those LCD flat panels

 

[Remedy]

Better yet try the mitsubishi 2040u ,24.AG and usb hub i found it on pricewatch for just $1048 cheapest.

 

[ButanGas]

Without a single doubt, the best monitor of all, should be sony's F500R. It has an absolutely amzing, unbelievable .22 aperature grill, flat trinitron tube. Now if I only had money...

 

[SyriuS]

Hehe, yeah the .22 AG is sweet! Really crisp display... i was impressed by my friends f400 Only wish i had the money to buy the f500. Sigh

 

[Euclid]

Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 2040u!!!

True Flat screen! Awesome Image!!!

Hands down the best monitor out there (yes, even sony)

 

[LXi]

Sony F500, Sony G500, Mitsubishi 2040u, Hitachi SuperScan 814.

They're all good, just avoid 3rd party xTrons(ViewSonic, Iiyama, NEC, KDS...)

 

[KarlHungus]

I'd go for a Viewsonic P817, but then again I've never really liked the horizontal bars on the AGs.

 

[LXi]

Samsung and Hitachi will slaughter ViewSonic P817 if shadow mask is your taste.

 

[Vich]

Sony, best monitor maker.

 

[JPT]

I'm pretty happy ith the G500, and I compared it side by side with the F500 and didn't notice much difference (if any at all, apart from the price).

 

[Dug]

Sony F500R#1 Mitsubishi 2040u#2

 

[Vegito]

Do not get the Viewsonic p815, its' very very fuzzy at 1600x1200. the sony is pretty sharp, couldn't believe my eyes.. not fuzzy.

A monitor that size needs really fine dot pitch.

 

[Sephy]

LXi is on crack...all of those(KDS, Iiyama) are excellent trinitrons for less..same quality

 

[KarlHungus]

LXi -

Samsung 1100p Plus - 1800x1440@75Hz (.21mm(H) dot pitch)
Hitachi SuperScan 814 - 2048x1536@75Hz (.22mm(H) dot pitch)
Viewsonic P817 - 2048x1536@85Hz (.22mm(H) dot pitch)

Hardly seems a slaughter to me.

 

[LXi]

I doubt anyone will actually use such high resolution. Plus your eyes wont be able to distinguish anything higher than 85Hz. What I mean by slaughter is in image quality, ViewSonic is no match against the other two in this area.

 

[KarlHungus]

LXi -

I've got to disagree. The CAD market uses those type of resolutions, and that's why I usually try to look at their trade publications when deciding on a monitor. In those publications Viewsonic is typically near the top in image quality. Here's a review of 10 21" monitors:
http://www.cadalyst.com/reviews/hardware/0500monitors/index.htm

 

[LXi]

I have seen their shadow mask monitors from low end to high end and wasnt impressed at all. The Samsungs and Hitachis look much better especially the flat Samsungs. The review you provided, includes a ViewSonic PF815 which uses aperture grille tube, can't give really give credit to ViewSonic in this case since the tube is produced by Mitsubishi.

 

[gkwok]

Nokia 445Pro...aperture grille beauty with a screen as flat as a ruler all the way across.

 

[KarlHungus]

LXi -

What is your problem with monitor manufacturers that use other companies tubes? Earlier, in a 21" monitor thread, you were railing on people suggesting someone buy a KDS monitor that uses a Sony tube at a much more reasonable price, suggesting that KDS was cutting corners or used defective tubes to get the price down. Now you decide that Viewsonic should get no credit for putting together a fine monitor due to the fact that it uses a Mitsubishi tube. Who cares what components the manufacturer uses, or who the manufacturer is, as long as the finished product performs?

As far as the P817 goes, I may have overstepped myself. I have not actually seen that monitor in action, but judging from the specifications it seemed like a winner. Now for the P815 - it is an aging product. I do believe it was released in late 1996 or early 1997. At the time it was hailed as the best monitor on the market, but now it's starting to lose some of its luster. One particular point I remember is that it required a very powerful 2D card to run at higher resolutions without getting blurry, the Matrox Millennium PowerDoc was usually recommended. I've got no idea if this problem still exists, or even if it carried over to the P817.

 

[dc]

Sephy: lxi is right... excellent trinitrons for less. but the quality is not the same. the electronics are not the same.

if i had a budget that wouldn't allow a sony or mitsubishi, i would get one of those 3rd party manufacturers. the are great monitors. but if i had the money, i would go sony, i can usually see the image quality difference.

mho,
dc

 

[LXi]

KarlHungus: Well... can you give me a better explaination of why they're so cheap? If not then should I assume its magic?

I never said the PF815 wasnt a good monitor, in fact its good because it uses DiamondTron. But I still think the original Mitsubishi or Sony will beat it. Anyway, regardless of me giving them credit or not, we were on the subjects of ViewSonic shadow mask monitors. I believe we were talking about ViewSonic comparing to Hitachi and Samsung. Then you bring up the PF815 which isn't part of their shadow mask line up.

 

[KarlHungus]

The main reason why Sony can sell for so much is name recognition.

As you quoted: "I never said the PF815 wasnt a good monitor, in fact its good because it uses DiamondTron. But I still think the original Mitsubishi or Sony will beat it."

Do you have any proof that this is the case? No.

In other words, the reason that Sony can sell for such a high price is that certain consumers believe that their products are superior, and are willing to pay the extra price to get them, even when other sources point out to them that this "superiority" is often just not true.

Again, as I stated earlier, the CAD article was just to show that typically Viewsonic monitors get high marks for image quality. Nothing more, nothing less. I would enjoy reading any trade publication or webpage you have to back up your image quality claims.